The Gospel of John- 2 endings?

Yesterday at the 9am service I mentioned that I would blog on John's 2 possible endings, since I was short on sermon time. John 20 ends with this verse, "But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." That seems like a really good ending, right? The resurrected Jesus appears to the disciples in the Upper Room, has a good talk with Doubting Thomas, and moves on. But then there is chapter 21. My primary commentary (Beasley-Murray) indicates that John 21 was possibly added later as an addendum. This could have been done by the original author, John, or by one of his disciples. John 21 does feel different from the rest of the Gospel if you read it in entirety. However, 300 years later, all 21 chapters of John are canonized at the Council of Laodicea and included in the first Christian Bible. So, whether it was a part of the original text or added later, it is still a part of a holy document that God and the Church saw fit for Christian history and education. Just a little canon FYI:)

Sundays Sermon and Significance Of Festival of Booths

My sermon is a little long this Sunday so I'm cutting some background information (so, yes, it is shorter now:) that is important but doesn't add to the Central Theme of the Sermon. For my bloggers, here is some helpful background information that will help you understand why the Pharisees are so ticked off at Jesus in Chapter 8.
Festival of the Booths (Also know as Festival of the Tabernacles)
History
Chapter 7 takes place over the week long Jewish Holiday known as the Festival of the Booths. The Festival helps them remember how the Hebrews moved from a nomadic, desert-wandering people into an agricultural people in the Promised Land. The "booths" were an intermediate structure between the tents of the desert and the homes of the Promised Land. They constructed the booths in the desert when they stayed someplace longer than usual. They were more solidly constructed than a tent but not as solid as their future homes in Israel.
Festival
When they celebrated the Festival of the Booths they set up "Booth" replicas on their roofs or front areas to remember the journey God brought their people on. They also had two, very large golden lamps in the temple court. These lamps were lit for the seven days of The Festival of Booths to represent the flame going before and behind the Hebrews as they were in the desert. If you remember, God was in the flame to light their way by night and smoke to rally around during the day.
Relevance
Chapter 7 ends on the last day of The Festival of Booths. The next day Jesus walks into the Temple Court (Treasury) and says "I am the light of the world". They have likely just blown out the Golden Lamps in that same area. Jesus may likely be standing in front of the Lamps symbolizing the presence of God with the Hebrew people when he says this. Jesus is likely saying, "You worship the light that was with your ancestors through the desert, I was the light"! In the words of my great grandpappy (not really), thems' fightin' words! Hopefully this helps illuminate the cat fight that resounds through out the rest of chapter 8.

Information taken from the World Biblical Commentary- 36 - John, Second Ed., by Beasley Murray.

This Sunday: John 3

Just a heads up for those of you reading ahead in John; this Sunday's message will be on John 3, not John 2. In order to get through the Gospel of John in four months I will have to occasionally skip chapters. If you have time, read both chapters 2 and 3 for this weekend. I'm looking forward to it!