John 21:24–25

Verse 24 is decisive as to the many references to the unnamed disciple: it is of course John himself. He speaks with full seriousness about the absolute truth of what he has written. He also uses the plural: "we know." Believers know the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 14:4-7; 17), and in the same way we know the truth of the word of God. Let that knowledge then have constant, vital power in our lives.

How like the Spirit this is! The man who enjoyed such favour describes himself not as loving Jesus — though he did — but as loved by Him. He calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. Here and elsewhere he leaves his own name out, as a thing of small account. Yet he describes himself clearly at the close, where it was needed, and his name is given where men might deny who wrote the Gospel — as they have done!

Last of all comes the personal seal or attestation of the writer. It was John, and no other. Every inspired writer keeps his own style and manner, and none more clearly than the writer of the fourth Gospel. Yet what he wrote is only a sample, chosen in divine wisdom, following a specific plan that serves the grand scope and purpose of divine revelation.

What we have is a selection made by the Holy Spirit: a principle just as true of the "signs" worked by our Lord (John 20:30-31; John 21:24-25). Every scripture is of God's special design.

John is one of these qualified witnesses, and he represents them and speaks for them. I want to stress this: with full authority he has declared (John 21:24) what the Son of God testified to the world. He has also declared what the Son said to the men God gave Him out of the world.

To question whether its statements are accurate in fact corrupts the soul, because John 21:24 gives us a clear assurance… Intellectual honesty is a duty for all of us. As Bishop Gore says: "We must all train ourselves in the very rare quality of submission to good evidence. This quality is as rare among sceptics as among believers."

No early manuscript presents the Gospel without the closing chapter as part of it. No ancient version leaves out chapter 21. From the earliest testimony we can produce, the closing chapter has appeared as part of the Fourth Gospel… Look at how John writes. In 1 John 5:13 he states why he wrote that letter. Did the letter first end at that verse? Who would say so? Before finishing, he adds some fresh remarks. If John could compose his letter that way, why not his Gospel — stating his reasons for writing before bringing it to a close?

The words about the world and the books are no colourful exaggeration. John has traced for us the matchless words and works of the Word become flesh. He gives us only a selection of them. That selection is small, yet it is enough to convince us that in Him we have the Christ, the Son of God. Though He took a finite form, the Word who took it is infinite. He therefore put the stamp of infinity on everything He did and said. The world and books cannot contain that.

This in the judgment of the critic is exaggerated language; we claim that it is the sober statement of the truth inspired by the Holy Spirit. Remember the greatness and glory of the Person; try to conceive the character of the revelation that He made in His works and words, and then say whether this could be told in books.

So John is not exaggerating as he closes his Gospel. He supposed that not even the world itself would hold the records, if someone wrote down the things that such a One as Jesus did. How could it? Chapter 1 shows Him to be the Creator of all things! Could the whole of creation even contain the Creator?

Yet what was written is only a sample. God chose it in His wisdom, with a specific plan that serves the grand scope and purpose of divine revelation. If everything Jesus did were written out, the adoring writer had good reason to suppose that the world itself would be too small for the books needed.

This last verse reminds us that what is recorded of the Lord's doings on earth is only a tiny fraction of the whole, and this stays true even if we put all four Gospels together. It is as true of His words as of His works. This fact helps to explain things that people sometimes point to as apparent contradictions. For instance, the Lord must have done and said similar things scores of times during the years of His constant service in various parts of Judaea and Galilee.

If anyone tried to tell it all, the world could not hold the books that would be written. It would be an impossible load to lift, rather than a help to clearer understanding. How thankful we may be for the restraint that has packed what is a real blessing to us into such a small space! And yet, as we all must know, it opens out to whatever capacity we have. Our Bibles are all the same, and anyone can handle them. On the other hand, are we burning to know more? We may go on without any limit, except the limit our little faith or heart may impose.

These "many other things" ... are unknown to us, apart from their general character. But we know they must have carried the same divine grace and spotless holiness, the same moral glory, that marked everything the Son of God did. Some need or some sorrow probably prompted them. But we can go no further — and we would not wish to. As another has put it very well: "The silence of God is to be respected in the next place to His utterance."

The world would not contain the books that would be written, if all were told. But what is told is told for our blessing, so that we may know Him, live by that knowledge, love Him, and trust Him.

Well may John add that the story of such a One cannot be exhausted. The world itself, he supposes, could not contain all that should be written. Heaven and eternity are the place where everything will be opened up, to the delight and wonder of our hearts.