Evidence for Jesus

John 5:32 -There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.

If you have not yet become a Christian, it makes sense you should want to know for sure Jesus is truly one you can believe in. A life change of that magnitude should have some evidence to back it up, and we have that from Jesus himself. In the last portion of John Chapter Five, Jesus gives four solid sources of evidence for his unique role as the Son of God and Savior of the world.

The first is John the Baptist (John 5:33). If you read through John 1, as well as Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke 3, you will see what an impact John’s preaching had on the Jewish people. He came in clear fulfillment of four to seven hundred year old prophecies found in Isaiah 40 and Malachi 4. Yet, he constantly spoke of Jesus who was coming after him yet greater the John himself could ever be. ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ (John 1:30) Jesus was to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and “the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.” (John 1:33) John boldly called Jesus the “Son of God.” (John 1:34) Thousands of Jews heard that acclaim from a man they trusted and respected above all others. That was good evidence, but there was more.

The miracles Jesus did were the second – and even more persuasive – evidence of Jesus’ uniqueness (John 5:36). He healed the sick, made the lame walk, caused the blind to see, cast out demons, and even raised the dead. These works were amazing then. They are still amazing today. Craig Keener’s two volume and well-researched masterwork, Miracles, is my favorite on the subject, but many scientific studies have shown a connection between prayer and healing. I have had the privilege myself of seeing many immediate, medically unexplainable healings in response to believing Christian prayer. Jesus did and does show his divinity through what he does.

God the Father also gave evidence of Jesus as his one and only Son (John 5:37-38). At a few key times, God spoke from heaven to people around Jesus to give witness to his glory and power. At Jesus’ baptism a voice from Heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) On the mountain while Jesus was transfigured, God said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”  (Matthew 17:5) Later in the day on Palm Sunday, God’s voice came in the presence of Jesus when he was speaking to some Greeks who were curious about him. (John 12:28) Of course, God has given other nonverbal yet unmistakable evidence of Jesus through the dramatic life change he has made in those who have believed in him. I know I fall on that list.

The final source of evidence Jesus points to is found in the Scriptures – what we call the Old Testament (John 5:39) Hundreds of scriptures written hundreds of years before Jesus’ coming could only have been fulfilled by him. We can start in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, but the list expands quickly. Jesus’ point remains true. He was not random. He was not an imposter. He was not a legend. He was and is the only savior of the world. Hopefully, you will not be like those Jesus spoke those words to: “You refuse to come to me that you may have life (in spite of the evidence).” (John 5:40) Come to Jesus. He is. This is the best life you can have.

Why the Fuss Over Jesus?

John 5:18  - This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus can polarize. Talking about Jesus with others can bring one of three reactions: love, hostility, or tempered complacency. The last option comes from those who acknowledge many good things about Jesus – like his commands to love another and help the marginalized and his helping the hurting like the man he healed in John 5 who provoked this conflict. People in the third category like to say Jesus was a good man, but they struggle with what they see as the arrogant claim of Christians that Jesus is the only way to God and eternal life. Although people in the third group try to rewrite history and say Jesus’ exclusiveness was an addition of his later followers, people in the second group get it right. They understand you cannot separate Jesus’ ethical teaching and good works from his claims even if they do not like it.

The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem were in that second group. They understood that Jesus claimed to be God. They understood Jesus considered himself above their law that forbade carrying a sleeping mat on the Sabbath day – an added interpretation of God’s law that missed the point. They understood that even though a man who had been crippled for 38 years was able to go to the temple completely healed for the first time in his life, this Jesus who healed him challenged their entire system, and they were not willing to accept him.

Where do you fall in those three groups? Do you resent this Jesus like the Jewish leaders did or do you just consider him a good man while rejecting what he said about himself? Either of those options has the same bad result. Look what Jesus told them a few verses later: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24) Jesus explains here that he has the unique role of eternal judge and the ability to set free those who believe in him. As good as his teaching and benevolent actions were, the main reason Jesus came is to change our eternity through his death in our place on the cross. That required him being the only begotten Son of God the Father. It is not our arrogance as Christians to claim Jesus’ exclusivity. It is his nature. He is the only one. He is the way to eternal life.

