Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In my opinion, a sign would be something that would occur for the purpose of establishing or proving something. Although it might be miraculous or supernatural, it would not have to be. For example, in Luke 22:7-13, when Jesus was preparing for the Last Supper, He told Peter and John to go into the city where they would meet a man who was carrying a jug of water. They were to follow him to the house where he would enter, and ask the owner of the house to show them the room where Jesus and the apostles were to eat the Passover. These were all ordinary events, but they were also signs because of the special meaning that Jesus (in His foreknowledge) had assigned to them. Similarly, when Jesus was born, the angel told the shepherds in Luke 2:12 that the sign that would tell them that they had found the Christ child would be when they located a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. (In the case of the passage cited in the question, the actions performed by the apostles would have been signs that they were in fact endowed with God's power and authority.) 

By contrast, a wonder would be an event with a miraculous element of the supernatural associated with it (although that supernatural aspect might also be in an evil sense for the purpose of deception, such as indicated by Jesus in Matthew 24:24, or by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:9), and that would induce wonder in those who beheld it or heard about it, but that would not necessarily have a specific meaning as a sign associated with it.

November 27 2021 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report