John 20:30-31 Introduction

Introduction:

Endless detail without a cohesive, unified thought

Like a toddler telling a story

Like brush strokes without a picture

Like losing the forest for the trees

Our Bible studies can turn into that and so it turns something that should be most edifying to almost meaningless

We have all been there: going through one story after another, one sentence after another, one paragraph after another that all seems to be a bunch of isolated things that does not edify our soul.

Before we jump into the many details of this large book of the bible: the gospel of John, I want to

Take a look at the canvass as a whole

I want to ensure we don’t lose the forest

I want to ensure every detail is attached to its larger significance

This is where John draws us in his thesis statement:

John 20:30–31 “30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 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.”

In fact this point is further at the very end of the book when he says:

John 21:25 “25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”

Endless strokes of the brush, endless trees.

But...

John 20:30–31 “30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 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.”

The things that John wrote

The seven signs that Jesus performed in the first half of the book, surrounded by teaching

The death and resurrection of Jesus that make up the second half of the book

They were written so that

For a particular purpose that if we do not know or hang them all up on, we will be losing out on the significance and we will run the risk of the text becoming a dry lifeless powerless thing.

What were they written for? So that what?

John 20:31 “31 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.”

Three things:

I. You would believe

II. That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God

III. And by believing you would have life

Generally speaking we can summarize these three points as you would understand doctrine and by understanding doctrine it would change you.

I. You would believe

To believe means to have a conviction of the truth value of something, which always changes our behavior

If I believe it is going to rain before I leave my house for the day, it will cause me to bring an umbrella

In the garden, we got into the mess we got into because Satan tempt Eve to believe a lie which caused her to make a great mistake.

And the story of the Bible ever since is to get people to believe what is true to cause a different behavior

Now, the significance of the belief the more dramatic the change of behavior.

For example:

If I believe it will barely sprinkle on my way out the door in the morning, I might put on a rain jacket.

If I believe it will be a rainy day, I will put on the rain jacket and an umbrella.

If I believe there is going to be a snow storm with a foot of snow, I will consider staying home.

If I believe a cat three hurricane is coming, I will realize I probably live in Florida and gain some sense and move way.

The significance of the thing believed in will determine the extent of the changed behavior.

John wants us to believe something that is of the greatest significance, which will thus change us dramatically.

II. That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God

The Christ:

Christ = Anointed or Chosen One

Anointed by God to be the center of all creation.

All the Old Testament centers its message on a coming one who would be anointed by God to carry out the purpose he has for the world in judgement and grace.

A good passage to capture this is Psalm 110.

Psalm 110 ESV

A Psalm of David. 1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! 3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. 4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” 5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. 7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

Thus, all creation has been moving into the direction of one person and that person is Jesus.

Furthermore, he is

John 20:31 “31 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.”

That is God himself put on flesh and dwelt among us.

Colossians 2:9 “9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,”

These two things of an anointed one that is the Son of God comes together in Hebrews 1.

Hebrews 1:1–3 “1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

And thus the writer to the Hebrews says

Hebrews 2:1 “1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”

Hebrews 12:25–26 “25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.””

Thus, the belief is to be potent since the one we are to believe on is the most potent.

*My children when they can first string together a story*

It doesn’t make much sense overall, and is only edifying as it is coming forth from a toddler’s mouth.

But sadly, many people approach the Bible this way, and wonder why it doesn’t seem to come with much power or edification.

Many stories and teachings are found in it, and isolated they can be helpful to some degree, but it doesn’t all come together to a common point so the power of it is lessened or even taking away altogether.

We have all been there before: in the middle of our private Bible study, half way through a book of the Bible and find ourselves just getting through one sentence after another, one paragraph after another. The richness, beauty, and cohesiveness of the word of God is lost to us and we are just simply going through the motions.

One way to describe this is losing the forest for the trees. Or being so engulfed in details that we have no idea what the overall beautiful picture is.

We have been told since we first became a Christian that we should make a habit of reading Scriptures, but the season comes when you have all this information but no place to put it in your brain or your heart.

The Bible just seems to be a jumble of sentences, paragraphs, stories stapled together—instead of being seamless like Jesus tunic that we like the Romans dare not to tear apart, mishandle, or treat with irreverence.

And so we read it like we are listening to a toddler tell a long random story. But in this case the problem is not with the message but with the receiver.

The first thing we must do is pray that the Spirit would see fit to give us understanding.

And then grab hold of rational means to ensure we are not just reading to get lost in detail, but reading to allow the details to paint a bigger picture of beauty that edifies us completely.

Thus, to start this large book of the Bible, it is important we don’t jump right into the details with no overall picture in mind to guide us to appreciate the details.

We need to put our focus on the whole canvass so that when we see each stroke of the paint brush we can attach it all to its bigger meaning and be amazed.

And to do that with John, it is helpful to look at his thesis statement tucked nicely in the back of the book.

Thesis statement is the sentence that tells the main point of the entire book.

John 20:30–31 “30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 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.”

I. Each detail has a particular purpose

John 20:30–31 “30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

There was endless detail that John could have added to his book. In fact the point is exemplified at the end of his gospel when he says:

John 21:25 “25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”

The individual trees are endless, the strokes of the paintbrush could go on and on

But...

John 20:31 “31 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.”

Every detail, every tree, and stroke of the paintbrush has intentional meaning.

The toddler babbles because its fun for him to babble

The high school student adds words to get to the mandatory word count

But every word, every sentence, every sign, every teaching John has put into this gospel is rich with an overall meaning

It contributes to the beautiful forest. It is vital to the overall beauty of the painting on the canvas.

It is of vital interest to you and me to know not only what that overarching meaning is but how each detail contributes to it.

