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Read John 20:30-31.
"So, there's more I could tell you, but I think that's enough for you get the gist of the story." Have you ever had anyone say something like that to you? It's a rather frustrating statement. And when John says it about Jesus and his work, it's even moreso. Michael Card calls it one of the most frustrating verses in the Bible (John: The Gospel of Wisdom, pg. 209). There's more, really? But you can't be bothered to tell us the more?
There are similar verses in the Old Testament. Over and over again, in the books of Kings and Chronicles, we're told that other actions and events in the lives of the kings of Israel and Judah are recorded in the "annals," books that have now been lost to history. Why did someone not preserve those? And why did the authors of Kings and Chronicles and John not bother to write everything down?
John himself gives us a partial answer in the next chapter, the epilogue, of his book. At the very end, John writes this: "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25). Well, that may be a bit of hyperbole, inspired exaggeration, on John's part, but his point is this: I've told you enough in my book for you to be able to make up your mind about Jesus. Either he is the Son of God or he isn't. You decide. I've given you the basic evidence. Now it's up to you.
The same thing is true of the Bible itself. Not every event is recorded. If it were, we wouldn't be able to carry the Bible around in a physical form! (In digital form, however...that'd be easy!) The authors, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, were selective in what they shared. Is there more they could have told? Yes, of course. Would adding more make us believe more quickly, more easily? Probably not. The Bible, as it is, is absolutely sufficient for helping us to know Jesus, the point of the story, the Word made flesh (John 1:14). The question is not really, "What's the more?" The question is, "What will you do with what you already know?"
"So, there's more I could tell you, but I think that's enough for you get the gist of the story." Have you ever had anyone say something like that to you? It's a rather frustrating statement. And when John says it about Jesus and his work, it's even moreso. Michael Card calls it one of the most frustrating verses in the Bible (John: The Gospel of Wisdom, pg. 209). There's more, really? But you can't be bothered to tell us the more?
There are similar verses in the Old Testament. Over and over again, in the books of Kings and Chronicles, we're told that other actions and events in the lives of the kings of Israel and Judah are recorded in the "annals," books that have now been lost to history. Why did someone not preserve those? And why did the authors of Kings and Chronicles and John not bother to write everything down?
John himself gives us a partial answer in the next chapter, the epilogue, of his book. At the very end, John writes this: "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25). Well, that may be a bit of hyperbole, inspired exaggeration, on John's part, but his point is this: I've told you enough in my book for you to be able to make up your mind about Jesus. Either he is the Son of God or he isn't. You decide. I've given you the basic evidence. Now it's up to you.
The same thing is true of the Bible itself. Not every event is recorded. If it were, we wouldn't be able to carry the Bible around in a physical form! (In digital form, however...that'd be easy!) The authors, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, were selective in what they shared. Is there more they could have told? Yes, of course. Would adding more make us believe more quickly, more easily? Probably not. The Bible, as it is, is absolutely sufficient for helping us to know Jesus, the point of the story, the Word made flesh (John 1:14). The question is not really, "What's the more?" The question is, "What will you do with what you already know?"
I look at it as what great stories we will hear in heaven, where we have an eternity to listen to all of the saints and God Himself.
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