John 10:22-33
Unbelief of Some
22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
John 20:29
Blessed are Believers
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Many Jews following Jesus did not believe He was the One to come...Why should one believe anything?...We should believe in things because they are the truth...Why else believe in anything?...
I think C. S. Lewis was right in saying that we today have a chronological snobbery...Something that happened two thousand years ago, is hard to believe...We cannot see the things that Jesus (when He was on earth) repeated today...How can I challenge an idea that is two thousand years old?...How can I believe in the resurrection without seeing it and not being an eyewitness?...
There is something in behavior psychology that is called anchoring...Anchoring is when we get grounded in something that we humans have and get when an intense event that happened...Then many years later we continue to make decisions based on that event...The Great Depression is a good example of anchoring...The people who lived through the Great Depression were anchored by it, and the rest of their lives spending, work, and economic decisions were based on it...
Today I think many think we are anchored on "the modern man"...Non-believers want to see a "modern miracle"...I guess the old miracles are not good enough...However, I am not sure this a true statement about what and is it is to be a modern man and do years fade a miracle...Wouldn't St. Peter and St. John been modern men, when they were on the earth...But nevertheless, I think some of today's non-believers are anchored by this modern man and the fact that Jesus walked the earth two thousand years ago and did not walk the earth today or in the last ten years...And wouldn't Jesus just being the Son of God, be able to do things (very easily) such as miracles, if He truly is the Messiah...
Some define truth that is something that can be verified...Although this is a simple definition, the "verification" takes on all the importance to our truth...The disciples and followers of Jesus would have said they had this verification of Jesus with their three years with Him, and their witnessing His resurrection...The non-believers above had no verification, in their eyes...So this two thousand year old event is either, a verified fact, or an unsubstantiated myth...
Many of today's non-believers think, especially when it comes to religion, that they need to be an eyewitness, or a modern God-Type miracle to believe...If the atheist could see this today's miracle then they might believe in God...I do not think Jesus teaches us this in John's gospel above...Seeing miracles, does not necessarily make one believe in God...
The disciples were eyewitnesses and the written gospels give us information on the truth...Jesus' opposition were either right that He was not the Messiah and did not resurrect...This makes, in my opinion, the most important truth and verified fact in the history of modern man the resurrection...If the opposition of Jesus did in fact, see Him while He was on earth, and did see Him after His resurrection then Jesus did, in fact, exist and He is the Son of God...How could anyone see a dead Man walking and eating broiled fish, not be the Son of God?...
Truth now must move to belief...You have a choice, like the people at the Festival of Dedication, you can either believe in Him, and the work He does for His Father, or you don't...Truth in fact, can become just that, a part of your beliefs and belief system...It seems to me, that God and His Son could some out and make everyone believe...It would be very simple for them to do, as easy as Jesus did His miracles...A simple thing (for God) would just plant the truth and belief thought in everybody's head, in the entire world...God chooses not to do this...It seems even in Jesus time with all the miracles that He did, He still left room for the unbeliever...He still wanted us to have a choice...We have a choice to believe or not believe...We see unbelievers throughout the gospels...These are even people who are there as eyewitnesses...But some how God's style and being so Almighty, He can do thousands of healings, feed five thousand with a few loaves of bread and a fish, turn water into wine, die and then come back from the dead -and still have people not believe that He is the Messiah...Belief for some today is as hard for His opposition had two thousand years ago...
Certain of our beliefs do not make us happy, but many beliefs do...But knowing Jesus and the One who sent Him no doubt should and does make one happy...In Jesus time blessed meant happy, or to be happy...We know the truth and blessed are those who have not seen Him and yet have believed...Knowing the Truth can make you happy...This is the blessed truth...