John 20 Devotional

John 20: 30 - 31 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Application: If you were going to make a story about a super hero, what kind of super hero would he or she be? Would they be strong, noble, and brave? Would they be smart, wise, and dependable? It is my guess that whatever attributes you would decide to give your hero they would be good. And, I guess it is safe to say that your hero would have very little flaws. It’s my guess that when you write your heroes’ adventures there would be a clear line between what makes your hero good and what makes his or her adversaries bad. While writing your story you probably would have to create a plot, in which by the time you got to the end of the story, people would desire to be just like the hero you wrote about. Ok, imagine this, after your story was written, imagine it being made into a blockbuster movie and making hundreds of millions of dollars because throngs of people watched it and daydreamed about being the hero you created. Wait a minute! Why isn’t the Bible written like that? Now let’s think really hard. Imagine if you were a disciple trying to write a story to make people believe that Jesus was the ultimate hero. Hold up, not just a hero but God, what kind of story would YOU write? Would you not show His power, His influence, and His courage? Would you not write it in a way that everything He did worked out just fine? Would you not write it in such a way that none of His adversaries where able to stand in His presence? And, I am sure you would write it in such a way that everyone would want to be Him and follow Him wherever He went! Well interestingly that is not quite what John the apostle did. In John 20: 30 – 31 he said, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” Wow did you read that? John wrote his gospel so that you may believe in Jesus and be saved. He wrote it so that Jesus would be the hero. That’s great, yet I am a bit troubled as I read what he said. I am troubled because when I read the Bible, I don’t see Jesus nor the disciples portrayed in a way that I WOULD WANT TO BE…Honestly, I see them going through so much... I see the disciples full of pride and arrogance, and I see the Hero at the end of the story hanging from a tree. When I see the types of stories the Bible depicts I say to myself THIS IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME BELIEVE IN JESUS? And, something deep in my heart says, YES! You see the truth is the Bible is not a made up story. It presents the truth the way it is. Often when you read it, you see your own self in its pages. And, you get a chance to see your true Hero facing everyday trials and going through them without moral fault. Remember John said he wrote it so that you may believe. Well, the fact that we see so many of the characters in the Bible making so many mistakes, makes reading the Bible much easier to believe because we see so many flaws in our own lives and in the lives of others. And, that makes it very believable. You see, John decided to record in his Gospel the very events good or bad that would lead you to believe that Jesus was the son of God. What’s the point? The point is Jesus is a Hero; it’s just that it is not our story to write, but it is His-story!

Three action steps:

Take the time to memorize John 20: 30 - 31
If you had to tell somebody about Jesus, what would your say?
what is the hardest thing to believe about the Bible and why?