Recently while teaching the Introduction to the New Testament course and discussing how the apostle John presents in his gospel the works of Jesus in exactly seven miracles, which the apostle calls signs, the Lord led me to compare the purpose of the seventh sign -the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead- with the purpose for our time of two recent events that caught everyone's attention in 2010. I am referring to the earthquake in Haiti, on January 12th, and the confinement and eventual rescue of the 33 miners in the San José mine, in Chile, on October 13th of that same year.
Although the apostle acknowledges that the deeds of Jesus were so many that "if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written",[1] he only highlights seven miracles-signs of them.
The apostle presents these seven signs as if they were seven great lessons, as in Genesis the seven days of Creation are presented, and he highlights from each of them how God establishes with signs His methodology of operation in the midst of the times. The signs are not chosen at random, they were duly selected as part of a school of the teaching of which His gospel is the textbook.
[1] John 21:25