What is the thesis, main point, the forest, the overall canvas painting?

John 20:31 “31 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.”

I. You would believe

II. Jesus is the Christ and Son of God

III. And through belief life would result

I. You would believe

To believe is to accept something as true.

The fall of man began with the belief of a falsehood to be true

That God is a liar and does not have our best interest in mind.

And so all of history since the fall has been moving towards man coming out of the curse by belief upon the truth.

What you accept as true matters.

Now, the thing that is to believed means that it produces a change in the believer’s life.

My dress leaving the home will be different depending on what I believe the weather will be like for that day.

Our beliefs dictate our behavior—some to a lesser degree, others to greater degree.

II. Something to be true about Jesus

The belief that John has in mind here that makes for the thesis of this gospel is a truth that has the biggest significance literally of anything.

That is:

John 20:31 “31 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.”

Christ = Anointed or Chosen One

Anointed by God to be the center of all creation.

All the Old Testament centers its message on a coming one who would be anointed by God to carry out the purpose he has for the world in judgement and grace.

A good passage to capture this is Psalm 110.

Psalm 110 ESV

A Psalm of David. 1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! 3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. 4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” 5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. 7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

Thus, all creation has been moving into the direction of one person and that person is Jesus.

Furthermore, he is

John 20:31 “31 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.”

That is God himself put on flesh and dwelt among us.

Colossians 2:9 “9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,”

These two things of an anointed one that is the Son of God comes together in Hebrews 1.

Hebrews 1:1–3 “1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

And thus the writer to the Hebrews says

Hebrews 2:1 “1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”

Hebrews 12:25–26 “25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.””

Thus, the belief is to be potent since the one we are to believe on is the most potent.

What is the potency of our belief?

John 20:31 “31 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.”

When Jesus walked the earth, the Romans tried to get the people to believe that Caesar was Lord and a god. And based off this belief they wanted the action of the people to obey the Caesars.

Nations today not touched by Christianity often times rely upon a belief that the leader of the nation has tremendous power and is to be obeyed with all fear and trepidation

North Korea, China

The belief in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God is to mark a dramatic change in the believer’s life that is described by John not with fear and cold-hard obedience, but life.

Now when you see that our pattern of behavior based off our belief in Jesus as Christ and Son of God is life, consider all that you know about life physically.

The conditions that make the body alive and flourish.

Think about your condition when life is threatened:

Hold your breath for as long as possible and see how long it takes to be miserable.

Stand in the cold for awhile and see how miserable life gets.

Stop eating, stop drinking and soon you will see how beautiful life is.

Take that understanding and apply it to the spiritual life John has in mind.

God gives both physical life and spiritual life, and when you are lacking or have no life in one or the other it is miserable.

You want to know why the world is so miserable, you get a taste of it a few seconds before you pass out from holding your breath, a few minutes before you pass out from exposure, when your bones stick to your flesh with hunger and thirst.

A lack of closeness and relationship with God may still mean you have physical life, but you are miserable as if you don’t.

What is spiritual life but a close relationship with God via righteousness. Lawfulness.

And there are two ditches man has fallen into in regards to that: licentiousness, or legalism.

When Satan tempted Eve to forget the law given in the garden that was licentiousness.

When Satan tempted the Pharisees to make just one more extra law that was legalism.

Both lead to misery of being kicked out of the garden, and being a whitewashed tomb.

Believing Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God enables true life to you.

The true change of behavior that is like that first breathe after being without it, first meal after going without, first drink after thirst is at its worse, the warm fire after being exposed to subzero temperature.

Now I want to make an important note on the belief part of this thesis because this is what denotes your response as a congregation. John wants you to believe upon the Christ, the Son of God, to receive life.

This does not mean that John wrote this gospel to a bunch of unbelievers with no mind for the people of Christ. The entire Bible has as its primary reader the people of God. The letters written by the apostles that we have in our New Testament were written to be read in the local churches. The Old Testament was written by and large to be read by the people of Israel. So, when John says I write this to you who believe, he is not saying if you already believe don’t worry about it. I was venture to guess most of his audience who first read this gospel already professed faith in Jesus, and John understood this, and thus the belief he says he wants them to have is not necessarily initial belief but entrenched belief. Initial belief brings our right standing with God, entrenched belief brings the happy result of sanctification. Thus the belief John has in mind for those who already initially believe are for their belief resulting in further sanctification. Our belief on this side of heaven is always plagued by two things: ignorance and disbelief.

By ignorance I mean we have believed upon the information we have received thus far from God, but for our belief to be more complete we need more understanding.

2 Peter 3:18 “18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

Colossians 1:9–10 “9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

Thus John is writing this gospel to you, believer, so that you would entrench yourself in belief. And with this entrenched belief comes a greater enjoyment of life or sanctification.

Thus every sign and the teaching and controversy surrounding it: we need to ask ourselves:

in what way does this reveal Jesus as Son of God?

In what way does this show Jesus as the giver of life?

In what way does this show the need to believe?

Thus seven signs ( go over them) pertains to this

2:1-12 Water into Wine

The joy of Christ kingdom

4:46-53 Healing of official’s son (failure of the state)

Christ the true king

5:1-9 Healing at the pool on the Sabbath (failure of

Healing for the weakest with faith

6:1-15 Feeding of the Five Thousand

Provision in the Kingdom

6:16-21 Walks on Water

Jesus’ mastery over creation.

9:1-7 Healing of a man born blind

Christ’s kingdom gives sight to the blind

11 Raising of Lazarus

Christ’s kingdom raises the dead to life.

The same procedure needs to be done for the second half of the book which deals with Jesus’ private ministry to his disciples and his teaching

13-17

And his death and resurrection

18-20