“Guess you had to be there.” Is that true? Or, is it a joke-teller’s excuse for an unfunny story or a funny one fallen flat? In reality, you didn’t have to “be there.” If the story is told well, you’ll get the point and respond with appropriate emotion. In fact, sometimes the story is better than ‘being there’ because it is seasoned with time for reflection. The passing of days, decades, and centuries allow perspective to develop and fuller truth to emerge.
So it is with the story of Jesus and His storyteller John, the son of Zebedee, and the natural question arising from a critical reading of the New Testament: Why did John write the last gospel when three perfectly good ones were already in circulation? The author anticipated and answered the question before we thought to inquire:
“…these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name,” (John 20.30-31).
Read the gospel of John. It will inspire faith, and I think you will agree... you didn’t have to be there.
