and work of Christ comes to a close. We now approach the great

central portion of the Gospel, chapters 2:1 to 21:14, and the witness we

shall there hear will be not only that of men, but of miracle; not only

the testimony of fallible flesh and blood, but of the Father and of the

Son and of the Holy Spirit. To this great theme we must now address

ourselves, and we hope that in doing so many hours of delightful

fellowship will be ours in tracing the testimony of the eight signs up to

their evangelical conclusion, `Life through His name' (20:31).

Having given our attention to the successive witnesses that are

brought forward by John in substantiation of the great truth unfolded in

the prologue (1:1-18), we arrive at the body of the Gospel, extending

from chapter 2:1 to chapter 21:14, and with the opening of the second

chapter we come to the first of the eight signs that are so distinctive a

characteristic of the Gospel.  We have already given the outline

structure of this great section on page 4, and have shown how these

eight signs form as it were the backbone of the book.

We must now acquaint ourselves with another remarkable feature,

which has been dealt with very fully in Appendix 176 of The

Companion Bible. As it takes at least two pages of type to set out in

full the inter-relationship of these eight signs, we shall adopt the

briefer method of setting out the grouping in skeleton only, and then,

as our studies proceed, lift out each pair of signs and show their

balance in extenso.

A 2:1-11.

THE MARRIAGE IN CANA. The third day.

No wine. Glory manifested.

B 4:43-52.

THE NOBLEMAN'S SON. After two days.

At the point of death.