Read John 20:28-31. Circle the word(s) that stand out to you. What is the Lord saying to you?
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
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.
Reflections on the Word.
Commentators have understood that the Gospel of Matthew was written to the audience of the Jew. The Gospel of Mark was written to Romans. The Gospel of Luke was written to Greeks and the Gospel of John written to Christians. The historicity of the Gospels has been questioned despite four Gospels testifying of the words and works of Jesus Christ.
Luke declared that he wrote it to Theophilus to assure him that what he has been taught by other Christians is true (Luke 1:1-4). His Gospel records the chronological life of Jesus. John in his letters stated the reason for his record.
John wrote, “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” (NIV). Was his intended audience Christians in general or was it to address the skeptics among the Christians? Who is the “you” referring to?
The “you” is plural, not singular. Thus, I take it that this Gospel was not written to one person, but to a group of doubters who were among the Christians. They had questions and doubts regarding Jesus. It may have been that the Gospels of Matthew or Mark were not available to them. There were reports even testimonies of Jesus, but there may have been no written record.
The “you” refers to those individuals who have not believe it. John encourages them to believe that Jesus is the Christ and that they may have eternal life. The people that John had in mind have not yet come to a place of faith in Christ. Perhaps they were still “sitting on the fence”, hesitant to make a commitment to becoming a Christ follower.
The Apostle John selects narratives from the life of Jesus to show that Jesus is the Christ and that He is the One who offers forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Both Christians and non-Christians can relate to the narratives in this Gospel.
The Gospel of John is written to those who haven’t made a commitment to Jesus as Savior and Lord. As Christians, we love this Gospel for it confirms for us what we believe about Jesus Christ. We like to think it was written for us, but it was written to the unbelievers.
John is asking the unbelievers to read this Gospel and consider the claims of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the One who offers eternal life. If you haven’t made the decision to believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and accept His offer of eternal life, would you be willing to sit down and read this Gospel? This book was written for you. May the Spirit of God open your heart and mind to understand who Jesus is and what He offers to you.
-Kingston