Easier to believe then? John 6.41-51

Do you think it would have been easier for you to put your trust in Jesus if you lived in the first century, rather than now?  Would you more readily believe that Jesus was sent by God if you saw him do a miracle with your own eyes, instead of reading someone else’s account of it?  What I am saying is, do you think that believing would come easier to you if you got to see and touch Jesus?  And imagine for a minute hearing him talk about God, his father, watching the expression on his face, the look in his eyes . . . just imagine watching him laugh, hold a child on his lap, and engage in conversations with his friends. 

‘Oh yes, I would have believed in Jesus if I had been there—I would believe now, if I could just see him,’ I have heard people say.  Maybe, maybe not.  The Jewish people had studied all about him, but had clearly not understood what they read--waiting for the messiah for centuries, yet as he stood before them, they missed him.  They did not believe.  Jesus, the Messiah, did not come like they expected.  He came out from amongst them, born to a carpenter and his simple wife in a back-woods, no-count town, so when he said he came from heaven, they did not believe—they scoffed, despite the miraculous signs, despite the life-changing message of his teaching.

John was there, he writes:

“So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”  John 6.41-51, ESV

Hmmm . . . Would it really be easier to believe if you saw him yourself, or is it easier to believe in Jesus Christ, having 2000 years of Christian faith which has come before us?  Indeed, we have the record of a loving God, in relationship with his people—a tradition of faith that has lasted because of people who found such meaning, hope, truth and freedom in Jesus Christ, they have given their ‘all’ for him.  ‘Easier to believe because of courageous men and women of faith who have lived their entire lives in service to him so that others might know him . . . men like William Tyndale who was so passionate about translating the Scripture into English, (so that the common man had access to the Bible), that he was burned at the stake in 1536.  And because of him, ‘easier to believe--having the written Word of God in our hands, able to see God’s plan for mankind, from beginning to end . . . his love of his children, his plan of redemption by offering Jesus Christ, and the historical record of a God who creates, sustains, and interacts with his children personally?

‘Easier to believe because we have the Spirit of God who resides within us bearing witness to the truth of God’s Word and his actions in our lives . . .

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, Jesus said.  God invites all of us, but we choose our response.  The Father says ‘come’, but our own interests and appetites oft restrain us.  ‘The price will be too high!’  Yes, in some cases, my friend, that is true.  There are moral codes associated with being a follower of Christ.  This past year I saw it with the high school students—who really wanted Jesus, but when they realized it would cost them something, they chose the world over him.

Nonetheless, the Father bids us ‘come’ so that we might know Jesus.  Personally, I believe it is easier to believe and trust in Jesus Christ now than ever before—we have the written Word of God, 2000 years of church history, as the Gospel spread throughout the world, in which lives were and are radically changed by the life-saving, life-changing Gospel.  We have the Holy Spirit living within who leads, guides, comforts, woos and convicts . . . he makes Christianity alive. 

Christine

PastorWoman.com