John 20:30-31

Posted by DJL on Jun 1, 2015 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Life.

As it turns out. It’s all about having life. Not rules, not religious identity, not survival, not increasing membership, not building churches, not even saving the world. But rather John’s Gospel –indeed, the Gospel – is about life.

John believes that when one comes to know Jesus, and when one comes to believe that Jesus is God’s Messiah – the one through whom God is saving the world in love (think John 3:16) – one discovers life.

And not just any life, but – as we saw in John 10 – abundant life. More life, that is, than one can imagine when one doesn’t know God’s love. More life than one can scrap together on one’s own. More life than you can ever beg, borrow, or steal. More life than the world can offer.

And this isn’t simply eternal life, but life now, a sense of God’s promises and protection and abundance and love and community and purpose now, here, in this moment.

Abundant life. That’s why John wrote. And why we still read.

Prayer: Dear God, grant us the awareness to discover in Jesus your invitation to abundant life and the courage to accept it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.