Whichever of the three groups you started today in, I pray you believe that Jesus was more than just a good teacher. You eternal destiny is at stake. Receive him as the Lord that he is.

Why That Guy?

John 5:6-7 -When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

There were a lot of sick and lame people by the Pool of Bethesda the day Jesus showed up. We know he had the power to heal them all, but, based on John’s account, it sounds like only one was healed. He was not the prime candidate for a miracle. He had suffered with his physical issue for 38 years. When Jesus asked him if he wanted to get healed, he didn’t even say yes. Instead, he whined about why he could not get healed. In most of Jesus’ healings, the faith of the one asking and receiving – or at least his or her friends – was specifically stated as the reason the healing happened. That man uttered no words hinting any kind of faith in even the remotest sense. Why did that guy get healed and no one else?

Even after the healing took place that guy manifested an attitude. He blamed Jesus for his own ”breaking of the Sabbath” (by the Pharisees’ definition) through carrying the pallet he lived on for those 38 years (5:11). Then, after at first not knowing who Jesus was then being checked up on by Jesus, he turned him in to the authorities (5:15-16). Certainly, there had to be a nicer, more deserving person Jesus could have healed that day by the pool. Why did he pick that guy? Perhaps a related question more relevant to us is, “Why does Jesus do some really good things for some really (seemingly) undeserving people?”

If you took five minutes, I am sure you could put some names on that list: the high school deadbeat who is now a millionaire business owner, the jerk who dumped you but now has a happy family, and that guy who cut you off in traffic this morning and beat the red light you did not. Why is God so unfair?

The answer is that we are upset when God does not meet our own definition of fairness. Look closer at the text and you can see that Jesus knew that man had been suffering a physical distress for 38 years. Can you imagine that? That is almost a lifetime. Perhaps he had been suffering longer than all others. Maybe that’s why he had such a bad attitude.

Also, he probably did not know who Jesus was when he gave that initial hopeless response. Yet, notice what he did do. He obeyed Jesus when the Lord told him to pick up his mat and go home. That took real faith. It was in his action the healing came. What looked like a man lacking faith was not so lacking after all.

It may feel like it is easy to judge the fairness of what happens to others. In some cases earthly benefit is not well earned, but we do not always get to know why God does what he does. Let us not be too quick to judge God’s fairness since he knows and see so much we do not. I know I have been that guy more than once.

On Whose Terms?

John 4:49-50 - The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

A lot of us think we know how things should be done. We are convinced that if we push the right buttons - or if the right other person pushes the right buttons – we will get the desired outcome. The government official in the town of Cana was like that. He had a problem. His son was dying. He had heard what Jesus had done for others. Perhaps he had been at the wedding where Jesus changed the water to wine in his town. He believed Jesus had the power to heal his son, but he believed it would happen a certain way.

So, the official came to Jesus and asked him to come down and heal his son before he died. (John 4:47) After Jesus did not say he would come, the man asked again, “Come down before my son dies.” (vs 49) The man believed Jesus could heal his son but only if he was there.

Jesus did not follow the man’s terms. He did not go down. However, Jesus did care, and he did act. He told the man, “Go; you son will live.” At exactly the moment he spoke those words, the official’s son got healthy. (vv 51-53) It did not happen the way the man expected. It did not happen the way he was convinced it must happen, and yet it still happened. It happened on Jesus’ terms.

Often God will do exactly what we in just the way we ask, but quite often he will achieve what it is we really want or actually need in quite unexpected ways. Let’s let him act on his terms and not always expect him to comply with ours.

Steps to Believing

John 4:39-42 - Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

How do you believe? Believing is the core action in becoming a Christian. In the most quoted verse of the bible, Jesus said, “Whoever believes in him (Jesus) will receive eternal life.” (John 3:16). That means those who do not believe in Jesus do not receive eternal life. There is a lot at stake in this thing called believing. Yet, many people struggle believing. “I can’t believe it.” “It is hard to believe.”

