John 20:30-31 NIV
[30] “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. [31] But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John concluded his story but not Jesus’ story. As Jesus’ companion and eyewitness, he had much more to tell but…where would he stop? Jesus had said and done so much in his presence that he concluded, with a sense of wonder…

John 21:25 NIV
[25] “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

Was this just exaggeration or was John so overwhelmed with material for his book that he was forced to leave it there, a kind of open-ended conclusion and admission that he could have written reams more and never gotten to the end of this marvellous God-Man’s story.

So, John ends his record of the Son of God with a declaration of his purpose. The other gospel writers leave the reader to decide the reason for each presentation for themselves, but not John. He made sure that every reader would reach the conclusion he intended, and be faced with a decision.

Every person on earth, at some point in life, must face the question, “Who will you serve?” and bear the consequences of that decision. Since there are witnesses to God’s existence everywhere that no one can deny, the witness of creation…

Psalms 19:1-4 NIV
[1] “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. [2] Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. [3] They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. [4] Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.”

Romans 1:20 NIV
[20] “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

…and the witness of conscience,

Romans 2:14-15 NIV
[14] “(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. [15] They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them).”

Every person must decide about Jesus to settle their destiny.

To his credit, John intensified this witness by preserving and presenting the story of Jesus in written form. In this way, every reader is faced with a decision and a choice, to believe or not to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and to receive Him or reject Him as Lord.

John 1:12 NIV
[12] “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God… “

Throughout his gospel, John presents records of Jesus’ miracles as signs, evidence pointing to His identity. In every clash with His opponents, Jesus reinforced His claim to be the Son of God. Time and again, Jesus’ words matched the revelation of Messiah in the writings of the Tanach. John presented Him as the embodiment of truth, God’s Word, prophesied in the Old Testament, clothed in a human body. Like the lamp of David’s psalm,

Psalms 119:105 NIV
[105] “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

…He came to bring light to the people who walked in darkness.

John 8:12 NIV
[12] “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

… shining the light on His true identity and offering His people the opportunity to receive and live by His light.

John masterfully wove together the two strands of witness, Jesus words and His works, that provide the undeniable evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. In Jesus’ own words, the reader’s choice will decide his/her eternal destiny by believing and receiving or rejecting His witness.

John 3:18 NIV
[18] “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

So, John urged, read to believe so that, by believing, you will have life through Him.

1 John 5:11-12 NIV
[11] “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

John 3:36 NIV
[36] “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

You be the judge. Your life is in your hands!