New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
23 Because of this, the
rumor spread among the brothers that
this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he
only said, “If I want him to remain
alive until I return, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who
testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his
testimony is true.
25 Jesus did many other
things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that
even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
In case you didn’t read
the blog prior to this one, let me put this into context. Jesus was speaking to Peter and telling him
how he would die. Peter asked about John
and He told Peter that it was of no concern of his if Jesus chose to keep John
alive or not. From that everyone decided
that John would not die. Have you ever
had the words you said changed by others to mean something totally different
than what you meant? I sure have and it is
quite frustrating! Those words that were
meant for good turn into words that can cause harm, disbelief, mistrust, and
the list goes on. John is trying to
clarify through his own words what Jesus meant by saying this. If this was not clarified then the death of
John could potentially cause some to not believe and that is the last thing
that John wanted to happen. People even
today try to take words from the Bible and place them out of context and then
claim the Bible contradicts itself, which we know is not true.
What I really wanted to
focus on today though is the last part of this scripture passage where John
speaks of all the things that Jesus did.
He says that if all of them were written down, the whole world could not
contain all the books. We have seen
through this study the words of Jesus, the many miracles He performed, how He
took time for people, and how He prayed a lot.
Note that John makes this statement at the end of the book and after the
crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus came
back to show His power over death. He
met with many people but the only recorded miracle was Him telling the
disciples where to cast their nets. He
didn’t need to come back and repeat what He had already done. People didn’t recognize Him when He performed
the miracles the first time so why would they believe now?
What about today? We still pray for miracles to be performed,
healing to take place, and yet we have in front of us the words of our Lord spoken
through the prophets and the apostles.
We see the beginning and the end yet we still have to have more evidence
of who He is. Some people pray and bargain
with God, they say “I will believe and turn my life around if you will . . .”
If people do not believe through the reading and studying of the Word of God,
will they ever believe?
My question for all of
us today is, “What miracle has Jesus performed in your life?” The miracle He performed in mine could
include giving me parents who loved the Lord and taught me His ways, saving my
life in an accident as a child, healing from MS, giving me a husband who is a believer
and two children who are also believers, giving me a grandchild, and the list
goes on BUT the only miracles He needed to perform in my life was the one that
He did on that cross and conquering death through His resurrection which all
led to the miracle He gave directly to me when I received Him into my life, the
miracle of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct me through my life. Even when I didn’t take the time to
acknowledge Him like I should, He has never left me nor has He forsaken
me. This world cannot and does not contain
enough words to describe these miracles and there are no words strong enough to
convey how grateful I am to Him for the opportunity to have Him in my life.
As you seek Him today, I
pray that you too will know of the experience of living a life with Christ,
that the Holy Spirit will guide you and direct you to the places and people He
has for you. I pray that you will give
Him all the glory for all that He has done and that you will recognize that if
there are never any physical miracles in your life that the only miracles you
need are those that were fulfilled through Jesus Christ on that cross, His resurrection,
and the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you.
Seeking Him with all my
heart,
Sheila
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