Wednesday, February 1, 2017

January's Over

We've arrived at the end of our time working through John's Gospel. As wonderful as it may be for you to have read my writings, what you have gleaned through John is more important. (And I hope you have) If you have read through John, I would be interested in hearing what stood our to you. What do you see in Jesus? What remains with you now that you are finished? Consider letting me know by leaving a comment.

Different individuals view the Bible in different ways. Some think it's a book that allows people to be controlled. This kind of philosophy isn't unusual and is even a common theme throughout The Book of Eli. Is that how John's writings came across to you? Did his words find a way to make you vote for a certain political candidate? Honestly, I find that thinking odd. If there is a theme to John's writings it isn't to vote Republican or conservative. The theme clearly is this - Jesus is King! Follow Him.

Whatever you decide regarding Christ as you move on, know that I haven't been here trying to convince you of some obscure theory surrounding things that happened billions of years ago. As we've looked though John, we have looked at a person and events well within the span of observable human history. In spite of this, there are still many skeptics and you may very well be among them.

If we are parting ways and you think this has all been a fairy tale, I'll give you one final piece to ponder. When we consider that John's account was written within the timespan of recorded history, the events he spoke on were either deniable or verifiable in their time. Had this been a fairy tale, the people who read it would have had the chance to do their own writing and say, "The stuff these Christians are talking about never happened."

As we look back on antiquity we find something different. We don't find early writings saying that there was no Jesus. What we do find are writings that say, "That's not the way it happened". We see the very things that John was trying to teach us. He made it VERY clear that not everyone believed in Jesus; that many people had a very different take on who He was.

The Gospels of Matthew, a Mark, Luke and John are the stories that have prevailed and they have prevailed largely due to their consistency with each other and their acceptance in their time - something we know from their available manuscripts. If you want to find other accounts of Jesus' life that are inconsistent and that we're not accepted in their time, then you will have to look elsewhere. I'm not about to help with that.

Thank you so much for journeying with me. I hope you have further to go with Jesus. Let me know how I can help with that.

Kevin