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(John 20:30-31)
I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Last time, John had just finished
Showing us his account of the essential elements of the Gospel:
As Paul also writes in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5:
That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures
Our sins were laid on Him
And He died in our place
That He might carry them away forever
And that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures
Because He had paid for our sins
The sins that required His death,
The sins that held Him in its power
Death could no longer hold Him.
He rose on the third day
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That God might show the world
Jesus was who He claimed to be,
And that Jesus did what He said He would do;
And that we might know our debt was paid,
And that Jesus conquered death for us.
B. Preview.
As John now begins to wind down
His inspired historical account
To its conclusion
Of the person and work of Jesus Christ,
He tells us two more things:
1. First, that Jesus further prepared His disciples to be the witnesses of His
resurrection by showing them many more signs.
2. And second, why he wrote down what he did of Jesus work that we might
know Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing in Him, we might
have eternal life. His Gospel was meant to be an evangelistic tract.
II. Sermon.
A. First, John tells us that Jesus further prepared His disciples to be the witnesses of
His resurrection by giving them more proof.
He writes in verse 30, Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the
presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.
A sign is a pointer
Something that points away from itself
To something or someone one else.
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Just as a street sign points to a particular street,
Or road signs point beyond themselves to particular cities,
The bread and the wine point beyond themselves
To the reality: Jesus Christ.
In this case,
John is speaking of the things Jesus did
Further to prove to His disciples
To point them to the fact
Not only that He was alive,
But that He was who He claimed to be:
The Christ, the Son of God.
Notice also to whom Jesus showed these things: Therefore many other signs Jesus
also performed in the presence of the disciples . . .
These were not His public signs/miracles,
But those He did privately
Purely for the benefit of His disciples
And not just for the eleven,
But also for many who had followed Him.
Paul writes that after Jesus revealed Himself to His intimate circle, He appeared to
more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now,
but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also (1 Cor. 15:6-8).
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He did this over a period of forty days (Acts 1:3).
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We lack the conviction that its true.
Were not willing to throw ourselves wholly into it
Because were not fully convinced its real.
B. We see, second, that John wrote down what Jesus did, that we might know that He
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing in Him, we might have eternal life.
He has left us this evangelistic tract
Not only that we might be saved by it,
But that we might have
The eyewitness testimony we need to convince others.
John writes in verse 31, But these have been written so that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His
name.
Jesus said earlier to Thomas, Because you have seen Me, have you believed?
Blessed are those who have not seen, but believe (John 20:29).
There were those who saw Him after His resurrection that believed
The disciples did, as we just saw.
But there would be many more who would not see,
But who would believe because of their testimony
We see this in the book of Acts.
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His healing of the sick man
At the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (5:1-17);
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His declaration
That He is the resurrection and the life,
That everyone who believes in Him
Will never die (11:25-26).
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And His many declarations that He is God in our nature.
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We have not only Johns account,
But three other Gospels,
As well as the other testimonies
From the NT letters.
http://www.gcmodesto.org