Believing and seeing others believe does not have to be that difficult. We may feel that we have to understand perfectly before we believe in Jesus. We may think we have all our questions answered before we can even take the first step. Thank God that is not the case. We simply need to respond to what we know, however small that amount is, to begin this process of believing. (Matthew 13:31-32)

The people of the town of Sychar in John 4 show us how belief starts and develops. The story begins with a rejected woman who had a conversation with Jesus in which “he told me everything I ever did.” Jesus showed his transcendent knowledge to the woman to prove himself to her. He did not answer every theological question she had. He did not perform every miracle he could have. He simply showed her he knew some of her life struggles and challenges and that he offered a better way – “living water.”

This woman’s response was to run back to town to the people who had rejected her and invite them to come meet Jesus. She was not an eloquent speaker with a PhD in Theology. She had just met Jesus and invited others to do the same, and they came. They believed Jesus first because they saw a change in her. They were willing to drop the important things they were doing to see this man who had changed the town reject’s life.

The townspeople, too, did not get all their questions answered immediately, but over the next two days spent with Jesus, they came to believe in him on their own. Their faith developed step by step: 1) Hearing the woman’s words about Jesus, 2) Coming to Jesus, and 3) Getting to know Jesus. See what they said in verse 42: “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Where are you in the process of belief? If you have made it this far in my blog, you are at least at step one. You have heard my story of faith. If you would like to hear more, please reply to me. However, the better step is to come to Jesus. Spend time with him and his people and let him reveal himself to you. As that happens, you will experience what the people of Sychar and over a billion others through history have: you will know indeed this Jesus is the Savior of the world.

Marriage Redefined?

I Corinthians 6:9-10 - Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Today, June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court rendered a decision that makes marriage between two members of the same sex legal in every state. I know some of my friends are rejoicing. I know many of you have looked and longed for this decision. Some of you may have even fought for the opportunity to seek government sanction on what you hope to be a fulfilling life-long relationship with someone you have deep attraction to and want to make a commitment with. You may have looked at couples like Keira and I with envy or even vindictiveness that we could have what you could not, and you see today’s decision as justice.

Yet, at its core, this issue goes beyond what either you or I think. It even goes beyond what our Supreme Court decides. The core question is, what is our basis of determining what is right and what is wrong? Is there an unchangeable standard of moral truth? To some, a majority opinion makes that decision. Note that the Supreme Court decided on a five/four split. They each rendered their opinions. Opinions can change.

For others, emotion has made this an issue. Homosexual couples feel deep attraction to each other. Should they be allowed to act on that feeling? Many things in America today are justified on emotion.

As a Christian, I believe that right and wrong is external to either our emotions or our opinions. Right and wrong for many issues has been established by the Creator God who has revealed them, along with himself, to us. The Bible becomes our basis for authority.

The first Christians lived in a culture and under a government that had many laws that disagreed with the standards God had given. They obeyed the law whenever it did not contradict God’s law, and they showed love and grace to everyone around them, whether or not they held to God’s belief and behavior standard. However, they did not compromise their own behavior, even when it cost them their lives.

Our country has just made another step back toward the first century. Let’s be sure our behavior and belief meets God’s standards, not the world’s. Homosexual behavior is only one item on the list of things to avoid found in I Corinthians 6, many of which are far more prevalent in our world today and every one of which needs and can receive the grace and forgiveness that Jesus died on the cross for. Let’s share his grace in love with all while living in holiness and truth.

More Filling

John 4:31-34 - Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

Are you hungry? If so, what is your top priority? For most of us, it is to get food. Watch a hungry dog, cat, or child. They will beg and plead to be fed with food, but just like the nameless woman came to the Sychar well to get water for her thirsty body but found more satisfying living water from Jesus, Jesus denied his physical hunger to pursue the more filling food of fulfilling God’s purpose for him.

The disciples did not understand this. They only recognized their and their leader’s own physical hunger. They missed a deeper need in front of them. They also missed the opportunity to see an entire community transformed, but Jesus did not miss it. Dozens of people in that town had their lives changed by believing in Jesus. It all started because Jesus was willing to put his own physical needs lower on the list than helping someone he happened to come across.

I wonder how many times each of us has missed a chance like that. Far too often I have allowed my own hunger and selfish need to keep me from being aware of the deeper needs of those around me. Yet, when I have chosen to act, I have found Jesus’ words true: Helping others is far more fulfilling than meeting my own needs.