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 20:30-31
Holy Week has once again come and gone. The children waved palm branches on Palm Sunday to remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We gathered on Good Friday to commemorate the crucifixion of the Lamb of God making full atonement for and defeating the power of Sin. And then Easter Sunday, the cry “He is risen!” rang through the sanctuary as we celebrated Christ’ resurrection and victory over death. This week is often one of the most spiritually moving of the entire year.
And yet, here I sit, like many of you, on the Monday after asking, “What’s the point?” Your circumstances didn’t magically change overnight. If you are in a job you dislike, you got up and trudged to it again. If there are frictions in your marriage, still there. If other relationships are strained, the tension still exists. What’s the purpose of recounting the stories of Jesus or any of the other parts of the Biblical story like Abraham’s?
The Apostle John gives us a clue. The Scriptures we keep returning to and the verses and stories we tell again and again are vitally important to the strengthening of our faith. They help us to put all of the rest of life into perspective. They don’t make everything better. Yet, they do remind us of greater realities and give us the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).
Isn’t it interesting that John’s purpose statement, that what he has written is so we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, comes right after the encounter between Jesus and Thomas? You know. Doubting Thomas. One of the twelve Apostles. Who walked with Jesus for three years and heard His teaching and saw His healings and miracles. Who said he wouldn’t believe Jesus was resurrected unless he could place his fingers in the mark of the nails or his hand into his side. The Thomas to whom the risen Jesus appeared and said, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29).
And so we return again and again to the Scriptures so that we may have our hearts and minds centered on the hero of the Story, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. Not as some lucky rabbit’s foot or four-leaf clover. Instead, as the one who is worthy of our trust. And the one who is the source of true life, life that extends into eternity. He is the one who has brought us safe thus far and He will lead us home. That’s the point.
