Daily Devotions
John
John 20:19-31 "REASONS WHY THE GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN"
Day 355 – John 20
REASONS WHY THE GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN
Many reasons may be suggested as to why the Gospels were written. Let us consider some of these reasons from the text that John wrote.
“But these are written that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that
believing you may have life in His Name.”
John 20:31
IF THERE HAD BEEN ONLY ONE REASON TO WRITE
If there were just one reason to write, it would be found in this text here! John believed with all his heart that Jesus was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures! What other more compelling reason would be needed for him to take up pen and paper to write?
Imagine John, born and bred a Jew, nurtured in the faith and hope that one day, God would send the Messiah (Greek, “Christos” or “Christ”) and then as he followed Jesus he came to the firm conclusion that He was that Christ! How could he not write and share what he had come to believe in?
Who was this Messiah? Many theories abounded. Even the Jewish scholars were divided concerning the identity of the Messiah. When Jesus stepped into public view, He came not only with a powerful and compelling theology, He backed up what He preached by His life! No one had ever been able to match word and deed so perfectly!
Then there were the sign miracles! How astonishing those were! Those sign-miracles would have been enough to compel an honest inquirer to quest for the true identity of Jesus! His sign-miracles were too many, and too public to have been fakes! There were too many witnesses who would testify that Jesus had genuinely healed them!
John had been one of the twelve specially chosen Disciples! He had the privilege of being able to observe Jesus close up! If there had been any imperfection, any inconsistency, he and his fellow-disciples would have certainly picked that up! In fact, living together as a group, they saw how wretched they really were! But they could find no fault in Jesus at all!
Thus John felt that he must not fail to do his part in writing a Gospel account of the life of Jesus. His purpose was clear as was his theological understanding. Jesus was the Christ (Hebrew “Messiah”), the Son of God! Of course he must write and share his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!
ONCE THE WRITING PROCESS BEGAN
As John reflected on what he should write, he discovered that he had so many things he wanted to share with his readers. If he could, he would have loved to share everything he had learned from being a Disciple of Jesus! That would of course be impractical and virtually impossible!
John carefully selected some of the sign-miracles of Jesus and then used them to reflect the profound wisdom that Jesus displayed through His teachings. Everything fitted in so beautifully.
1. His ministry to the multitudes (John 1-12).
2. His special teaching sessions with the Disciples (John 13-17).
3. His death and resurrection (John 20-21).
These things just had to be carefully written up and preserved for all posterity to study! They were too precious to be passed down by oral tradition! Something might get lost along the way! Hence John began to write with the highest theological reason ever!
ANOTHER POWERFUL MOTIVATION
John had been an ordinary fisherman once. His whole life had changed ever since Jesus came into his life! He was no longer the same! He had discovered REAL LIFE! And knowledge of how to obtain this LIFE could not be kept to himself. That would be the height of selfishness. The faith that he found, the faith that led to an abundant life on earth, and the promise of eternal life in heaven with Jesus had to be shared!
It was a great privilege to have been invited to be a Disciple of Jesus. John knew that that experience was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Others would not have the same privilege, but all may have the same faith! The Gospel that John wrote would contain the wise and profound teachings of Jesus! They would still be able to produce a life-giving faith! John must do everything in his power to share the good news that he and his fellow-disciples had been taught.
A THIRD POWERFUL MOTIVATING FACTOR
Matthew recorded in his Gospel that the Jews on learning from the soldiers who guarded the garden tomb had fled because they encountered angels, decided that they would counter this story. Firstly, they would bribe the soldiers to keep to themselves the story they reported to their superiors. Secondly, the soldiers were supposed to say to the public that the Disciples had stolen the body of Jesus while they were asleep (Matthew 28:11-15).
John and the other Gospel writers all felt compelled that they must give their version of what had really transpired! In their Gospels, the writers had to expose the scribes and Pharisees for who they really were! They were hypocrites at best! They were wicked murderers and inveterate liars at worst!
The truth had to be told. The readers would have to judge for themselves whether they would believe or disbelieve the Gospel accounts. As far as John was concerned, he wrote with a deeply convinced heart and mind that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Son of God! His heart had been so touched by Jesus that he too felt compassion for the lost, for those who had not heard of the Gospel of life!
His love for souls gave him that strength and commitment to organize and write the story of the Life of Christ. The result is The Gospel According to John!