The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus replied to them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law: ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be nullified), are you saying of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” Therefore they were seeking again to arrest Him, and He eluded their grasp.
And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He stayed there. Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this Man was true.” And many believed in Him there. (John 10:31–42 NASB)
Signs are pointers. A sign is not an end or goal in itself. It is a cue directing us to something beyond it, like smoke pointing to fire. Signs mean there is something taking place that is more than meets the eye. But the sign is what the eye catches first.
God used signs to reveal Jesus’s Messiah-ship during his earthly ministry. Miracles were signs, as were healings.
Signs still testify to, point at, and reflect the God behind the sign, his character, and his intention. Signs of reconciliation, of sacrificial service, the power of a prophetic word.
Church unity can be a sign as well. As in Ephesians 2, unity among God’s people points to the reality of the Savior who is the Architect of the unity. If this is true, what might the lack of church unity communicate? Is it possible the lack of church unity makes the case for a unifying Lord much more difficult for the unbeliever?
When I pastored Renewal Church, one of our church members was in the hospital with an illness. Many of our members visited this person. I recall someone mentioning that a nurse expressed pleasant surprise at how culturally diverse this person’s visitors were. That was our church.
It was a sign.
We must always remember that salvation is not in the signs themselves. The goal is not the sign; the sign is not what we are working for. Rather, the sign is a natural result of Kingdom power unleashed among obedient people. Where the Kingdom is at work, there will be signs pointing to its power.
Wayne Stapleton is the VP of Cross-Cultural Engagement and Emerging Leader Engagement.
