(As seen in John's Gospel)
We are believers. Although the word only appears twice in the Bible (Acts 5.14; 1 Tim 4.12), it is a descriptive term that we may be more likely to use of ourselves than ‘Christian’. An important reason for this is that ‘believing’, or ‘faith’, is central to Christian doctrine and practice. This is seen in the tremendous emphasis on ‘faith’ in the letter to the Romans (mentioned 40 times), and the even greater emphasis on ‘believing’ in John’s Gospel (100 times). Using the term ‘believer’ is also a way to identify a genuine, Biblical Christian from a nominal Christian – someone who is simply part of Christendom. It was Martin Luther’s realisation that “the just shall live by faith” (Rom 1.17) that marked him out from the established religion of his day.
Although central to the New Testament, ‘faith’ is not given much credence in our technological and scientific world. Indeed, far too many otherwise rational people ridicule faith as an outmoded relic of a primitive, uneducated world – a prop for weak-minded people, or an excuse for stubborn people to avoid accepting the secular mantra ‘there is no God’. Typical of this railing against faith is the following statement from a prominent atheist: “Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence ... faith is not allowed to justify itself by argument.” According to this view, faith is make-believe. It is delusional, unreasonable, irrational and unscientific, and therefore has no place in our modern world.
At a purely everyday level, the idea that faith is worthless is self-evidently false. On the contrary, it is a key element of daily living. Each day we are in situations where we accept information from people that we have never met, we make decisions based on that information, and we act on it. We believe people despite having no knowledge of their trustworthiness, and without researching their credibility. A traffic light turns green and we move off without first checking to make sure that all the traffic coming the other way has really stopped. None of this is unreasonable. However, and more to the point, is the concept of faith that sees it as thoughtless, the faith of the Bible?
John provides a ready answer to that question, because his Gospel is the great Gospel of believing. It is one of the major words he uses – 40% of all the New Testament occurrences of the word are found in his Gospel. Interestingly, although John uses the verb ‘to believe’ more frequently than any other New Testament writer, he does not use the noun ‘faith’ at all in his Gospel. To John, this issue is not so much about a ‘thing’ as about an ‘action’ – something that lives, breathes and does things. It is a vital response to reality. It does not avoid, ignore or resist the realities of life, but meets them head-on, and acts intelligently in response to them. John tells us his reason for writing: “these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (Jn 20.31). He does not instruct his readers to believe, but records reasons why they should believe. In so doing, he provides an evidential basis for believing. In these articles we will consider four ways in which John presents his evidence.
Faith and the Scriptures
Early in his Gospel, John writes “his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said” (Jn 2.22). On 12 occasions in his Gospel, John makes reference to what had been written in the Old Testament Scriptures. When Philip found Nathanael he told him “we have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write” (1.45). Then John records that “his disciples remembered that it was written” (2.17). The Lord also admonished the Jews with the words “had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me” (5.46). And, on five occasions, John is careful to record “that the scripture might be fulfilled” (13.18; 17.12; 19.24, 28, 36). For the people to whom John wrote, it was of prime importance that they understood that the Lord Jesus Christ was the fulfilment of what had been spoken, and written, by the Old Testament prophets.
Prophecy is a characteristic of the Old Testament. There are hundreds of specific prophecies about the promised Messiah. Details were given about His birth: “a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son” (Isa 7.14); “Bethlehem Ephratah ... out of thee shall he come forth” (Mic 5.2). The character of His life was foretold: “the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted” (Isa 61.1); “surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (53.4). Events surrounding His death were prophesied: “they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver” (Zech 11.12); “they pierced my hands and my feet” (Ps 22.16). These many prophecies provided an objective basis upon which a claim to be Messiah could be verified. The fulfilment of these prophecies was a ready means of assessing truth and, therefore, a sound basis for faith. Just as Matthew makes 12 references to the fulfilment of what the prophets had spoken concerning the Lord Jesus, John, in his Gospel, makes eight references to the fulfilment of what the prophets had written (Jn 12.38; 13.18; 15.25; 17.12; 19.24, 28, 36, 37).
The importance of this cannot be overstated. The Jews had an expectation of a Messiah. They had specific predictions about him – not vague generalisations, but testable facts that were capable of being falsified. Some prophecies found their fulfilment in the actions of:
The fact that these prophecies found their fulfilment in the Lord Jesus was not a matter of coincidence or happenstance. It was significant. It was evidential. It was a basis for faith!
Faith and the Signs
Of the very many miracles that Jesus did (Jn 21.25), John presents seven very specific miracles as signs. The question must be asked “What did they signify?” The answer is found at the end of John’s Gospel: they were signs “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (20.31). The Lord Jesus demonstrated a power and authority that no mere man could have: in turning the water into wine He “manifested forth his glory” (2.11); in feeding the 5,000 he evidenced the power of “that prophet that should come into the world” (6.14); in bringing sight to the blind man it could be clearly deduced that “if this man were not of God, he could do nothing” (9.33). What was the explanation of power over nature; of power in His word; of power at a distance; of authority over death? Nicodemus was right when he said “we know that thou art a teacher come from God” (3.2).
But another question must also be asked: “Why did John record these particular signs?” The answer is not hard to find. The result of the miracles at Cana of Galilee was that ‘his disciples believed on him’ (2.11), and “the father [of the child] ... himself believed” (4.53). Following the healing at the pool of Bethesda, and their criticism of healing on the Sabbath day, the Lord challenged the Jews: “had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me” (5.46). Following the two signs in chapter 6, Peter makes his declaration that “we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ” (6.69). The blind man declared “Lord, I believe” (9.38) and, upon witnessing the raising of Lazarus, “many of the Jews ... believed on him” (11.45). In the conclusion of his Gospel John explains that “these are written, that ye might believe ...” (20.31). They believed because of the signs; not in spite of them. To deny the miracles was to ignore the evidence. To believe the signs as evidence that “Jesus is the Christ” was far from a cop-out, an evasion, or an excuse not to think. It was based firmly on reality.
(To be continued …)
