So Much To Learn; John 20-21

May the mumbling commence!

In the New Testament, we have four tellings of the gospel account of Jesus.  Even so, these four gospels only scratch the surface of what Jesus did while he was on the earth so many years ago.  We need to pay attention to how each author put together the story of Jesus so that we can understand the message that each author intended to give about Jesus.

With John, that meaning is a little more on the surface than the other gospels.  Read a couple of passages from John chapter twenty and twenty-one:

Jesus gave a great many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God, and that in that faith you may have life as his disciples. (20:30-31)

A great many signs were performed by Jesus.  Most of these signs or miracles did not make it into the gospel according to John.  This author picked and chose the ones in this book for a purpose: that the reader might believe in Jesus as Christ the Son of God and that in this faith the reader might live as Jesus’ disciples.

When we read the gospel of Jesus according to John, we should keep these purposes in mind.

But these are only a couple brief verses.  What if the reader would miss them?  The author puts in another reminder in the last chapter of John.

Of course, there are many other things which Jesus did, and I suppose that if each one were written down in detail, there would not be room in the whole world for all the books that would have to be written. (21:25)

The author of John tells us not to think that all of Jesus’ important doings are contained in the gospel of Jesus according to John.  Indeed, if everything were written that Jesus had done, the world would not have room for all the books that could be written. 

All these words remind me of the old hymn “The love of God”.  It tells us if the seas were made of ink and the sky were a scroll and all people scribes by trade – still the scroll could not contain the whole and the oceans would be drained dry.

Each of the gospels has their own theological messages that they seek to teach us.  We read each one singly to get this message.  We read the gospels in tandem to get a number of viewpoints of Jesus.  In the reading, we get a fuller picture of who Jesus is.

Let us give thanks.

Let us believe in Jesus, the Christ – the Son of God.

And let us live our lives as Jesus lives his.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out