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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
A call came to Jesus to help Lazarus, but He did not respond immediately. Soon He told His disciples, “Lazarus is dead.” Then He uttered a somewhat shocking statement; He said, “I am glad for your [the disciples'] sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.” (John 11.15; emphasis mine, jb). This verse and two others contain this exact phrase, “...that you may believe.” Today's message will examine each of the biblical occurrences of the phrase...
That You May Believe
Jesus was not glad that Lazarus died; He was glad that events could now occur which might bring about greater belief in the hearts of His disciples. This is but one of hundreds of examples of how God is able to use otherwise hurtful circumstances to work great things in the lives of others. The specific good thing that could come out of the death of Lazarus was that the disciples of Jesus might have faith. The time of testing was escalating rapidly; everywhere that Jesus went the hostility of the Jewish leaders was raging. One of the factors that kept them from taking Him was His popularity among the common people. As persecutions continued to rise against Christ, so did the threat to His disciples also increase. They would need their faith to be strong in the coming days and weeks lest they fall through unbelief. Jesus was glad because this was but another occasion to help His friends to survive the coming attacks.
Jesus' fervor to induce faith in the hearts of others was contagious. John the beloved apostle and author of the Gospel account that bears his name shared in this passion. Even as He grew older the scenes which he personally witnessed at the cross were yet vivid in his mind; there was no hesitancy to speak what he knew. To this point John said, “And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.” (John 19.35; emphasis mine, jb). John's will to tell the truth was equivalent to his desire to please the Father and to go to heaven. He literally risked everything to bear testimony to the facts which he knew about Jesus, His crucifixion, and His resurrection.
The third and final occurrence of the phrase that you may believe is also located in John's gospel. We quote it here with a bit of the immediate context. “ And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20.30-31). Jesus performed signs so that those who saw Him could believe (the case of Lazarus). Those who saw Him perform signs testified to the veracity of those signs and hence the truthfulness of the message which He came to deliver (eyewitnesses such as John, Peter and others). Furthermore, the testimony of these men extended to the written word which came from their inspired pens. These written records were penned with the specific objective in mind of engendering faith in the hearts of those who would subsequently read them. The Bible itself is a product of this process; its God-given mission is to produce faith! Indeed God declared it: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10.17).
The importance of faith cannot be overemphasized; the Hebrews writer declared, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11.6). Jesus worked so that you may believe. The apostles preached so that you may believe. The Bible was written that you may believe. We who have His word are without excuse. God is doing His part; the only question that remains is am I doing mine?
Questions:
1. According to the Bible how does faith come?
2. What part does the truthful testimony of eyewitnesses have in producing faith in Jesus?
3. Is faith possible apart from the Bible? Why or why not? Is faith possible without evidence? Why or why not? (see Hebrews 11.1).
4. What must I do in order to come to possess biblical faith? What has God done to enable me to achieve that objective?
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