The Screen Fades To Black
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 Gospel of John is the work of a lifetime. John has spent decades considering the meaning of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and his Gospel is the mature reflection of an old, wise man. John’s Gospel is different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in that John relates fewer events and incidents in the life of Jesus, but he spends more time with them. One might say that John has chosen to focus on quality over quantity.
John also is a true artist in that he prefers to show instead of tell. What I mean is that John arranges his narrative to lead the reader to the truth, but he rarely comes out and specifically states his point—he is much more subtle than that.
Here, at the very end of the Gospel, as the screen fades to black, John tells us why he has written what he has written: to enable belief in Jesus.
John admits that he could have added a lot more:
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book… [John 20:30].
But that what he has chosen to recount in the preceding twenty chapters is sufficient for his readers to come to faith in Jesus. And that faith is a particular faith, not in Jesus as a good teacher or religious sage, but as the Messiah of Israel, the Son of God:
31a these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God [John 20:31a].
And the result of belief in this Jesus is life!
31b and that by believing you may have life in his name [John 20:31b].
As the screen fades to black, verses 30-31 appear, and they are perfect:
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 [John 20:30–31].
After all we have experienced as we have lived with John’s remarkable Gospel, those words—words that make up John’s purpose statement—seem to make the perfect ending. Those two simple verses bring this peerless work of art to a close, and, they bring with them a sense of satisfaction: Jesus brings life, and we believe. We have all we need to know about Jesus. What else is there for John to say?
Imagine we have just sat through the greatest movie we’ve ever seen. We are almost breathless as the screen fades completely to black and we shift in our seats, slowly stand and stretch, and silently begin to make our way out of the theater.
And then something amazing happens….
(We’ll talk about it tomorrow.)