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(This post is second in a series called SIMPLIFY. Some of the ideas I’m sharing in this series came from a message called “Packing Light for the Journey of Life” by Pastor David Dykes in Texas.).

Today’s post starts with a BULL story: A government surveyor asked a farmer for permission to go into one of his fields and take some readings. The farmer objected, fearing that the survey would ultimately result in some highway being built through his land. “I will not give you permission to go into my fields,” said the farmer.

Have you seen Christians and Churches too preoccupied with lesser authorities?

Why Do Some People Not Believe?

Today’s post is fourth in a series from John 6 on why some people believe and others do not. Read Do You Believe the Impossible? to set the stage for today’s topic. The first reason why some do not believe was The Spiritual Nature of Jesus’ Mission. The second was The Gracious Nature of Jesus’ Offer. The third was The Demands on Jesus for a Sign.

Part 4: The Supernatural Nature of Jesus’ Claims.

In the gospel accounts Jesus makes some astounding claims. In John 5 there is a long discourse between Jesus and the religious leaders in which Jesus claims over and over to have come from God, indeed to be the Son of God. And again, in John 6, he is claiming a uniquely divine origin.

It’s the sort of thing you expect to hear in a mental hospital: from people who have lost touch with reality. In the space of a mere 7 verses, from 34 to 40, Jesus uses the words ‘I’ or ‘me’ or ‘my’ 17 times. His claim is for a divine origin: “I have come down from heaven;” a divine mission: “I have come to do the will of him who sent me;” and, a few verses earlier, a divine ministry: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35).

Yet, Jesus’ claims, as amazing as they are, are tempered by an equally amazing modesty. He isn’t on about his own agenda. No, he’s come to do the will of his Father in heaven. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.” (John 6:38-39). Jesus has come to satisfy the most important need of human beings: the need to fill the spiritual void caused by sin.

Do you know that hunger? It’s a profound hunger that only God can satisfy. It’s a hunger that Jesus says he has come to satisfy, as both the giver and the gift. “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. . . . I am the bread of life.” (John 6:33-35)

But, if you’ll pardon the pun, they just couldn’t swallow that. After all, they thought they knew Jesus. They’d seen him grow up. They’d bought furniture from his father. They’d eaten with his family. How could he claim to have come down from heaven? That’s ridiculous! He may have a strange ability to heal people, even to produce food in unexplainable ways, he might be able to do amazing miracles, but it’s another thing to claim to be a miracle. That’s a bit unbelievable wouldn’t you say? Yet that is his claim.

Of course it’s still his claim today and it’s still an obstacle to faith for many today. You see, we’re so intent on understanding our world, of being able to judge for ourselves what’s true and what isn’t that we find it hard to accept someone who claims to come from heaven and to be so beyond our field of measurement.

Jesus made greater claims for himself than any major religious figure, before or since. In the biblical accounts of Jesus we clearly see Jesus as supernatural by all the miracles he did. And we clearly see Jesus making claims to be the Son of God, to be sent from heaven, to be the only way to God, to have come back from the dead, and to be equal with God.

You owe it to yourself to consider them with as objective and sincere a mindset as you can. I can testify that if you do you will not be disappointed. I have found Jesus to be the loving and just Savior and Lord that he claims to be. He also claims he will be our eternal judge concerning eternal punishment or eternal life. “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40).

The only way to discount these claims is to discredit the biblical accounts. Of course that is what many try to do. If I can call into question the accuracy of the biblical record then I don’t really have to deal with the supernatural claims of Jesus. And if Jesus is not who he claims to be in the Bible, then I don’t have to deal with his claims on my life either.

What does it mean for you to take the supernatural claims of Jesus seriously?

I like Blue Collar Comedy. One of my favorites is Bill Engvall. What Engvall is most famous for is his catch phrase “Here’s your sign”. His explanation of this: “I just hate stupid people. They should have to wear signs that say, ‘I’m Stupid’. That way you wouldn’t rely on them, and you wouldn’t ask them for nothing.”

Here are some of his best:

• (In a hallway waiting for an elevator) A stranger approaches and asks, “Excuse me, are these the elevators that go up?” Engvall replies, “No, these are the ones that go side to side. The ones that go up are down the hall.” Engvall then explains to the audience, “He walked away!”
• Engvall’s wife (Gail) says, “Why do they put those [deer crossing] signs up? Deer can’t read.” Engvall’s reply: “No, but they can recognize pictures of themselves. Here’s your sign.”
• (Engvall and a buddy were getting off of a boat with a string full of bass) A stranger asks, “You catch all those fish?” Engvall’s reply: “Nope. Talked ‘em into givin’ up. Here’s your sign.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could count on a sign to direct us in every decision? But life is not that way. The Bible says, “we live by faith not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7). We cannot always depend on God to drop down a neon sign from heaven to point the way. And even if He did, would we really follow it?

