October 5, 1999
How would I respond to the question “Do you believe in God,” if the person asking pointed a gun in my face?
High school students from Columbine High, Taber, a town in Texas, and all over the United States and Canada have asked themselves what they would do. Thousands have decided they will not wait until it happens again to find out. They want the same assurance as their peers who said “Yes” and then died. They are turning to faith in Jesus Christ.
What is it about these current deaths that have made many think about faith? Is it because people want to see something before they believe? Faith ceases being abstract when someone dies for it. Now there is proof. Those who claim to believe are not just making noise.
Consider the disciples. They could only have talked about eternal life and faith but they went further; all but John were martyred because they believed. (John was exiled to a deserted island.) All of them were convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead and that His resurrection guaranteed them life after death too.
The Apostle Paul was equally convinced. He gave up everything anyone in his day considered valuable and followed Jesus Christ. He risked his health and even his life because he believed that what God had revealed to him was absolutely true.
He says it like this: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also...” (1 Corinthians 15:3-9).
Paul saw Jesus, alive and in person. That was enough for him. We do not see Him but we can consider the testimony of these who did. Are they reliable witnesses, or deluded fools who died for nothing? Even a brief investigation shows that their lives matched what they claimed. They considered that the resurrection of Jesus is the most important element of the Christian faith and were willing to stake their lives on it.
For them and for us, if the resurrection is not true, then all Christian teaching and preaching is useless. So is faith. What good is it to believe if they lied about the power of God or faked the whole thing? Examine the witnesses. Did they live as liars and fakes?
If Jesus did not rise, then who can? He is the only person who ever lived a life worthy of spending eternity with a Holy God. Further, He said if we put our faith in Him, He would forgive and cleanse our sins so we can spend eternity with God too. If He is still dead, what hope do we have? Our lives are not spotless. Faith without forgiveness means nothing and sin wins.
What about “seeing is believing?” If we cannot see Jesus as the disciples claimed, can we still believe in a risen Jesus? Jesus said we can. He told Thomas the doubter, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
How is believing without seeing possible? Consider the jury who acquits an innocent man — but did not witness the crime first hand themselves. They heard witnesses, decided they were credible and believed their testimony. We did not witness the resurrection but we read the accounts and look at the lives of those who did. We can easily see that their lives were changed. They lived in a godly way. They were filled with confidence as they told everyone that we can live again. Most significant, they died because they believed what they saw.
Because they were equally convinced, some young Christians also died. Through their witness, others are convinced that the Bible is true and that Jesus is alive.
Showing posts with label seeing and believing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seeing and believing. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Friday, August 26, 2016
Seeing and believing .......... Parables 476
(no date for original)
My mom wears bifocals. Actually, that is not exactly true. She has bifocals. She wears them on a cord around her neck — most of the time. Whenever she tries to read, or watch television, or look out the window, she narrows her eyes and squints.
One day I asked her why she didn’t wear her glasses. Couldn’t she see better with them on? She put them on, looked at the TV, took them off and said, “Yes, I can, but most of the time I don’t want to look at anything.”
I understand that. Some days I don’t want to look at anything either. The news is frightful or repetitive. The day outside is gloomy. Television is nothing but reruns. I’ve read all my books. Why wear glasses?
As my mother grows older, she is becoming less and less interested in life’s confusion. Keeping her eyes off the world is one way to cope with a decreasing ability to make sense of it. Although I understand and even sympathize with her, her attitude reminds me of another type of refusing to see. This one is far more serious, even deadly.
Jesus talked about people “having eyes but seeing not.” He told His disciples that He spoke in parables or stories that would be not be understood by these people because, “though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”
Jesus added “For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”
Confused? The Bible explains. When someone hears spiritual truth but ignores or rejects it, their heart (mind) becomes hardened. As the process is repeated, a callous forms and soon that person can no longer hear or understand the truth Jesus proclaimed.
