Bible Study series: John 21:24-25. This is the second ending of the Fourth Gospel. The whole world could not contain all the things Jesus did, if written in books.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: John 21:24-25
24 This is the disciple who testifies concerning these things and the one who wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 But there are many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose not even the world itself would have room for the written books. (John 21:24-25)
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Comments:
Scholars call these verses two post-scripts: v. 24 and v. 25.
24:
We now have a clear declaration that the beloved disciple wrote this Gospel. Testimony outside of this Gospel all point in the direction of John the apostle. 1 John 1:3 says that what “we” have seen and heard “we” declare to you also. And 1 John 1:3 says that “we” have touched the Lord with “our” hands and looked upon him with “our” own eyes. This is the only Gospel that states clearly that the author was an eyewitness and that his team of disciples or co-leaders bear witness to the truth of this book. Recall John 19:35, referring to the blood and water flowing from Jesus’s side: “And the one who saw has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he speaks truly, so that you also may believe.” Here in v. 24 it is not clear who the “we” are unless it is the obvious team who put together this Gospel, serving as amanuensis (scribes) or copyists or those who put up the money to have the manuscript published (no printing presses back then, so everything had to be handwritten). This process was expensive.
The testimony that they know is true does not refer to they themselves being eyewitnesses; they were not. They are referring to the inner witness of the Spirit and their first-hand knowledge of John’s honesty. The Spirit is bringing back these truths. “But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name—he will teach you all things and will remind you of everything which I have told you” (John 14:26). “He will glorify me because he will receive from what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). The “we” are filled with the Spirit and can recognize the deeper truths.
One last time, here is a review of the words “testify … testimony”: “The theme of witness … pervades the whole Gospel. The witness to the truth of God’s self-revelation in the Word is manifold: it comprises the witness of the Father (5:32, 37; 8:18), of the Son 8:14, 18), of the Spirit (15:26); the witness of the works of Christ (5:36; 10:25), the witness of the scriptures (5:39), the witness of the disciples (15:27), including the disciple whom Jesus loved (19:35; 21:24). The purpose of this manifold witness, as of John’s witness, is ‘that all might believe’: it is the purpose for which the Gospel itself was written (20:31)” (Bruce, comment on 1:6-8). The terms “witness” or “testimony” carries a legal meaning “of testifying or bearing witness to the true state of affairs by one who has sufficient knowledge or superior position” (Klink, comment on 1:7).
The beloved disciple—John—was able to peel back the historical layer—but not throw it away, because the Gospel is rooted in social conditions and historical and geographical accuracies about first-century Israel, particularly in Judea and Jerusalem. The truths that the beloved disciple perceived about Jesus goes into his origins and spirit and message. The message and miracles came from the Father and was communicated to and through his Son. I get the impression that since the beloved disciple spent so much time with Jesus that the disciple was ready to see the eternal truths about him.
25:
Then I like this expression about the deeper and eternal truths of the ministry and life of Jesus. Think of your high-school reading list: Homer’s Odyssey, various plays of Shakespeare, various American novels (by Mark Twain or Harriet Beecher Stowe, for example). You may have read a modernist, postmodernist twentieth-century play, if you took honors English. None of those great works of literature contains the truths found in this Gospel. Eternal truths will take an eternity to understand—the true nature of Jesus and his miracles and teachings.
As for the obvious hyperbole (pronounced hy-PER-boh-lee), it is a rhetorical device, not a moral vice. Hyperboles are designed to startle the reader. That is all.
The Passion and Resurrection narratives culminate this Gospel and the Synoptics. And Jesus is reigning right now in heaven. He is calling you and make his personal appearance in your heart if you allow this to happen. Then, in your own way, you can proclaim with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!”
GrowApp for John 21:24-25
A.. Broad questions: What are one or two eternal truths in the Gospel of John which have penetrated your heart? How have they impacted you? Begin with Jesus himself as the Word who tabernacled among us (John 1:1-3, 14). Then thumb through the rest of the Gospel in a review, to refresh your memory.
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12. Eyewitness Testimony in John’s Gospel
4. Church Fathers and John’s Gospel
3. Archaeology and John’s Gospel
SOURCES
For the bibliography, click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 