John 20:31

but these are written On the one hand there were many unrecorded; buton the other hand some have been recorded. Note in the Greek the menand the deand comp. John 19:23; John 19:25. It was not S. John's purpose to write a complete -Life of Christ;" it was not his purpose to write a -Life" at all. Rather he would narrate just those facts respecting Jesus which would produce a saving faith in Him as the Messiah and the Son of God. S. John's work is -a Gospel and not a biography."

that ye might believe That ye may believe.

that Jesus is the Christ, &c. That those who read this record may be convinced of two things, identical in the Divine counsels, identical in fact, but separate in the thoughts of men, (1) that Jesus, the well-known Teacher and true man, is the Christ, the long looked for Messiah and Deliverer of Israel, the fulfiller of type and prophecy; (2) that He is also the Son of God, the Divine Word and true God. Were He not the latter He could not be the former, although men have failed to see this. Some had been looking for a mere Prophet and Wonder-worker, a second Moses or a second Elijah; others had been looking for an earthly King and Conqueror, a second David or a second Solomon. These views were all far short of the truth, and too often obscured and hindered the truth. Jesus, the Lord's Anointed, must be and is not only very man but very God. Comp. 1 John 4:14-15.

ye might have life Ye may have life. The truth is worth having for its own sake: but in this case to possess the truth is to possess eternal life. Comp. 1 John 5:13. Note once more that eternal life is not a prize to be won hereafter; in believing these great truths we have eternal life already (see on John 5:24).

through his name Rather, in His name(see on John 1:12). Thus the conclusion of the Gospel is an echo of the beginning (John 1:4; John 1:12). Comp. Acts 4:10; 1 Corinthians 6:11.

It is quite manifest that this was in the first instance intended as the end of the Gospel. The conflict between belief and unbelief recorded in it reach a climax in the confession of S. Thomas and the Beatitude which follows: the work appears to be complete; and the Evangelist abruptly but deliberately brings it to a close. What follows is an afterthought, added by S. John's own hand, as the style and language sufficiently indicate, but not part of the original plan. There is nothing to shew how long an interval elapsed before the addition was made, nor whether the Gospel was ever published without it. The absence of evidence as to this latter point favours the view that the Gospel was not given to the world until after the appendix was written.

Sixteen distinct marks tending to shew that chap. 21 is by S. John are pointed out in the notes and counted up by figures in square brackets, thus [1]. Besides these points it should be noticed that S. John's characteristic -therefore" occurs seven times (John 20:5; John 20:9; John 20:15; John 20:21; John 20:23) in twenty-three verses.