We've read the Bible. We’ve heard Bible stories of Jesus’ miracles our entire life. We almost, dare I say it, take it for granted. We even say haughty things like, “Why did they have so much trouble believing Jesus was the son of God? What else do they need to believe it?”
But then I take a step back. What if the New Testament hadn’t happened yet? What if I were standing in those crowds of people that encountered Jesus and trailed after him, listening to his words and watching him perform miracles?
Would I become a believer? Or would I assume he was a scam?
We see in John 2:23 (NIV): Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
Jesus can read our hearts, not just our minds and our words. I’m sure there were people who got wrapped up in the miracles he was performing and proclaimed, “Yes, you are the Lord!” while in front of him, but as the day faded into night, doubt started setting in.
While I researched for a previous blog post, I learned that Jesus wasn’t the first person to come on the scene in the region, performing miracles and claiming that he was the Messiah. (See Why Don’t Jews Believe Jesus Is Their Messiah?) Likely, some Jews of the time, familiar with the numerous prophesies of the coming Messiah, heard and witnessed some of the fake prophets and jumped onboard, believing incorrectly.
If that had happened to me, I would be very wary of making the same mistake again.
Have you heard of the motto, “If it’s too good to be true, it usually is.” This would have come to my mind if I were in the audience watching Jesus. In fact, Jesus himself warned us not to believe when others claimed to be the Messiah: In Mark 13:5 we read, (NIV): Jesus said to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many … You must be on your guard.”
Whoa! So, Jesus, who was drawing a following who believed he was the Messiah, is warning us not to fall for others who were claiming the same thing! I know myself: I would’ve been cautious and very careful and slow to believe unless something absolutely convinced me beyond all doubt, for fear of believing in the wrong one.
And how about John the Baptist? The Bible tells us that John’s mother was related to Mary, the mother of Jesus. They are relatives of different generations – Elizabeth was in her 60s, and Mary was mostly likely a teenager or barely twenty. Maybe they were cousins second or third removed, or a great, or even great-great aunt. Regardless, John and Jesus, born just months apart, were related, and we have to assume they were acquainted with each other while growing up.
John’s parents were told by an angel exactly why he was being born to them, and what his mission was on earth – to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. John knew this from the very beginning. When Jesus was born amid all the hoopla of the Star of Bethlehem, the visiting shepherds, the escape to Egypt to avoid Herod’s plot to kill Jesus, and the visiting wise men, I have to imagine that the Zechariah/Elizabeth/John side of the family heard all about it, and therefore believed that Joseph and Mary’s son Jesus was the Messiah they were all waiting for.
My point is, John grew up knowing exactly what his work was, and for whom.
So why, in Matthew 11:1-2, when John the Baptist was in prison, did this happen? (NIV): After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Mind blown!
John knew from the beginning of his life that he was the preparer of the way for the Messiah, and because of the family connection, he knew in his heart that it was Jesus. But now, while he’s imprisoned, probably sitting alone in a stone cell, left with nothing but time to run all his questions and doubts through his mind … he begins to wonder, “Is Jesus really the Messiah?”
Maybe he started thinking, “Hold on, I didn’t sign on for this. This is harder than I thought it would be. I mean, prison? Was this in the plan, God?”
Equally surprising are the reactions of his Twelve. These disciples became his inner circle. They dropped everything in their lives when he asked them to follow him. They had to have known he was something special in order to make such a supreme sacrifice in their own lives. Yet the gospels are filled with examples of the disciples, the ones he spent the most time with, talking to them, teaching them, delegating his ministry to them, not understanding who he was.
In Luke chapter 8, starting with verse 22, Jesus is in a boat with his disciples, crossing the lake and he falls asleep. A squall brews on the lake and suddenly they’re all in great danger of the boat filling up with water. Verse 24 (NIV): The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
Who is this? They actually asked Who is this? Hello! That’s Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, who has come to save the sinners of the world, and by the way, you’ve got a ringside seat!
So back to my original question, What about me? If John the Baptist had doubts occasionally, and if his twelve chosen disciples had doubts occasionally, maybe I should throw myself a little net of grace and say that if I were walking the earth the same time Jesus was, and I encountered him, and I had doubts because I didn’t know if he was truly the one … that’s okay. I’m human, just like his close followers, and if they struggled, it’s expected that we’ll each struggle too.
And by the Bible showing us this grace, we know that even today in the complicated 21st century, when we have the benefit of the New Testament and the mature establishment of the Christian church, and thousands of years of missionaries and ministries and writings to teach us about Jesus, we know that he is exactly who he says he was, back in those early days.
Because it’s not just what your brain tells you about Jesus that makes you believe in him. It’s not just reading the Scriptures and studying history and comparing the prophesies in the Old Testament to what Jesus brought to the world to determine that yes, in retrospect, he fulfilled everything the Old Testament Jews were waiting for.
It’s what your heart tells you. Our faith in Jesus involves prayer and meditation and worship and singing and fellowship. Those are all things that don’t appeal to our brains – they appeal to our emotions, our hearts.
In my heart, I know that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah who came to bring light to a dark world. I talk to him every day. I ask him for help with my problems. I praise him for the good and wonderful things in my life. I worship him with joy and thanksgiving.
In my brain, I know it too, because I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. The Apostle Paul’s second letter to his friend Timothy, in chapter 3, verse 16 says, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (New International Version)
What about me? If I were walking the trails of Galilee with Jesus in 30 AD listening to his teachings, would I have believed in him? I hope so. I think so, even if I wasn’t completely sure at the time, just like his most treasured followers. But God put me on earth now, when I have so many resources at my disposal to not only help me believe, but so that I can, through my experiences, help others believe too.
And isn’t that the purpose of this entire The Year I Read the Bible project?
Let’s pray: Dearest Father, thank you for sending your Son to pay the ultimate price of redemption on our behalf. Thank you for those brave people who followed him way back when and believed in their hearts that he was who he said he was. Thank you that you’ve put all of us in this place at this time where we have a wealth of resources to help us know in our brains and our hearts that Jesus is Lord. Amen.
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