Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. | John 20:30–31
As we worked through the Gospel of John, we saw that it is organized to tell a very specific story about who Jesus is and, as stated above: that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John tells the post-resurrection story of Jesus through personal interactions. It is teaching that comes from experiencing the love of Jesus in relationship. We are given 6 different meetings with Jesus after His death and resurrection, and each one teaches us something about what it means for us between his comings.
Mary Magdalene | Jesus shows up to a weeping Mary to assure her that He is present. While He is going to be with His Father in heaven, this does not mean that He will be distant. He is ruling over creation, and will be with His people until the end. This echoes the last line of the Great Commission (which is how 2 of the other gospels end) which states: And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Disciples in the upper room | Jesus appears to the majority of His disciples who are hiding from the Jewish authorities. He promises them the Spirit and gives them authority to represent Him on earth in accordance with His Word. This connects the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2 to the promise of Matthew 16:
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (19)
They are called to continue Jesus mission in His absence, and this meeting assures them that they have everything they need to accomplish this.
Thomas | Jesus presents His scarred body to doubting Thomas, but also explains to His disciples that those who believe in the future will believe, not because they see Him physically, but because faith is given to them as a gift. Belief will come through the Spirit’s work in the heart of the person and the declared witness of the Word. The disciples are the witnesses sent into the world to tell others about Jesus; the Spirit will use their declaration to bring people to Christ.
In this, Jesus is making it clear how the mission can move forward without Him. It is the combined power of the Spirit and the Word that will do the work of bringing faith.
Disciples fishing | Jesus uses the disciple’s fishing trip to teach them about how He will use them to be fishers of men. As they do the work of obeying His call, even when it does not seem rational to them, He will use their efforts to produce His results. If He can catch an immense number of fish with a random toss of the net, and can keep the nets from breaking at over-capacity, He can certainly do the work of rescuing His people using less than perfect proclaimers of the gospel.
This takes the weight off of them. They are fishermen, but He controls the fish.
Peter | Jesus meets with Peter to deal with Peter’s denial. He confronts Peter’s former assertions and failure to follow-through, but also restores him and gives him a new identity. Jesus response to Peter’s declaration of love was for Peter to put that love to action in the church. Our love for Jesus is not meant to be a personal relationship, but lived out in community.
Jesus restores Peter, but it is to prepare Peter for the work of leading the people of God, many of them to their deaths.
John | The gospel ends with John revealing to us that the author of the gospel was one of the characters in the story all along. Then he adds this:
Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. | John 21:25
John was there with the resurrected Jesus, and his interaction is given to us in silence. He tells us that to be with Jesus was something that he cannot adequately put into words; even if he could, the length of the volumes would be enormous. John wants us to look forward to our future with Jesus with a sense of wonder, recognizing that no matter how great we think of it, we sell it short.
All of this should be a call and encouragement to us, because the concerns of the people in the story are similar to ours. We also feel alone, unable, and that we fall short when we try. As we live out the mission of Christ, we struggle along wondering if we are capable of such a task. We should hear the message of Jesus here:
I am with you. I will do the work of bringing my people to myself. I just need you to tell others what you have received. Share your joy, proclaim my grace. Love one another and make the good of others your aim. When you fail, I will restore you.