The Beloved Disciple Was There
Month 12: Risen & Sending · Why We Believe
Today's Scripture
Read together: John 21:20-25
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to ask, “Lord, who is going to betray You?” 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me!” 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. However, Jesus did not say that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you?” 24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who has written them down. And we know that his testimony is true. 25 There are many more things that Jesus did. If all of them were written down, I suppose that not even the world itself would have space for the books that would be written.
Memory Verse
“Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”— John 21:17 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: James 5; 1 Peter 1-3
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Near Day 354 of 365 — Peter himself writing about "a living hope through the resurrection.")The Heart of It
At the very end of his Gospel, John steps out from behind the story for a moment. He points to "the disciple whom Jesus loved." That disciple is John himself. And he says it plainly. "This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true." That word testifies is courtroom language. John isn't passing along a rumor he heard. He isn't passing along a legend that grew over time. He is saying, "I was there. I leaned on Jesus at the Last Supper. I stood at the cross. I ran to the empty tomb. I ate the breakfast on the shore. What I have written, I saw with my own eyes."
This is one of the strongest reasons we trust the Gospel. It rests on eyewitnesses, not myths. John even adds, with a smile, that if everything Jesus did were written down, "the world itself could not contain the books." He had to choose what to include. That means he was working from a flood of real memories. He wasn't scraping together scraps. The Christian faith is not built on "once upon a time." It's built on "we have seen with our eyes... and our hands have handled" (). Faith does ask us to trust Jesus. But it gives us solid ground to stand on while we do.
Around the Table
John was Jesus' good friend, and he wrote down the true things he saw Jesus do — with his own eyes!
Let's do it: Point to your eyes and say, "John saw Jesus! It's a true story!"
John says his story is true because he was actually there. He didn't make it up. He was a witness.
Let's talk: What's the difference between a story someone made up and a story from someone who really saw it happen?
John writes like a witness giving testimony in court. The Gospels read like reports. They have names, places, and details that people could check.
Let's go deeper: Why does it matter that Christianity is built on eyewitnesses, and not on legends written hundreds of years later?
💬 Conversation Starter
If you saw something amazing happen and someone said "that's not real," how would you convince them you really saw it?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
When someone says... "The Gospels are just legends that grew over time."
You can answer kindly and confidently. The Gospels claim to come from eyewitnesses, and from during their own lifetimes. John says it outright. "I saw this, and I'm writing it down" (). The early church received these accounts within a few decades of the events, while hundreds of witnesses were still alive (). Legends usually take generations to grow. They grow after the eyewitnesses are gone and no one can correct them. But the New Testament was going around while people who walked with Jesus could still say, "That's not how it happened." On top of that, the writers include embarrassing details. The disciples' cowardice. Peter's denials. Women as the first witnesses, in a culture that didn't value their word. Nobody inventing a flattering legend puts that in. As Peter himself said it, "we did not follow cunningly devised fables... but were eyewitnesses of His majesty" (). And we say all this the way Scripture tells us to. We answer "with gentleness and respect" (). We give a reason for our hope, and we don't pick a fight.
For Dad · Go Deeper
Whether the Gospels are historically reliable isn't a side issue you can skip on the way to "the spiritual part." It holds up the whole house. Richard Bauckham's careful work argues that the Gospels are rooted in named eyewitness testimony, passed down faithfully. They are not anonymous folklore. Your children are growing up in a culture that will tell them faith is just a feeling, with no facts underneath. Hand them the other thing. Hand them a faith with footnotes. Let them know it's not unspiritual to ask, "How do we know?" That's exactly what John invited when he signed his name to his report. Model this yourself. Read the resurrection accounts not just for devotion but as the testimony they claim to be. And let your kids hear you say, "We believe this because real people saw it and told the truth, even when it cost them their lives."
Draws on: Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that our faith is built on what really happened. Thank You for John and the others who saw Jesus and told the truth. Help us be ready to share our hope. And help us share it with kindness. In Jesus' name, amen."
Our faith isn't "once upon a time." It's "I was there, and it's true."