Thielman: John hopes his readers will also “see” them and believe.

Something similar happens with the Samaritan woman. Jesus shows miraculous insight into her character, and she runs back to her town with the news that because Jesus told her “everything [she] ever did,” he may be the Messiah (4:28–29). John tells us that as a result of precisely this testimony to Jesus’ supernatural knowledge of the woman’s character, “many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him” (4:39).

In the same way, after Jesus has washed his disciples’ feet on the night before his crucifixion, he speaks of one of his followers who has not been chosen and who will fulfill the psalmist’s complaint that one who has shared his food will betray him (13:18; Ps. 41:9). “I am telling you now, before it happens” Jesus explains, “so that when it does happen you will believe that ‘I am’ ” (John 13:19, aut.).

This is reminiscent of Jesus own prayer, shortly before calling Lazarus forth from the grave, in which he tells his Father that he has spoken his request to raise Lazarus audibly so that the crowd standing around “may believe that you sent me” (11:42; cf. 11:15). The link between the provision of a sign and belief here receives the approval of Jesus himself.

In summary, when Jesus provides signs for people during the time of his ministry, he intends that they should see them and believe that his claims about his relationship with his Father are true. By providing a written record of these signs, John hopes his readers will also “see” them and believe.

Thielman, F. (2005). Theology of the New Testament: A Canonical and Synthetic Approach (p. 163). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

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