Signs of Salvation: The Theme of Creation in John’s Gospel

Was Mary Magdalene really mistaken when she took the Risen Lord to be a ‘gardener’ working near the tomb where Christ was laid after the crucifixion? In this compelling volume, Anthony M. Moore persuasively argues that Jesus must be recognised, at a theological level, as the Gardener: the Creator-God Himself. The author skilfully examines the strong evidence available to the reader that the narrative material of the Book of Signs (John 2-12), together with the ‘High Priestly Prayer’ of John 17, is deliberately infused with the fundamental theme of creation. The first sentence of the Gospel, ‘in the beginning’, meaningfully echoes the start of Genesis, and sets the tone for what is to come. ‘Creation indicators’, or leitmotifs, which link the signs narratives in the Fourth Gospel to the sequence of the days of creation, are unpicked in this volume in a careful survey of the placement of particular nouns and verbs within the narratives and how often they occur. Upon these foundations, the author builds his strikingly original thesis: that each miraculous ‘sign’ of John 2-12 corresponds to a day of creation, and that, subtly but unmistakably, John intends to reveal Jesus as the Creator in all His glory. A book that offers a novel and enlightening way of reading John’s Gospel, ‘Signs of Salvation’ will interest any reader seeking a deeper understanding of a fundamental truth about Christ’s nature: He is the God of creation, at one with and participating in the creative work of the Father.