In John 6 Jesus is talking to a crowd of people who have followed Him after He miraculously fed 5000 of them. They ask Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'”

It strikes me as odd that this crowd would ask for a sign in order to believe. They started following Him because they had heard of His miraculous signs or seen Him perform them. The experienced His miraculous feeding of the 5000. His disciples had seen Him walk on the water. Now they ask for a sign. Wasn’t all that enough? Do they really need more evidence to believe?

Elsewhere Jesus said, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Matt. 16:4).  To the crowd in John 6 Jesus answers, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Jesus is the sign: His life, His death, His resurrection. Nothing else is needed. Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.”

Miracles do not ensure faith. Many have seen the signs but refuse to believe. In fact, sometimes miracles can be a hindrance to faith because people look for the sign, rather than looking to the One to whom the sign points. Too many times I have heard people say, “If God would only do _________ for me, I would believe.” Only to make up another condition if that sign occurs.

When will we finally stop searching for a sign and simply trust the One who has already revealed Himself so clearly in Jesus Christ.?

Today’s post is third in a series from John 6 on why some people believe and others do not. Read Do You Believe the Impossible? to set the stage for today’s topic. The first reason why some do not believe was The Spiritual Nature of Jesus’ Mission. The second was The Gracious Nature of Jesus’ Offer.

Today’s post is third in a series from John 6 on why some people believe and others do not. Read Do You Believe the Impossible? to set the stage for today’s topic. The first reason why some do not believe was The Spiritual Nature of Jesus’ Mission. This post discusses the second reason:  The Gracious Nature of Jesus’ Offer

A church had a yard sale. Well, it was actually a storage room giveaway. The pastor said, “We didn’t really sell anything. We had so much stuff that it took up too much space. Also, we wanted to reach out to the community. As people came up we told them, ‘Everything is free! Take as much home as you can. We want you to have it.’ People responded in curious ways. Many were noticeably uncomfortable. Some didn’t come thinking there was a catch. Others refused to leave without paying. Others, after much convincing, finally took the stuff to their cars, not believing their good fortune. And I thought to myself, ‘That’s pretty much the way people are about God’s grace.’ We insist on paying or working for it.”

The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law—each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional (Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing about Grace?).

In John 6 a crowd had followed Jesus. He told them about, “eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:27). He offered a gift. They offered to pay for it. They responded with the question, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” And in asking this question they demonstrate their world view. They think that eternal life is all about pleasing God through doing good works.

John Stott writes of man trying to justify himself by works, “It has been the religion of the ordinary man both before and since. It is the religion of the man-in-the-street today. Indeed, it is the fundamental principle of every religious and moral system in the world except New Testament Christianity. It is popular because it is flattering. It tells a man that if he will only pull his socks up a bit higher and try a bit harder, he will succeed in winning his own salvation. But it is a fearful delusion. It is the biggest lie of the biggest liar the world has ever known, the devil, whom Jesus called ‘the father of lies.’ Nobody has ever been justified by the works of the law, for the simple reason that nobody has ever perfectly kept the law.”

Instead Jesus says to come by faith. Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:29). Believe, it sounds too easy for some. They want to work for it, to earn it. But you cannot earn a gift, that is the nature of a gift. An old Middle Eastern story shows the futility of salvation by works:

A man was traveling on his donkey when he came upon a small fuzzy object lying in the road. He dismounted to look more closely and found a sparrow lying on its back with its scrawny legs thrust skyward. At first he thought the bird was dead, but close investigation proved it to be very much alive. The man asked the sparrow if he was all right. The sparrow replied, “Yes.” The man said, “What are you doing lying on your back with your legs pointed toward the sky?” The sparrow responded that he had heard a rumor that the sky was falling. The man replied, “You surely don’t think you’re going to hold the sky up with those two scrawny legs, do you?” The sparrow replied, “One does the best he can.”

The little bird’s futile works were obvious. In the same way man’s condition is so desperate that his works are no more effective than a bird’s legs in the air trying to hold up the sky. No one will ever be saved by works.

Believe. So easy a child can do it. So hard the wisest stumble over it. The humble receive it. The proud refuse it.

Have you seen people who refuse to believe because they are trying to earn God’s favor?