John 11-21

The second half of the gospel John is more of Jesus' teachings and miracles as well as the story of His death and Resurrection. The ending is the reappearance to the disciples...

In chapter 11 of John we see a dead man raised from the dead. This is the miracle we 'witness' right before Jesus is arrested. This, as we discussed in class, was a very big no-no to the Jewish community. Getting rid of your earthly body is something to be grateful for. As I was reading this I thought about a story I heard on the radio (I am not sure how legit it is). A guy was in a car accident and was declared dead. He was then sent to the morgue and apparently when they autopsy people, they begin by cutting the face deeply. During this part of the procedure, the guy "woke up" and was declared alive. Now whether he had been alive the whole time, or was raised from the dead-I do not know and most others don't either...but I thought of Lazarus...I also find in this passage that Jesus thanks God the Father. I always have found it interesting how we exchange Jesus' Name; in thy Father's Name; Heavenly Father; Lord Jesus...etc while we pray...who exactly is it that we are suppose to pray to?? In the Lord's prayer it says "Our Father who..." Just a thought.

A couple things I find peculiar about John's version of the death and resurrection of Jesus includes the idea that Judas didn't betray Jesus with a kiss. In the first three gospels Judas betrays Jesus by a kiss, but in John, Jesus approaches the soldiers willingly. Another thing, that I sort of like, is that the writer seems to relate the story of Jesus' life better to the old testament. comments about this was done so this could be fulfilled seem to be more prominent in John than the other gospels. I like also how Jesus' prayers are included in John...it seems that the other gospels glossed over this...

The last two points about the end of John I would like to make is the reinstatement of both "Doubting" Thomas and Peter...It seems that this is the Jesus Christians like to believe in...the forgiving one and the one we can always trust in. I think that the reinstatement of Peter especially shows the character that Jesus has and the forgiveness He showed us...

And to end this entry, I absolutely loved the ending of John. It makes it seem more like a story book...but a true story book. It also takes into the account the magnitude of Jesus' life on earth and how we will never be able to fully understand what exactly happened then because it's both history and unrecounted, but also because if it had been recounted, we wouldn't be able to process it all. This statement at the end seems to validate the bible for me...maybe it's just tonight and the way I read it, but in a way it does.