I read and am reflecting on this short and beautiful section of the Large Catechism today.

“Therefore, every Christian has enough in Baptism to learn and to do all his life.  For he has always enough to do by believing firmly what Baptism promises and brings: victory over death and the devil (Romans 6:3-6),

["Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."]

“forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38),

["And Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"]

“God’s grace (Titus 3:5-6),

["he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration wand renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior."]

“the entire Christ, and the Holy Spirit with His gifts (1 Corinthians 6:11).”

["And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."]

          “30. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31. but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30-31

Today we will be starting a brief overview of the message and structure of the Gospel of John which was written “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ.” While this overview will not be exhaustive, it will help us to see how the whole of John teaches that Jesus is the Christ and why this is so important.

The Gospel opens up with a beautiful 18 verse prologue introducing Jesus Christ as “The Word” who “was with with God in the beginning” and “through whom all things were made (1:3).” “In Him”, Jesus, was life, and the life was the light of men (1:4). He, Jesus, the light comes into the world but is not received (1:11). But to those who do receive him, who believed his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, he gives the right to become children of God (1:12-13). Thus from the very beginning Jesus is one who exists eternally with God the Father and who comes into the world, into the darkness so that his people, whom He created, and can have eternal life. Further, these people who will be receiving eternal life have it, not by their own will, but by the will and mercy of God as they are become children of God.

In the prologue, John the Baptist is introduced to us as “a man sent from God to bear witness to the light” that is to bear witness to Jesus (1:6-7). In verses 18-34 of chapter one John points to Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (1:29) and as “the Son of God who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (1:33 and 34).

In John 2 Jesus performs the first of his “signs” manifesting his glory as He turns water into wine (2:11). The effect is that “His disciples believed in him.” Immediately after, the account of Jesus cleansing the temple and testifying there that he is in his father’s house and that he would raise again from the dead – though he was not understood. In John 3 Jesus again makes it clear that He has come to save the world and that whoever believes in him should have eternal life (3:16). In John 4 Jesus reveals himself the Messiah and as the one who can give eternal life. Afterwards Jesus performs his second “sign” by healing an official’s son with the effect that the official, and all his household believed. (4:53).

In John 5 Jesus heals an invalid by a pool and intentionally stirs up trouble with the Pharisees by ordering the healed man to pick up his mat and carry it on the sabbath – violating rabbinical law. Jesus proceeds to utilize the resulting conflict to claim equality with God (5:17-18) and to inform everyone that “Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will (5:21).” Jesus continues, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Jesus does not allow, even for a minute, us to believe that he is merely a good teacher, a kind man, or a prophet. Jesus claims to be God’s Divine Son who has come so that we might believe in Him and have eternal life. He has come that we might believe that He is our Savior and that outside of him there is no salvation.

My daughter received some Disney board books for Christmas.  The story of Pinocchio reads as follows.

“Geppetto made a puppet boy.

“The boy came to life.

“The puppet was named Pinocchio.

“Pinocchio saved Geppetto.

“Pinocchio became a real boy!”

That’s it in its entirety.  There is nothing in there about Pinocchio’s propensity for telling lies or his inclination to go against his “conscience” Jiminy Cricket.  There is nothing there about his smoking and drinking on Pleasure Island.

Now of course I realize that this is a book for very young children, but the edits in this version of the story are pretty absurd especially since they show a picture of Pinocchio with donkey ears and tail but give no explanation.  All we have is a Pinocchio’s creation, his saving of Geppetto (who only needed saving because he was looking for his lost son) and the grace of becoming a real boy granted to Pinocchio at the end of the story.

Of course, all classic Disney movies are in some sense a moral tale (Pinocchio is promised that he will become a real boy if he proves himself to be brave, truthful and unselfish).  But thinking from a theologically Lutheran perspective, if this were a story of grace it would have failed miserably.  Removing Pinocchio’s sin completely from the story makes the grace un-grace.  There is no law and therefore there is no consequence and so there is no need for saving even if one were able, as Pinocchio is, to save one’s self.

We need the law.  We need it to expose and convict us of our sin.  We need it to point out the fact that we need saving and redemption.  We need it to show us that we need Jesus Christ.