In contrast, those who follow Jesus have a responsibility to both hear and repeat the truth Jesus told. For instance, God gave the Apostle Paul a special mission. He related to King Agrippa what God had told him: “I am sending you to (the Gentiles) to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
Then Paul added, “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”
As Paul obeyed what God showed him, he was given increasing revelations. The Lord even allowed an “infirmity” or weakness to prevent him from taking pride in that he had seen. Without this “thorn in the flesh,” Paul may have boasted about himself and his knowledge instead of doing the job God sent him to do.
The Pharisee’s illustrate the other end of the matter. They refused to believe anything Jesus said. Before long, even the simplest truths illustrated in parables confused them. Their deliberate choice at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry did them in. That choice was refusal to see the most basic reality: all have sinned (including themselves, the most religious Pharisees) and all need God’s forgiveness and the redemption He offers through faith in His Son.
“Use it or lose it” can be applied to muscle tone, eyesight, and skills — yet the most important application is to spiritual understanding. Whenever anyone refuses to see their own need of God, God politely makes Himself fuzzy, if not invisible, to their sight.
My mom wears bifocals. Actually, that is not exactly true. She has bifocals. She wears them on a cord around her neck — most of the time. Whenever she tries to read, or watch television, or look out the window, she narrows her eyes and squints.
One day I asked her why she didn’t wear her glasses. Couldn’t she see better with them on? She put them on, looked at the TV, took them off and said, “Yes, I can, but most of the time I don’t want to look at anything.”
I understand that. Some days I don’t want to look at anything either. The news is frightful or repetitive. The day outside is gloomy. Television is nothing but reruns. I’ve read all my books. Why wear glasses?
As my mother grows older, she is becoming less and less interested in life’s confusion. Keeping her eyes off the world is one way to cope with a decreasing ability to make sense of it. Although I understand and even sympathize with her, her attitude reminds me of another type of refusing to see. This one is far more serious, even deadly.
Jesus talked about people “having eyes but seeing not.” He told His disciples that He spoke in parables or stories that would be not be understood by these people because, “though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”
Jesus added “For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”
Confused? The Bible explains. When someone hears spiritual truth but ignores or rejects it, their heart (mind) becomes hardened. As the process is repeated, a callous forms and soon that person can no longer hear or understand the truth Jesus proclaimed.
In contrast, those who follow Jesus have a responsibility to both hear and repeat the truth Jesus told. For instance, God gave the Apostle Paul a special mission. He related to King Agrippa what God had told him: “I am sending you to (the Gentiles) to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
Then Paul added, “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”
As Paul obeyed what God showed him, he was given increasing revelations. The Lord even allowed an “infirmity” or weakness to prevent him from taking pride in that he had seen. Without this “thorn in the flesh,” Paul may have boasted about himself and his knowledge instead of doing the job God sent him to do.
The Pharisee’s illustrate the other end of the matter. They refused to believe anything Jesus said. Before long, even the simplest truths illustrated in parables confused them. Their deliberate choice at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry did them in. That choice was refusal to see the most basic reality: all have sinned (including themselves, the most religious Pharisees) and all need God’s forgiveness and the redemption He offers through faith in His Son.
“Use it or lose it” can be applied to muscle tone, eyesight, and skills — yet the most important application is to spiritual understanding. Whenever anyone refuses to see their own need of God, God politely makes Himself fuzzy, if not invisible, to their sight.
Monday, May 2, 2016
Need to see to believe? .................. Parables 426
June 21, 1994
The existence of Jesus Christ is established. Tacitus, a great Roman historian born in the first century, speaks of Jesus. Josephus, a Jewish historian born A.D. 37, tells of His crucifixion. The Roman calendar is based on His birth. Christmas, Easter, and several other holidays are celebrated because of His life.
Few contend that Jesus had an impact on history. Someone says one edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words in describing Him, more space than what is given to Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed or Napoleon Bonaparte.
With all this evidence and more, it is amazing that some refuse to believe only what they see and, for that reason, insist Jesus was a myth. Even more amazing is that one of His disciples, a man who walked and ate and talked with Jesus, also declared, “Unless I see... I will not believe.”
