Since the very beginning in the garden of Eden, two voices have been heard in Scripture: the voice of the Creator, and the contrary voice of the devil. In this section of Proverbs, we hear the two voices again. Both are speaking to ″my son″ (Proverbs 1:10), the young man.
Solomon, introduced as the major author of the book of Proverbs (1:1), is the son of David. He was the king of Israel who asked God for wisdom-and was given it to such a degree that other kings sent envoys to hear it and the Queen of Sheba was overwhelmed by it (1 Kings 3:6-9, 4:29-34, 10:6-9).
John’s gospel is relentlessly focused on Jesus Christ. However, it does not neglect the people Jesus meets. Testifying about one’s conversion experience has become less frequent these days, so it’s worth taking a moment to review these testimonies.
John never refers to himself by name in his gospel. He is probably the ″other″ disciple of John the Baptist, who with Andrew follows Jesus (John 1:35). He is referred to at the Last Supper as ″the disciple whom Jesus loved″ (John 13:23).
This final chapter of John’s gospel reminds us of the effective pastoral work by the Lord Jesus. Mention has already been made of His approachability, sensitivity, and His perfect knowledge and insight into the character of people. He is, after all, the one through whom all things were made (John 1:3) and ″he knew what was in each person″ (2:25).
John has recorded only a selection of Jesus’ miraculous signs. John 1:3 tells us, ″Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.″ Paul tells us, ″for in him all things were created . . . in him all things hold together.″ (Colossians 1:16-17).
This is the first appearance of Jesus to His disciples, the original twelve without Judas Iscariot and Thomas, though there may have been others present. Fear gives way to joy when they recognize Jesus (vv. 19-20), and He greets them with the words, ″Peace be with you!″ (v. 19).
When the others told Thomas they had seen the Lord (v. 25), he was sceptical. He knew all about wishful thinking and optical illusions. He wanted the proof that only touch and sight could give (v. 25), otherwise he would not believe.
There will always be those who claim that the record of Christ’s death and resurrection is fantasy, myth, or legend.