vancerains.com

            I was recently reminded of these words from the end of the Gospel of John, “There are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25, NRSV)

            That’s literally true, of course.  Countless moments, events, interactions, private conversations, and maybe even some of Jesus’ miracles were never recorded. As much as the Gospels do recall of the life of Jesus, and as much as the rest of the New Testament authors seek to make sense of the meaning Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection, there’s still SO MUCH we don’t know.

We don’t know most of Jesus’ inner thoughts.

We don’t know most of Jesus’ private conversations.

We don’t know much about Jesus’ childhood, teens or early adulthood.

We don’t know much about Jesus’ relationships with his father, Joseph, or his siblings.

We don’t know when or how Jesus fully realized his identity as “Son of God” and “Son of Man.”

Also absent from the Gospels – specific answers to SO MANY of my questions about SO MANY things!

            John’s concluding verse is a reminder that as much as we think we can confidently say about Jesus, we don’t everything. In fact, we don’t know a lot!

            And I’m ok with that. No matter how complete the Gospels may be regarding the essentials, I’m glad to have a savior who’s bigger than what four books can adequately summarize, even if that leaves me with unanswered questions! As much as I want to know Jesus, the not knowing leaves room for the bigness of Jesus.

            I’m currently enjoying the final weeks of a three month “renewal leave.” Over the last two months I’ve traveled, I’ve cared for my three infant granddaughters, I’ve had meaningful conversations, I’ve gardened, I’ve worked on projects around the house, I’ve baptized one of my granddaughters and officiated a funeral for a friend, and I’ve read fourteen books on a variety of topics (and am currently working on six others). Next week, I’ll be studying and planning sermons for the coming year – hopefully through Easter 2027 – so my list of “books read” should get longer.  In the coming weeks of my leave, I will travel a bit more. But I’ll mostly be home, focusing on my garden and a few projects I really want to get done. I may even wash my truck, which I rarely do.

            In the last paragraph I summarized three months of activities in the life of Vance Rains. Obviously, it’s incomplete. I told you I traveled, but I didn’t say where. I told you about my granddaughters but I didn’t mention their names. I mentioned meaningful conversations – about what, with whom? I reported reading a lot of books – about what, written by whom?

            And, by the way, the books I’ve read and the books I’m reading make two nice, tall stacks. But, all combined, I still know and comprehend a whole lot less than I’d like to.

            Obviously, the Gospels can’t tell us everything about Jesus.  If they did, “the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” – apparently a lot more than my stacks of summer reading! Though I’m fairly confident the Gospels contain the essentials about Jesus, wouldn’t you love to know more?  I would!

            But, for now, we have what we have, and the rest remains a mystery. And that’s more than ok with me.

            My favorite word about God is “ineffable.” Ineffable means, “something too great, beautiful, or extreme to be expressed or described in words.” God is ineffable. Though we know many details about the life of Jesus of Nazareth, there’s much we don’t know. And, certainly, the mystery of Christ is ineffable.

            Though I doubt I’ll ever stop learning or search for answers, no matter how many books I read or lectures I attend or podcasts I listen to, I’ll likely still die not knowing far more than I can say for certain.

            Thank goodness.

            In the meantime, I have a few more books to read!