During years of excavations at... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.
John 19:35

During years of excavations at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, the English scientists B P Grenfell and A S Hunt repeatedly came across ancient texts written on papyrus. In this arid area, this delicate material had been spared from moisture, and the sand drifts had prevented the sun’s rays from fading the writing.

The two researchers brought their finds to England where they were gradually deciphered. This provided completely new and interesting insights into the everyday life of the Egyptians about two thousand years ago.

But it was a papyrus fragment that they found there in 1920 that was to become world famous. When the researcher C H Roberts sifted through the discovered material in 1935, this piece caught his eye. It contained seven lines of ancient Greek writing on the front and back, which was enough to determine conclusively that it was some verses from the Gospel of John. The age of the papyrus could also be determined with great certainty: around 125 ad. Thus the oldest manuscript of the New Testament had been found.

Around 1920, many critics were still of the opinion that the Gospel of John was written so late that it could not possibly have been written by the Apostle John himself. According to tradition, the apostle died at in old age towards the end of the 1st century ad. However, if a copy of the Gospel was in use in Egypt just a few years later, this argument of the critics collapses. Please read today’s verse again, bearing this in mind!

Today’s reading: Genesis 4:17-26 · 1 Peter 2:9-12