Dr. Dan Hayden •
If you want the idea to last, write it down. What is written down has a greater chance of being remembered. That’s our word for today: Written.
The apostle John tells us exactly why he wrote down what Jesus said and did. The Gospel of John was written for the express purpose of presenting sufficient evidence for us to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of mankind. In John 20:31 he writes,
…but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
John was selective in what he wrote. There a lot of things he didn’t include, but what he did include was exactly what we need to know in order to believe.
The word written is the Greek verb grapho. The noun form of this word graphe (means what is written) is where we get our word graphic and such words as autograph and polygraph. John selected seven representative miracles out of all the miracles Jesus did, and then he included a number of our Lord’s significant discourses that reveal his character and ministry. And then, when he came to the end of it all, he said, these things are written that you might believe.
You see, we believe in Christ on the basis of a written record that is a truthful, eye-witness account of all that Jesus said and did. It is on the basis of this written record that we believe that Jesus is the Son of God. It is on the basis of this written record that we are led to place our faith in Jesus Christ for eternal life. What is written leads us to believe.
It’s all written right there in the book. All you have to do is read it.