Todays readings …  Deuteronomy 8&9, Ecclesiastes 3, John 20&21

“AND THAT BY BELIEVING YOU MAY HAVE LIFE IN HIS NAME”

Today we read the climax and reached the end of the gospel of John, and what a challenging clix it unfolds to us..  These final two chapters are two of the most heart-warming and heart stirring chapters in the whole of the Bible.

The words of Jesus to the disciple Thomas are words which we should be particularly appropriate to us.  Thomas was one of the twelve but “was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”

But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” [John 20 v.24,25]

Jesus was ‘present’ [!] to hear his declaration and “eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”[v.26,27]

The final words of Jesus in the chapter are his statement, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The chapter ends with the admission by John that “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.” May our belief but total! It cannot be anything less!