Believe
Near the end of the Gospel that bears his name, the apostle John wrote, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31). The words “believe” and “believing” in verse 31 represent a theme in John’s Gospel. The verb form of the Greek word means “to exercise faith in, to trust, to commit.” The noun form often is translated as faith (as in Matt. 8:10; Mark 2:5; 10:52; 11:22; Luke 17:5-6 [twice]; Rom. 1:17 [three times]; Heb. 11:6).
It is interesting that even though the apostle John used the verb form of this Greek word nearly 100 times in his account of Jesus’ life and ministry (as in John 1:7; 2:11; 3:12-18 [seven times]; 4:21; 7:38; 11:15; 11:25-26 [three times]; 14:1 [twice]; 17:21; 20:29 [twice]), he did not use the noun form of this word even once. An overarching theme of John’s Gospel, therefore, is that of active trust in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. This underscores the fitting nature of John’s words in 20:30-31, which we have quoted above. It also underscores these statements from early in John’s Gospel: “He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God” (1:10-13). The word translated believe in these statements (in 1:12) is the same Greek word John used in 20:31 and on so many other occasions throughout his account.
It’s clear John wanted his readers to believe in Jesus—to actively place their faith in Him—for salvation first, then in the everyday details of life. Do you believe in Jesus in the authentic way that John had in mind when He wrote His Gospel? In what ways does your life reflect your trust in Him?
