John 20:30-31 (ESV)
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
My Mom and Dad are 85 and 81 years old respectively and are, thankfully, in very good health. They have spent 60 years of their lives both married to each other and in ministry through the local church. And they have lots of stories to tell!
Almost every time they visit our home we end up sitting around the table after a meal and listening to them share stories from their lives. Sometimes they will tell stories of growing up in small rural communities in an America much different from the suburban world we live in today. Sometimes they will tell stories from the different churches they have served. Often these will be stories that we have heard over and over but still love to hear again. But every now and then they will tell a story that I have never heard before.
I love it when this happens because I learn a little more about my parent’s lives and because it reminds me of the untold riches that lie buried in their memories just waiting to be uncovered!
That’s why I find this paragraph toward the end of John’s gospel so intriguing!
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John says, in effect, that Jesus did and said lots of other things that he did not include in his book; and that what he chose to include was for the express purpose of leading his readers to faith in Jesus.
He reiterates this point right at the end of his gospel when he writes:
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
I have wondered what it would be like to spend an evening listening to John tell stories about Jesus. I’m sure he would tell the great and well known stories, the ones we have all heard or read before; stories like the changing of water into wine at the wedding at Cana, the feeding of the 5,000 or the healing of a man born blind. But I think I’d be just as interested in the other stories; the stories that aren’t in the book!
What was it like to sit around the fire with him at the end of a busy day? What did he talk about as they walked along the road to the next destination? Did he ever make jokes? What did his laughter sound like? Did he enjoy playing games? How strong was his handshake?
I think that’s why we need to read and re-read the gospels! The gospels are the story of Jesus written by men who knew him, followed him, and lived with him. The gospels are the part of the story of Jesus that we must know in order to come to faith in him. But they do not contain everything Jesus said or did!
I like to imagine that someday we will have all eternity to listen to John tell the rest of the story; better yet, to hear Jesus tell it himself!
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