The Signs of the New Temple

Recent monographs on Johannine signs tend to focus on a single sign. Other studies that examine multiple signs mainly focus on the first half of John’s Gospel. In Christian circles, most preachers and believers remain preoccupied by the traditional view that John’s Gospel contains only seven signs. However, what constitutes a sign for John, and how signs function to achieve the purpose of the Gospel (John 20:30–31) is far from settled.
Three features of this book explore important clues for solving this puzzle: (1) a fresh hypothesis that Jesus’s signs correspond to the four tabernacle signs (a pot of manna, Aaron’s staff, the bronze altar cover, and the bronze serpent), which makes sense given the tabernacle/temple theme of John’s Gospel; (2) a complete study that examines Johannine signs in the whole Gospel systematically to reveal how signs develop the book’s purpose; and (3) an adaptation of a sociolinguistic theory to examine the corresponding texts of the Old Testament and New Testament in light of how language functions in a social event. The author will show how Jesus’s signs fulfill the functions of the four tabernacle signs, and how Jesus’s crucifixion is the “all-inclusive” sign in witnessing to his identity.

Tat Yu Lam is associate dean at the Institute of Christian Ministry of the Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong. She has presented several papers in biblical studies at conferences in Canada, America, and Austria. Before receiving her PhD, she spent nearly eight years in Tanzania with SIL as a scripture use specialist and translation advisor.

Stanley E. Porter is president, dean, and professor of New Testament, as well as holder of the Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview, at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Besides research and writing in Greek language and linguistics, he is a keen advocate for deeper intellectual and artistic life within the Christian church. In particular, he is interested in how literature can help to enlighten and elevate Christian faith. His latest book is Hermeneutics, Linguistics, and the Bible: The Importance of Context (2024).