After Jesus was put to death, His followers were overwhelmed with grief and fear. How could He die who Himself had raised the dead? It was inconceivable. They were also terrified that the authorities who killed their beloved Teacher would do the same to them.
In the midst of this grief and fear, an unbelievable thing happened; Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene beside His empty tomb. She obviously did not expect Him to be alive because at first she did not recognize Him. She was shocked, then overjoyed.
The other disciples did not expect Him to be alive either. Despite seeing Him do many miracles, it never entered their heads that He would conquer His own death. They saw Him being crucified and the sword put in His side, so no one believed her glad report.
Later Jesus appeared to two of them as they walked along a road. They were so convinced He was dead, they didn’t recognize Him right away either.
Within a short time, Jesus appeared to all of the disciples except Thomas. This one had listened to their eye-witness accounts but he still did not believe Jesus was alive. He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.” For that, he has been called the “doubting disciple.”
Jesus finally came to this sceptic. He did not scold him for his doubt; after all, the others also believed only after seeing Him alive. Instead, He invited him to: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas did not need to touch the wounds. He only looked at Jesus and his doubts disappeared. He declared, “My Lord and my God.”
After that, the disciples, including Thomas, had no more doubt. Jesus was alive and that was enough to dissolve their grief and fear. From then on, they yielded their lives to His complete control.
Do we need to see the living Christ before we can believe that He died for us and rose from the dead? According to Jesus, there is a special blessing for those who believe WITHOUT seeing. Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
For us, the evidence is not a visual sighting of Him in the flesh but a careful weighing of all that is known about Him: from history books, the Scriptures, and from observing the changed lives of those who did believe--including doubters like His own disciples.
The existence of Jesus Christ is established. Tacitus, a great Roman historian born in the first century, speaks of Jesus. Josephus, a Jewish historian born A.D. 37, tells of His crucifixion. The Roman calendar is based on His birth. Christmas, Easter, and several other holidays are celebrated because of His life.
Few contend that Jesus had an impact on history. Someone says one edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words in describing Him, more space than what is given to Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed or Napoleon Bonaparte.
With all this evidence and more, it is amazing that some refuse to believe only what they see and, for that reason, insist Jesus was a myth. Even more amazing is that one of His disciples, a man who walked and ate and talked with Jesus, also declared, “Unless I see... I will not believe.”
After Jesus was put to death, His followers were overwhelmed with grief and fear. How could He die who Himself had raised the dead? It was inconceivable. They were also terrified that the authorities who killed their beloved Teacher would do the same to them.
In the midst of this grief and fear, an unbelievable thing happened; Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene beside His empty tomb. She obviously did not expect Him to be alive because at first she did not recognize Him. She was shocked, then overjoyed.
The other disciples did not expect Him to be alive either. Despite seeing Him do many miracles, it never entered their heads that He would conquer His own death. They saw Him being crucified and the sword put in His side, so no one believed her glad report.
Later Jesus appeared to two of them as they walked along a road. They were so convinced He was dead, they didn’t recognize Him right away either.
Within a short time, Jesus appeared to all of the disciples except Thomas. This one had listened to their eye-witness accounts but he still did not believe Jesus was alive. He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.” For that, he has been called the “doubting disciple.”
Jesus finally came to this sceptic. He did not scold him for his doubt; after all, the others also believed only after seeing Him alive. Instead, He invited him to: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas did not need to touch the wounds. He only looked at Jesus and his doubts disappeared. He declared, “My Lord and my God.”
After that, the disciples, including Thomas, had no more doubt. Jesus was alive and that was enough to dissolve their grief and fear. From then on, they yielded their lives to His complete control.
Do we need to see the living Christ before we can believe that He died for us and rose from the dead? According to Jesus, there is a special blessing for those who believe WITHOUT seeing. Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
For us, the evidence is not a visual sighting of Him in the flesh but a careful weighing of all that is known about Him: from history books, the Scriptures, and from observing the changed lives of those who did believe--including doubters like His own disciples.
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