Our church has recently been studying the Miracles of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospel of John. Over the course of eight Sundays, we're talking about eight major miracles or signs, as listed here below:

1. Changing Water to Wine at the Wedding Feast in Cana (Ch. 2)
2. Healing the Official's Son on the Way to Capernaum (Ch. 4)
3. Healing the Invalid at the Pool of Bethesda (Ch. 5)
4. Feeding the 5,000 at the Sea of Galilee (Ch. 6)
5. Walking on the Sea of Galilee (Ch. 6)
6. Restoring the Sight of a Man Born Blind (Ch. 9)
7. Raising Lazarus from the Dead at Bethany (Ch. 11)
8. The Miraculous Catch of 153 Fish (Ch. 21)

This past weekend, we came to chapter six -- where we start to come across some very interesting parallels between this series of miracles or "signs" recorded in the Gospel of John and another series of identity statements spoken by Jesus throughout the Gospel of John. In these identity statements, Jesus makes rather bold declarations about who he is and what his identity means, philosophically and theologically. So it's worth listing these eight major "I am" statements as well, spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John:

1. "I am the bread of life." (John 6:35)
2. "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12; 9:5)
3. "I am the gate for the sheep." (John 10:7, 9)
4. "I am the good shepherd... [who] sacrifices his life for the sheep." (John 10:11, 14)
5. "I am the resurrection and the life." (John 11:25)
6. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6)
7. "I am the true grapevine." (John 15:1, 5)
8. "I am (the one known as 'I AM')." (John 6:20, 8:28, 8:58)

Some of the parallels may be more obvious than others -- but look at the way the miraculous signs confirm or anticipate the identity statements! It's really remarkable to notice the way that they match up (though not always sequentially):

1. The first miracle matches up with the final identity statement: Changing Water to Wine at the Wedding Feast in Cana anticipates the statement "I am the true grapevine."
2. With the Healing of the Official's Son (who is near death) on the Way to Capernaum, Jesus demonstrates the statement, "I am the way, the truth, the life."
3. When he heals the Invalid at the Pool of Bethesda (situated directly next to Jerusalem's Sheep Gate), Jesus demonstrates his later statement: "I am the gate for the sheep."
4. When Jesus feeds (at least) 5,000 people with a full meal of fish and bread, here in chapter 6... It correlates very nicely with his identity statement later in chapter 6, doesn't it? "I am the bread of life."
5. The first time Jesus spoke the powerful identity statement, "I am" (implicating himself directly with the most sacred name known to any Jewish person), guess what he was doing: He was Walking on top of the Sea of Galilee!
6. When Jesus Restored the Sight of the Man Born Blind, bringing light and vision where there had only been darkness and blindness, it was a real-life enactment of his identity statement, "I am the light of the world."
7. Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead in chapter 11, and what identity statement does he make in chapter 11? "I am the resurrection and the life."
8. His post-resurrection appearance to the disciples -- in which he out-fishes the career fishermen with a Miraculous Catch of 153 Fish and then teaches Peter about the need to feed and care for his "sheep" -- closely parallels Jesus' statement that "I am the good shepherd... [who] sacrifices his life for the sheep."

Isn't that beautiful to notice the literary structure of John's Gospel? It's not always obvious at a first reading, but the more you look at the parallels, the more beautiful the story becomes! It makes sense, then, that John uses the word "sign," where we tend to use the word "miracle." Certainly, John wouldn't deny that the events were miraculous, but I believe he deliberately chooses to say that they were "signs" -- or indications of something else. Isn't that interesting? The miracles of Jesus were signs pointing us to the (deeper, more meaningful, more significant) identity of Jesus!