John 20:19-31 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Second Sunday of Easter Sunday, April 12, 2026 “That You May Believe”
It has been said that the Bible was not written to you, but it was written for you. I prefer not to push that idea too far as though we can fully understand all of God’s purposes in dealing with his people and his world in the way he does, but that phrase does help us consider some important points. So, for example, the Apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans in 57 AD to Christians in the city of Rome. We are not in the city of Rome, and it is not 57 AD. Paul did not write the book of Romans specifically with you and me in mind. But we still study it. We’re currently in a Bible study on that book on Sunday mornings seeing a lot of what that book, inspired by God, says to us today. It is helpful to consider the history and the original recipients and their context to get to the heart of the message. Even if it is not addressed to us, we see how it is written for us. It’s not exactly an exception to this rule, but I wonder if one verse near the end of John’s Gospel, at the very end of our reading today, gets as close as possible to being written directly to us. After all, we’ve just been mentioned in the exchange that God allows us to overhear between Jesus and Thomas. We’ve just been spoken of as those who have not seen and yet have believed, and then John writes a sweeping conclusion to this account. He talks about all the many things, many miracles, that Jesus did that did not get recorded in the book. Then he writes, But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. So who does John mean by “you”? He means everyone who reads his book, his Gospel. John doesn’t begin the book by addressing it to any one person or group. He doesn’t identify any particular recipient to whom the Gospel message is directed. He writes almost certainly the last of the Gospel accounts of the life and death and resurrection and appearances of Jesus. He records details that others did not. He fills in some gaps in our knowledge and understanding. Perhaps he had some particular people or some particular issues in mind as he wrote. But clearly he writes in a way that shows how universal the message is. He writes with untold, unknown future Christians in mind. And he summarizes the purpose for which he writes and really for which God inspires all of Scripture: that you may believe. Because God wants you to believe, and because God wants others to believe, he has given us his Holy Scriptures. He has written useful accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus, specific applications of that message, and the history behind it: the promises and the issues that made the promises necessary. He has recorded the good news and the bad news that made the good news so necessary. He has taught us along with many previous generations and he only knows how many generations to come that we have done wrong, deserve punishment, and have no way to escape it on our own. And he has taught us all that Jesus is the answer to that great need and therefore also the answer to every need we have in this life. That you may believe, Jesus gave you his Word. He didn’t give you the opportunity to place your fingers into the nail marks on his hands or the spear wound in his side. He didn’t appear to you in the days and weeks after he escaped his tomb and broke death’s grip on him. He didn’t have you assembled with those to whom he preached and whom he taught. He didn’t allow you to see the parting of the Red Sea or the waters of the flood raining down. But he left you with a reliable record of all these things and more. He gave you not history as such, but salvation history, for you and for your salvation. So doesn’t that imply that we could be a little more thankful for and a little more focused on this amazing gift? I do want to acknowledge that I am addressing people today who came to church the week after Easter. You can probably see that attendance today is not what it was last week. I am not trying to suggest that you despise God’s Word. You wouldn’t be here if you did. But we can all grow in our appreciation. We can all grow in our application. How many days go by during our weeks where we do not connect the things we are doing and the choices we are making to what God has revealed to us in his Word? And how many days go by when we choose other factors, social, political, personal, to direct our lives instead of the one great source of wisdom and strength and life. Listen as God directs you back to