Seventh Sunday of Eastertide | Day Forty-three of the Great Fifty

The past four Sundays of Eastertide we’ve reflected on the third resurrection appearance of Jesus in John’s computation.  Here’s a quick review.  After Jesus cooks breakfast on the shore of Lake Galilee for seven of the apostles, He pulls Peter aside to have a chat with him, asking him if he loves Him (Jesus) three times.  Three times Jesus tells him to feed the church.  Jesus then informs Peter about his future and commands him to maintain faithfulness to the Faith by following Him.  Peter now has a conversation with Jesus about, it is presumed, John.

The Gospel of John then ends with a profound editorial comment made by the members of John’s church who put the fourth Gospel in to its final form.  “This is the disciple who testifies concerning these things and who wrote them down.  We know that his testimony is true.   Jesus did many other things as well.  If all of them were recorded, I imagine the world itself wouldn’t have enough room for the scrolls that would be written” (John 21:24-25).

The Jesus Story is so huge that if every detail of it were written down there wouldn’t be enough room in the world to house all the books that would be written!  This is a spirited and mesmerizing exaggeration designed to make a point as the Gospel concludes.  The Jesus Story is larger than anything John or anyone else can possibly imagine.  All four accounts as we have them in the New Testament – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – are wonderful to read and are sufficient to show us who Jesus Christ is.  But the efforts of each writer fades in comparison to the majesty of the Person whom each’s story portrays.

The Good News of Jesus Christ is bigger than life because the Good News of Jesus Christ is Life – abundant and everlasting.  The Story that began with “the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us” (John 1:14) continues to this very day.  None of us can even begin to fully comprehend what Christ has done in billions and billions of lives across the span of nearly 20 centuries.  I can’t fully comprehend what He has done in my own life.

Given this Lord’s Day is also Mother’s Day, I am moved to think of the countless mothers whose lives were fortified by the Jesus Story because of their faith in Him.  The number is known only to God.  Some of them are still among us.  Many are resting from their labors in Paradise, including my mother.  This, by the way, will be my first Mother’s Day without my mom who died in February.  This will be a first for many others, too.

Determine to be a guardian of the Story by reading the stories of others.  You’ll never be able to read all the books that have been written about Jesus, but you can read some of them.  Allow the Story to continue to be written through and in your own life.  Live the Jesus Story each day because you, yourself, may be the only book about Jesus that another might ever read.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus.”  It is four minutes fifty-seven seconds.

This Lord’s Day at Garden Lakes Baptist Church in Rome, GAduring the 11:00 a.m. worship gathering a young girl will be baptized, two children will be dedicated, mothers will be blessed, Ryan Okubo will be blessed as he departs GLBC, the Sanctuary Choir will sing, and I’ll offer a brief homily, “A Prayer for Us from the Past,” based on John 17:20-26.  There is also a worship gathering at 8:45 a.m. in the Chapel.  Sunday School for all ages begins at 9:45 a.m.  Join us if you are in the Rome area.