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Day 323

John 19:16-42 "THE QUESTION OF FAITH"

Day 323 – John 19

THE QUESTION OF FAITH

John must have paused for a little while to ponder over all that he had written. Did his readers have problems with what he had written thus far? Had their hearts been touched as they read what he had written? Or did they struggle as he wrote about the death of Jesus? Had their hopes been dashed because he recorded the fact that Jesus had died?

These questions must have been in his mind. Thus he wrote the following words to deal with the problem of continuing “faith” in Jesus.

“And he who has seen has testified, and his
testimony is true; and he knows that he is
telling the truth, so that you may believe.”
John 19:35

JOHN’S PERSONAL JOURNEY OF FAITH

John had very clear memories of all that he had experienced when he was a Disciple of Jesus. In his first general epistle, he began with these words.

“That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon, and our hands have
handled, concerning the Word of life – the life
was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness,
and declare to you that eternal life which was with
the Father and was manifested to us – that which
we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you
also may have fellowship with us; and truly our
fellowship is with the Father and with His Son
Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you
that your joy may be full.”
1 John 1:1-4

What John said here essentially complements what he had written in his Gospel. We may list these thoughts as follows:-

1. The testimony of an eyewitness

John was writing as one who had heard and seen Jesus personally. He was an eyewitness.

2. A testimony that was both personal and theological

a) Personal – because John was an eyewitness and had personal faith in Jesus.
b) Theological – because John put forward his belief that Jesus was none other than the Son of God.

3. Goals for writing

a) To create faith.
b) To encourage continuing faith.
c) To bring joy through exercising faith.
d) To enhance appreciation and fellowship with God.

AN IMPORTANT BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

To the less than careful reader, knowledge of the death of Jesus can be devastating. To counter possible adverse effects, John wrote further,

“For these things were done that the Scriptures
should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall
be broken.’ And again another Scripture says,
‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced.'”
John 19:36

John once again brought in an all-import Biblical perspective. Without this Biblical-theological perspective, it would be well nigh impossible to make sense of the death of Jesus.

1. A Biblical-theological perspective

What John was doing when he cited the Scriptures was obvious:-

a) He was saying that the Scriptures had foreseen all these things that were done to Jesus. His suffering and death had been foretold and prophesied in the Scriptures (Isaiah 53).
b) He was saying that you need a Biblical-theological perspective to understand and appreciate all that Jesus experienced when He suffered and died as He did.

2. Even the minutiae is important

a) The matter of Jesus legs not being broken was foretold in the Scriptures (Psalm 34:20 “He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.”).
b) The matter of people looking at Jesus was also foretold (Psalm 22:16-17; Zechariah 12:10 “They will look on Me whom they pierced.”).

3. Surely Jesus fulfilling the Scriptures compels belief

This was the thrust of what John was saying! The death of Jesus need not cause people to stumble! He knew that many had stumbled, but they need not be.

If they were to understand the death of Jesus from a Biblical-theological standpoint, then they would have an even deeper faith!

If Jesus’ death fulfilled what the Scriptures had foretold, then the Word of God must be believed in! If Jesus fulfilled these Messianic prophecies then He must be the Messiah! It was staggering to know and to believe that the Messiah could be killed by the very same people He came to save! But His death was necessary to bring about salvation. Jesus’ response to His Father’s will surely compels heartfelt faith!