John 20:30-31 - Homiletics

The dose of the evangelist's narrative.

It has an abrupt termination. The Gospel began with an assertion of Christ's Deity; it ends with a confession of the same blessed doctrine.

I. THE EVANGELIST 'S METHOD OF WRITING HIS NARRATIVE . "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book."

1. These words imply the existence of the other Gospels, with their fuller narratives of miracle. He thus ratifies the contents of those Gospels.

2. The miracles were wrought in presence of the disciples, because they were to be our Lord's witnesses to the world.

II. THE AIM OF THE EVANGELIST . "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his Name."

1. It is a blessed security for the faith of the Church of all ages that the gospel was written, and not left to the uncertainties of traditional recollection.

2. The object of Scripture is to minister to faith. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." This faith has:

(a) Faith is a fundamental necessity in Christianity.

(b) It brings life to the soul.

"The life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God" ( Galatians 2:20 ). This life is "through his Name." He is our Life, and he gives life.