Will You Believe?

It is amazing the lengths to which some people will go in their efforts to deny that the bible is the word of God, or that Jesus is the Son of God, or that God exists and has things that He requires us to do. This unbelieving attitude is not new. John chapter 11 records Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Verse 45 says, “Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.” The miracles Jesus did were sufficient to convince many to believe in Him. As Nicodemus said in John 3:2, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Any reasonable person would come to the same conclusion as Nicodemus. Unfortunately, many chose not to believe. When the resurrection of Lazarus was reported to the Pharisees and chief priests, rather than believing in Jesus, they sought to kill Him. “...’What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.’” (John 11:47-48). The Jews plotted to kill not only Jesus but also Lazarus, “because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.” (John 12:11). Even when some among the Jews believed in Jesus, they would not confess Him. John 12:42-43 says, “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” You have to wonder why people spend so much effort trying not to believe something which will only do them good. The Jews of Jesus’ day opposed Him because they were afraid that they were going to lose their position (John 11:47-50). In John 3:18-21 Jesus explains why most people choose not to believe, and it is a choice. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”