Today's Devotion
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 (The Nativity of St. John the Baptist) - John 20:19-31
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
“These [things] are written,” says the evangelist and apostle John, “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.” For indeed, “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.” We see the Holy Spirit’s work in curating what would be written. And it is this written account – the Scriptural texts – which are cause for us to believe. For unlike St. Thomas, who was an eyewitness of our Lord’s miraculous resurrection, even passing through walls into a locked room, and who also touched the wounds of our crucified and risen Lord, we are those people whom Jesus says are “blessed,” because we have “not seen and yet have believed.”
We believe John’s written account. We believe the preaching of this Gospel. We believe the Old Testament Scriptures and their fulfillment by Jesus, proving that He is “the Christ.” We believe the miraculous signs witnessed by the disciples, signs which prove that He is “the Son of God.” And we believe the testimony of Jesus Himself, as proclaimed by John and transmitted to us by the Holy Spirit, that it is “by believing” that we “have life in His name.”
Another way of saying that we have life “by believing” is “through faith.” The English words “believe” and “faith” appear different, but they are the same. The Greek language of the New Testament uses different grammatical forms of the very same word. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son, and the life-giving Savior, and it is “by believing,” that is, “by faith” that we are saved by Him (Eph 2:8-9).
For faith is the means by which we apprehend the gracious gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation that is granted to us by the Father, through the Son, by the work of the Spirit. For as our Lord Himself told the disciples, which John recorded at the Spirit’s prompting: “the Father has sent [the Son].” And the Son is “sending you [the disciples].” This sending is where the Greek word “apostle” comes from. These Eleven disciples have been sent: sent to proclaim, preach, baptize, teach, and celebrate the Holy Supper, and forgive sins. For it is by the Son’s breath that they “receive the Holy Spirit,” and in this delegation from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the apostles – and those to whom they, in turn, delegate this authority – “forgive the sins of any,” and likewise “withhold forgiveness” from others. For the apostles bear the original sermon of Jesus in their mouths: “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15).
On this day, the church remembers the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, whose birth was, like His Cousin’s, a sign and a miracle, a divine step in the establishment of the kingdom in our midst. Like the apostles, like our Lord, John the Baptist likewise called his hearers to repent and believe. John’s death will point to the death of our Lord, and to the deaths of thousands of faithful preachers of this Gospel, this Good News, by which we believe and are redeemed.
For like Thomas, the church, both hearers and preachers, believe and confess the crucified and risen Jesus as “My Lord and my God!”
Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.