That You Might Find Life in His Name
John 20:30–31
John wrote his Gospel so that his readers would believe in the name of Jesus and live!
#life
#Gospel
Published February 25th, 2018; Updated February 26th, 2018
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NT
John 20:30-31
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John 20:30
subjectverb
ἃ
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drop
equal
revrocket
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pred
ἔστιν
οὐκ
predicate
γεγραμμένα
prepphrase
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ἐν
τῷ
βιβλίῳ
τούτῳ
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dashed
free
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ὁ
Ἰησοῦς
ἐποίησεν
καὶ
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σημεῖα
Πολλὰ
ἄλλα
ἐνώπιον
τῶν
μαθητῶν
[αὐτοῦ]
ταῦτα
γέγραπται
πιστεύ[ς]ητε
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Ἰησοῦς
ἐστιν
ὁ
χριστὸς
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ὁ
υἱὸς
τοῦ
θεοῦ
ὅτι
ἔχητε
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πιστεύοντες
ζωὴν
ἐν
τῷ
ὀνόματι
αὐτοῦ
καὶ
ἵνα
ἵνα
μὲν
δὲ
οὖν
John 20:31
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Phrase
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John 20:30-31
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Πολλὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄλλα σημεῖα ἐποίησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς
Fact
ἐνώπιον τῶν μαθητῶν [αὐτοῦ],
Space of 30a
ἃ οὐκ ἔστιν γεγραμμένα
Relative to 30a
ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ•
Space of 30c
ταῦτα δὲ γέγραπται
Specification of 30a
ἵνα πιστεύ[ς]ητε
Purpose of 31a
ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ χριστὸς
Content of 31b
ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ,
Apposition to 31c
πιστεύοντες
Cause of 31f
καὶ ἵνα ... ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ.
Additional Purpose of 31a
Πολλὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄλλα σημεῖα ἐποίησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐνώπιον τῶν μαθητῶν [αὐτοῦ], ἃ οὐκ ἔστιν γεγραμμένα ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ•
ταῦτα δὲ γέγραπται ἵνα πιστεύ[ς]ητε ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἵνα πιστεύοντες ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ.
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John 20:30-31
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Now on the one hand Jesus also did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
Πολλὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄλλα σημεῖα ἐποίησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐνώπιον τῶν μαθητῶν [αὐτοῦ], ἃ οὐκ ἔστιν γεγραμμένα ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ•
On the other hand these [signs] have been written
ταῦτα δὲ γέγραπται
in order that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
ἵνα πιστεύ[ς]ητε ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ,
and in order that by believing you [guys] might have life in his name.
καὶ ἵνα πιστεύοντες ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ.
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Notes
Parsing ἐποίησεν Aorist Active Indicative 3rd Singular ἔστιν Present Active Indicative 3rd Singular γέγραπται Perfect Passive Indicative 3rd Singular πιστεύητε Present Active Subjunctive 2nd Plural ἐστιν Present Active Indicative 3rd Singular πιστεύοντες Present Active Participle Nominative Masculine Plural ἔχητε Present Active Subjunctive 2nd Plural Grammar Notes 20:30 - οὖν in the Gospel of John often seems inferential, but is actually functioning simply as a transitional conjunction. Though this is commentary by the narrator John, it is still chronologically following the rest of the storytelling up to this point and moving the story forward to a purpose statement. 20:31 -W46 Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ χριστὸς The "pecking order" is that the pronoun takes priority. There is no pronoun, so articles and proper nouns take equal priority. Both of these are present, so the subject is either the first noun or the proper name, both of which are Ἰησοῦς. He is also the known quantity from verse 30. -W472 Both ἵνα clauses in this verse introduce purpose clauses, indicating the reason for John writing this Gospel. -W576 The usage of γέγραπται is unusual in this verse as it does not introduce an OT quotation, but actually introduces a concluding remark about the Gospel of John itself. - ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ is functioning as a preposition indicating sphere. -I agree with Fee and Carson that πιστεύ[ς]ητε should be taken as πιστεύητε, the present active subjunctive 2nd plural. It seems to have slightly better external manuscript support, an early attestation by Origen, and is the more difficult reading. I disagree with Fee though, that this does not necessitate for the audience to be believers "continuing in the faith." The progression of purpose including the possession of "life" seems to support this as well. Translation 20:30 Now on the one hand Jesus also did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 20:31 On the other hand these [signs] have been written in order that you [plural] might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and in order that by believing you might have life in his name.
notes
Devotional
The apostle John fixed his mind on this truth as he wrote his Gospel: Life is only found in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. With this fact in the forefront, John crafted his narrative with great care, for a reason. His selectivity comes with a caveat though, Jesus did do many other signs in the presence of his disciples. We should not brush over this fact! Let's review the signs John chose to record: 1. Jesus turns water into wine (John 2:1–11) 2. Jesus heals an official's son (John 4:46–54) 3. Jesus heals a man who cannot walk (John 5:1–15) 4. Jesus feeds 5,000 people (John 6:1–15) 5. Jesus walks on water (John 6:16–21) 6. Jesus heals a man born blind (John 9:1–41) 7. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1–41) 8. Jesus himself rises from the dead (John 20:1–29)! John chose to record all of these signs, and yet he is saying Jesus did MANY other signs? The only logical conclusion from this is that Jesus Christ is even better than what we know or could possibly imagine! John's vision of Jesus in the future returning with "a name written that no one knows but himself" supports this thought even more (Revelation 19:12). Out of all the things written about Jesus, and all the names we have for him, there is still more. Jesus is bigger and better than we could possibly imagine! How awesome is that?! So with even more stories at his disposal, why did John choose these stories? He makes this clear: "(1) In order that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and (2) in order that by believing you might have life in his name." John desires that his readers believe that Jesus is the Messiah—that he is the Son of God. Every single one of the signs John chose serves as a pointer to the identity of Jesus. Like a neon "Vacancy" sign at a hotel, John's stories scream, "He is the Messiah, the long expected Savior of the people from their sins!" The progression of this purpose statement is that by believing in Jesus as Messiah, the Son of God, the believer will find life. That genuine life is found only by believing in the name of Jesus and finding satisfaction in glorifying him forever and evermore. So believe in the name of Jesus! The Lamb of God. Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace. Light of the World. Lion of Judah. And so much more! He is bigger and better than we could possibly imagine, and in him we find life. All-satisfying life. John wrote his Gospel precisely so you would find it.
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