John, likely knowing his days are coming to an end, takes on one final task. Mark’s gospel is in circulation, Matthew and Luke have compiled their accounts of the life of Christ, and John wants to do the same. Yet his gospel will be different. He seeks to tell stories they didn’t and to add details to stories they told. He selects a cross section of signs.
John’s chosen miracles run the gamut from a wedding oversight to a violent execution, from abandoned hopes to buried friends. We watch a paralytic stand up and a blind man look up. And all these events stand together as one voice, calling on you to lift your eyes and open your heart to the possibility — indeed, the reality — that the greatest force in the universe is the One who means you well and brings you hope. Remember, friends, you are never alone.
