Knowing More About Jesus

There are still many other things that Jesus did, yet if they were written about in detail, I doubt there would be room enough in the entire world to hold the books to record them. John 21:25

What a fascinating note on which John ends his Gospel! That we might have had hundreds of additional accounts about Jesus seems at first glance very appealing. We could have spent lifetimes reading and meditating on the countless details about Jesus in those thousands of accounts John speculates about.

But would better Christians have been produced over the centuries by having more details about Jesus? Probably not. The challenge Christians face—especially today—is coming to know and respond to Jesus personally and in action. Many already know enough about Jesus—and it doesn’t necessarily help them live as better Christians. In fact, as some contemporary preachers have warned, the great danger of our era is that Christianity has become a “head-trip”—we think and talk endlessly about Jesus and Christianity without ever being radically converted without.ever really coming to live the Beatitudes.