Sound of Silence

John 21:24-25

John ends his testimony on a note of humility: Jesus did many other things. The disciples spend the rest of their lives not only unpacking what Jesus had done among them, but continuing to experience Jesus.

The “gospel” of John is just a starting point to discovering the gospel of Jesus.

Jesus has done more and said more. Jesus is doing more. And Jesus is commanding you to do more.

Yellowstone

In 2013 my family had an amazing trip to Yellowstone on our way back from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (*cough* Ironman *cough). We saw the major attractions. We watched Old Faithful geyser up… and it was amazing.

We saw the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone… and it was Grand.

We saw the Yellowstone Lake, and the Mammoth Hot Springs, the Lower Geyser Basin.

We got out to see the Fountain Paint Pot Trail and then got back in the minivan, all of us, only to realize it was the wrong minivan when my key wouldn’t start the car.

I have been to Yellowstone and it was glorious.

So… I never need to go back there again! I have seen it all and done it all, I can check that box off and never return.

I am basically a Yellowstone expert!

Know it All

What do we do when we already know it all? We have read John now. Hopefully we know a bit more about the Bible and we know more about Jesus and what he did.

We are now “done” with John. Been there, done that.

If you have been in churches before, you might have this feeling at times, like you are hearing something that you already know. You are visiting somewhere you have already visited. And the magic of that first visit is diminished, it’s less exciting. You have already been there.

What do we do when we know all the things? We have read all the gospels? We have finished John.

What do we do know that we are at the end of John?

It is kind of sad in a way. It’s like saying goodbye to friends at camp. Don’t be sad that it’s over, be glad that it happened.

Summary of John

John begins with breathtaking scope, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” From the beginning we know that this Word, God made flesh, is a mystery beyond what we will fully understand. It was beyond what John understood. But it wasn’t a hopeless mystery, Jesus himself was and is REVELATION, explaining and revealing who God is always.

And that Jesus did miracles and his disciples testify to the miracles, to the power of God. But that power always had a point, it was never power for the sake of power, but to reveal God’s purpose and God’s heart and God’s mission.

And Jesus taught his disciples… and the common thread was over and over again how they misunderstood then… and came to understand him at deeper and greater levels then. How they missed the meaning of the Scriptures then and came to put the connections and pieces together later. How they kept thinking they had understood Jesus… and Jesus would again surprise and shock them, challenge them.

Until the greatest shock of all. John captures in all its beautiful drama the betrayal, and the sentencing, and the crucifixion of Jesus. Three days in the tomb. And the greatest miracle, the ultimate Sign, the glorious and joyful bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead, transforming the hearts and minds of the disciples and preparing the way for the sending of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church.

So much John has told us. And we can dive deeper into his words, we could preach the book again and discover new things and have God speak to us in yet new ways through just these things that Jesus did and said.

But John is precise in his choosing of which stories to share, of which teaching to share, of which moments. And he shared those moments for this purpose:

John 20:30-31

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

So above all, I pray that the Holy Spirit has accomplished the purpose of John within you. That you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

I pray that you believe.

But I also pray that you have a WHOLE lot of questions about Jesus. About what else he said and did. And what he didn’t say. What he didn’t say is kind of staggering!

He didn’t give any organization information about church formation or planting or preaching or detailing spiritual gifts or church polity or any of a million practical details his disciples were going to need in the immediate future. Or at least, the gospel of John is silent about those things.

In the gospel of John we don’t really see Jesus rebuking people very much, and we don’t really see him casting out demons like in the other gospels. Why is that? John is silent about that.

So many why’s we don’t know. And what was Jesus’ favorite food? As much as we learn from John, we miss the vast majority of John’s experience with Jesus over the course of THREE YEARS he followed the guy around. Much less the 30 years Jesus lived before that.

MUCH less the eternal pre-existence of the Son of God before that. WE have piles of questions.

I pray that the seed is planted within you to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, Son of God and that by believing, you may have life in his name.

But I pray you have more questions too. More unsatisfied curiosity. More tension, maybe even to an uncomfortable degree.

Conclusion of John

I think John intends that too. He ends his gospel on a kind of cliff-hanger.

John 21:24-25

24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

25 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.

This is just a starting point.

It is a starting point to discovering Jesus. Jesus already did so much more. And that was true when John put down these words. He hasn’t stopped doing things! All the way along, in the millennia since John, Jesus has and is still alive. His mission continues, His kingdom expands.

John ends his testimony on this note. He wants you to know that there is SO much more. He couldn’t hope to write it all. He doesn’t KNOW everything that Jesus did and is doing.

This is just a starting point.

His purpose is that you believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

That is just a starting point. It is the beginning of a lifelong journey. And given that eternal life in his name you are given, it is an eternal journey.

We began this series with the hope and prayer that we would encounter Jesus. That we may get to know who Jesus is. That we might call ourselves, as John did: beloved disciples.

But it’s a starting point.

The Unseen Yellowstone

I have been to Yellowstone National Park. I have only glimpsed the fringes, the edge of the beauty. The merest glimpse of what is there. And underneath that beauty is a super-volcano that will wipe out North America when it goes and plunge the world into another ice age.

There is beauty and there is terror there and it is unplumbed, undiscovered. Even the park rangers there find new and unexpected discoveries.

And that is just a park. In America. On this planet. In this solar system. Jesus…. What about him through whom and by whom and for whom it was all created!

We have only glimpsed the edge of the beauty and majesty of Jesus. We are only on the edge of glory!

The Unexpected Jesus and Me

Do you know how many times I have thought I had God figured out? My plan and path figured out? I am, by nature, a figure-outer. That’s what I do. I struggle and mess with the puzzle until I can solve it. I fiddle with the riddle until I get it. I don’t want you to tell me the answer, I want to solve it.

And I get a little glimpse of the future or the next step from God, and I build a whole cosmos out of that. I have it all figured out! This is how God works, this is how I encounter Jesus, and this is what and how I will follow Jesus for the rest of my life.

6 months later. Oh! THIS is how God works and this is Jesus. And OH, just kidding, I discovered a tiny flaw in my understanding of God. I imagine hiking through the terrain of God, everytime I glimpse the top of a hill and think I have discovered all there is to discover, you crest the mountain and see more hidden valleys, more beautiful secrets, more and more to know and discover.

And it is terrifying… but I do know that God is trustworthy. And the twists and turns are honestly awful…. But I do know that God is faithful and good and he loves me and he loves you.

Jesus is my Lord and Savior. That is a starting point on an eternal journey of discovery with God. With Jesus.

Is Jesus your Lord and Savior? I hope he has planted that seed in you. If you have questions about that I desperately want to talk to you!

And if you’re already there, and Jesus is your Lord and Savior, please don’t think that you’re done. The journey has only begun, and we are discovering this Jesus, this God together.

The Unexpected Jesus

How much can God surprise us? I imagine John content with his memories of Jesus from decades earlier. He is still passionate, he self-identifies as the “disciple who Jesus loved”. He writes his gospel. All the other apostles die and now he is the one living person on planet earth who KNOWS Jesus’ face and what Jesus is really like.

… and then, as if to say to John, “you ain’t seen nothing yet” Jesus gives John a vision of what’s to come, and it starts with a revelation of Jesus that blows his mind.

Revelation 1:9-18

9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

How do we know that John was shocked?

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Jesus is our Lord and Savior. That isn’t a summary, it is an introduction. This is our starting point. May we get to know him, learn to love him, and follow in His Living footsteps forever, Amen!