Listen

Then Jesus did many other miraculous signs in his disciples’ presence, signs that aren’t recorded in this scroll. But these things are written so that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, and that believing, you will have life in his name.

John 20:30-31

Think

The author teases us a bit here — there are more amazing stories that aren’t in this book. There’s room for some holy imagination here.

But what is written is enough to know that we will have life from believing in Jesus. Life in his name comes from following Jesus’s example and his teachings. Those teachings were revolutionary then, and they’re still revolutionary today.

Jesus taught that God loves and cares for each of us like a mother hen protecting her chicks under her wings, a baker making enough bread for all to eat, a shepherd searching for even one lost sheep. And, unlike the kingdoms we’re used to, Jesus taught that God’s realm is an upside-down kingdom where the last shall be first, peacemakers will inherit the earth, even the sparrows matter to God, and we are to love our enemies.

These aren’t easy teachings still. Following Jesus’s example is a countercultural path. But this is the path of love, the path of the upside-down realm of God, the path of resurrection.

Daneen Akers

Pray

God of the upside-down kingdom, give me courage to walk in the footsteps of Jesus today.

Let me be like a mother hen to those who need protecting.

Let me be share bread with anyone who is hungry.

Let me notice the sparrows.

Help me to love even those who do evil to me.

Amen.

Go

Like the poet Wendell Berry says, “be joyful though you have considered all the facts.”

Practice resurrection.