We bumped into him in an aisle of the hardware store—not the most likely place to have a theological discussion, but one that I have remembered ever since. I was a new Adventist and still settling into the message for myself. As my friend and I picked up some needed supplies, we started talking with a fellow customer about his church. He shared that he was helping a missionary in another country and began telling us all the good things being done. He concluded, “We know God is using him because of the miracles being performed.” He had resisted some of the Bible texts shared with him that challenged some of his beliefs and rested his case because of miracles being performed. As a new Adventist, I pondered, Are miracles the evidence of God’s leading and blessing? Were signs and wonders the evidence for believing Jesus? Are signs and wonders the evidence for our belief today?
Jesus’ signs
Jesus performed many signs in His earthly ministry, and clearly, they had a major impact on the people of His time. John records, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30, 31). John is recording these signs to lead the reader to a deeper experience—an experience that must go beyond the signs and into belief.
The signs that Jesus did attracted attention. They made people look to this humble Nazarene. Jesus’ first recorded sign or miracle was turning water into wine at Cana. This sign was a blessing to the entire wedding party, but especially for the disciples. “His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11). The wedding party may have drunk the best-tasting grape juice that they had ever tasted before. They may have heard that Jesus had somehow changed common water into wine, but it was the disciples who were truly blessed. They heard Jesus’ mother ask for help. They saw Jesus instruct the servants. They saw the crystal-clear water in the pots. They saw the servants hesitatingly draw the water to bring to the governor of the feast. They saw the amazement of the servants. They tasted the once-water-now-wine. They realized the power of Jesus’ word, and they believed.
Others saw Jesus’ signs but did not believe or did not believe immediately. The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem asked, “What sign do You show to us since You do these things?” (John 2:18). Jesus had given a sign of His divine authority by driving out what had become a noisy marketplace from the sacred precincts of the temple, yet the leaders did not believe. They demanded a sign. Nicodemus saw Jesus’ signs and acknowledged that “no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). While Nicodemus became a strong believer, he was still struggling with unbelief at the time. Jesus’ signs attracted attention. None could deny the miracles Jesus performed, yet something more was necessary.
True faith does not demand conditions. True faith does not require a sign. True faith does not make preconditions. True faith trusts in Jesus’ word because we know that He loves us.
A greater sign
The second sign Jesus performed in Galilee (John 4:54) goes much deeper than the previous signs. While Jesus was once again in Cana, a nobleman from Capernaum made the sixteen-mile climb up to Cana with a burden upon his heart for his son, who was deathly ill. Upon coming to Jesus, “he implored him to come down and heal his son” (John 4:47). The Jewish nobleman had heard of the signs that Jesus performed and felt that Jesus’ miraculous healing of his son was his only hope. He desired Jesus to come immediately, but Jesus did not grant his request. Jesus simply answered, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe” (John 4:48). Jesus did not perform the miracle. He was seeking to lead the nobleman to a deeper understanding. “But He knew also that the father had, in his own mind, made conditions concerning his belief in Jesus.”[i] Jesus did not heal the nobleman’s son. Why? Because the nobleman was relying upon the miracle being performed for his son before he would believe. “Unless his petition should be granted, he would not receive Him as the Messiah.”[ii] The nobleman was not believing the word of Jesus but was expecting the sign to be fulfilled before he believed.
Jesus’ words “except you see signs and wonders” reveal the limitation of supernatural manifestations in true faith. The nobleman had a degree of faith for he had made the lengthy trek to request Jesus perform a miracle for his son. Yet, the nobleman’s faith had not yet advanced to the place of accepting and believing Jesus’ word without any outward evidence. This faith believes Jesus’ word before any evidence is given. That truly is the greater sign than outward signs and wonders. The nobleman had advanced past the wedding guests of Cana and Nicodemus, but he wasn’t to true faith yet.
