The God of More

The God of More

By: Christopher Wiles

Challenging.  Enlightening.  Growing.  Encouraging.  I love Wednesday night Bible studies at Washington Church of Christ.  A multigenerational group gathers together to open God’s Holy Word and dig deeper into the vast contents.  For the past nine months we’ve grown in our knowledge and understanding of the chronological life of Jesus.  Yet again, last night’s study left me with more questions than answers, but it also left me with a deeper appreciation for the things left unwritten.   

Such was the case in the account of Peter’s denial of Jesus (Matt 26:69; Mark 14:67; Luke 22:58; John 18:17).  One faithful studier of our group noticed what I and many commentator writers have not, the words “too” and “also”.  A servant girl asks Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples TOO, are you?” and a little later someone saw him and said, “You ALSO are one of them.”

 

These words beg the questions, “Was another disciple confronted?”  “Did John who accompanied Peter (John 18:15) get tested by the same servant girl, only to pass the test?”  “Were there other disciples present?”  “What else happened?”

I wish I could share with you the answers to these questions, but at this time I have none.   As often is the case in other Bible histories such as Melchizedek (Gen 14:25), Michael’s dispute with the devil (Jude 9), and the lost wealth of Ophir (1 Kings 9:28), there is so much more that happened in history than what we have written.  Yes, I’m grateful that we have enough, that all scripture is sufficient (2 Tim 3:16), and that I don’t need to have all the answers.  Yet, I’m also grateful that God is bigger, has done more, and continues to do more than we could ever imagine. I’m glad there is more to God’s history and involvement in this world that we will ever know. I’m glad that He still works today in ways beyond our perception. John expressed it well when he described Jesus’ efforts this way, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” – John 21:25 
 

Praise be to the God who does more than could ever be written!