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. John 21:25
Read John 21
We’ve come to the end of our long look at the life of Jesus through the eyes of His best friend and disciple, John. What will you remember from this journey through this very personal Gospel? A new picture of Jesus? A reminder of some critical truth? Perhaps just a turn of phrase that turned your heart toward home?
John wrote this testimony “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” Mission accomplished?
As we read John 21 today, you have to wonder if it was this last morning around the lake that John remembered most fondly. Sixty years may have seemed short in his memory of that beautiful day in Galilee.
You can’t miss the nostalgic details woven in the story: The sunrise on the water. The smell of the charcoal fire. His familiar voice. The deep scars on His wrists. His slight smile at the number of fish reported in the net. . . .
These are hinge days—in-between Jesus’ resurrection and the beginning of a new age in history. Jesus will leave the earth a couple days from now. If this new season had been left up to the disciples, it would have dried up and died—lasting a couple weeks at best.
But history testifies that is not what happened. The disciples, along with Jesus’ mom and brothers, formed the core of 120 people who could not and would not deny that something supernatural had happened through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Even better, something supernatural had occurred in them when they believed He was Messiah, Savior, Lord . . . God!
When John remembered that morning at the lake, you have to wonder if he also recalled the faces of those brothers around the breakfast fire who each, in turn, gave his life for the love of Jesus. All of them transformed—one day they were hiding and denying they even knew Jesus—to the next when they ran with the good news to the four corners of the known world.
What happened to them? When these uneducated, unsophisticated, insecure followers of Jesus were filled with the power of God’s Spirit, Acts 17:6 says, “they turned the world upside down.”
And the world is still spinning upside down, thanks to the power of Jesus’ life at work in and through us today. “You will be my witnesses,”—were His last words as He kicked off the earth a couple days later.
Now you’ve read John’s testimony. You have your own testimony, too, if you love the Lord Jesus. Go write His name on the hearts of everyone you meet. Ask God to use you to show them the Way home.
Consider your response: Look for opportunities to share the most amazing news in history—and the most amazing thing that has ever happened to you. Ask the Lord to fill you each day with His Spirit, ready, willing, and able to point others home.
-Written by Barb Peil