The nobleman had the spiritual malady of many of that time. Later, Jesus responded to the multitude that followed him, “You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled” (John 6:26). They were following Jesus, not because the signs that he performed led them to a true belief in Him as their Lord. They were following Him because they wanted to benefit from Jesus’ miracles. Later in the dialogue, they continued asking for more signs, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?” (John 6:30). “They [many of the Jewish nation] were interested in Jesus from selfish motives. They hoped to receive some special benefit through His power, and they staked their faith on the granting of this temporal favor…”[iii] They hoped for temporal benefit and that was their motive for following Jesus. The nobleman desired the healing of his son and preconditioned his belief in Jesus to the granting of his request.
Does not the same thing happen today? “But like the afflicted father, we are often led to seek Jesus by the desire for some earthly good; and upon the granting of our request, we rest our confidence in His love.”[iv] Do we desire our prayers to be answered so that we will “know” that Jesus hears us, loves us, etc.? True faith does not demand conditions. True faith does not require a sign. True faith does not make preconditions. True faith trusts in Jesus’ word because we know that He loves us. When preconditions for faith are made, no matter how many of those conditions are met, it will not lead to true faith. True faith is believing Jesus’ word because it is His word.
When the nobleman heard Jesus’ words except you see “signs and wonders, you will by no means believe,” he was struck to his heart. He recognized his doubt. He recognized that Jesus did not need to prove anything to him. He realized that he needed to believe Jesus’ Word because it was Jesus’ word. He fell at Jesus’ feet crying out, “Sir, come down before my child dies!” (John 4:49). Unlike before, Jesus responded immediately, “Go your way; your son lives” (John 4:50). Jesus knew that the nobleman had gone from putting conditions on his belief, from desiring temporal blessings to trusting Jesus’ word. “So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way” (John 4:50). The nobleman experienced the greater sign—a simple acceptance of Jesus’ word.
Deceptive signs and wonders
A faith that rests only upon signs and wonders is not a faith that will stand the test of time. The multitudes that followed Jesus when He multiplied the loaves and fishes “went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). The crowd that shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matt. 21:9) during Jesus’ triumphal entry cried, “Let Him be crucified” (Matt. 27:22) a few days later. Jesus warned, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show greatsigns and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24). Jesus is not the only one who can perform signs and wonders. One of the hallmarks of end-time events is that great signs will be performed by the devil’s agents. Three times in Revelation, we are warned that those aligned with the dragon will perform great signs to deceive (Rev. 13:13, 14; 16:13, 14; 19:20). The time is coming when our faith will be tested more than we can begin to imagine today.
“The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.”[v] The test that came to the nobleman will come to us, as well. He had to put his trust in the words of Jesus irrespective of his prejudice, his rationale, his feelings. While the nobleman had to believe Jesus’ words, we must believe Jesus’ words as recorded in Scripture. Our only safety will be to rely upon the words of Scripture, else we will be led astray like the unbelieving Jews.
Not only are we to rely upon the words of Scripture, but we must fill our minds with their truths today. “None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.”[vi] We need a deeper study of the Word of God. Listening to sermons is not enough. Our minds must be fortified by individually studying God’s Word. If we would not fall prey to the deceptive signs and wonders of the last day, the Bible must become our chief study. Signs and wonders will come in all their deceptiveness. We will be tested to the utmost, but those who have learned to trust in the words of Jesus will stand.
At the words of Jesus, the nobleman’s anxiety left. He believed Jesus’ words and acted upon them. Instead of rushing home to ascertain whether they were true, he took his time on the journey home. He did not need to verify Jesus’ words, his faith had grasped the promise, and he knew that because Jesus had said it, it was so.
This lesson of the nobleman is for us, as well. “Not because we see or feel that God hears us are we to believe. We are to trust in His promises.”[vii] We must learn to trust our all to the promises of God. When doubts assail us, when fears threaten to overwhelm us, when questions rise in our mind, let us trust in Jesus’ word because we can trust Him!
[i] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1898), 198.
[ii] Ibid., 198.
[iii] Ibid., 198.
[iv] Ibid., 200.
[v] Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911), 593.
[vi] Ibid., 593–594.
[vii] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1898), 200.