John 21:20-25 (NRSV)
Read John 21:20-25 on biblegateway.com
Verse 20Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" Verse 21When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Verse 22Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" Verse 23So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" Verse 24This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. Verse 25But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
Devotion
At the end of the Gospel of John (21:24-25), the gospel writer’s community added a postscript before they published the Gospel. They made two observations:
1) They trusted the writer and vouched for him.
2) The Gospel didn’t tell all the stories about Jesus (“If every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain [all] the books.”)
Who will tell the rest of the stories? In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury imagines a horrible time when books are banned and burned. That’s when some people began memorizing books. They became living books.
Together, let’s be living gospels whose very lives tell about the difference Jesus has made-- and continues to make--in our world. We will be living testimonies to the One who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14.6). Who, besides you, can tell your story?
Prayer
Dear Jesus, you have called us to be your witnesses in our world. Give us the will and the courage to be your living gospels. Amen.