Tag Archives: unbelief

And his disciples believed in him – John 2:11

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This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

The works of Jesus do not bring about the same response from everyone.  Two people can experience the same thing, witness the same event and participate in the same activity.  One believes and one does not.  The difference is in the person, not in the sign, which is one and the same for both.

“His disciples believed in him.”  These are the true learners, the real followers, the ones who are receptive to the signs.  The effect of the signs on the skeptic will be negligible.  

This was the first of the signs that John recorded. He will of course record several more, and as he tells us in John 20:30-31,

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The result is life for those who believe. For those who remain unmoved after exposure to the works and words of Jesus, there is no other hope.

A Prayer Prompted by Mark 9:23-24

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The interaction between Jesus and the father of a demonized boy is highly instructional.  

23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 

Heavenly Father,

We know that you are all-powerful and all-good.  You deserve every bit of faith and trust that we can give.  Sadly, however, that faith and trust is still sometimes sorely lacking.  We believe and yet we don’t.  We trust you, but not completely.  We have faith, sort of, but it wavers almost uncontrollably.

We believe, Lord; help our unbelief!  If the faith we have is no more than a mustard seed, please respond by moving the mountains that we face.  It may look as if our chances and hopes are dismal, but they are no worse than the hopes of this father with the demonized son.  Our challenges are no greater than those of the disciples on the Saturday after Good Friday when your body, Jesus, was still in the tomb.

Please act, Lord!  Please hear our prayer!  Please pull us up from the depths of our unbelief, doubt and despair, and teach us to trust more fully in you.

It is in your name we pray,

Amen.

(Un)Belief – Mark 9:23-24

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Jesus has just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration with three of his disciples.  Now he finds the other nine stuck in a situation for which they can do nothing helpful.  It seems a father has brought his son to Christ’s disciples.  The symptoms the boy exhibits are similar to epilepsy, but are actually caused by a demon,  When the father asks Jesus if perhaps he can help, the following interaction ensues.

23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 

Isn’t this where we so often find ourselves?  We believe Jesus has the ability.  We pray to God, knowing he is all-powerful and all-good.  And still we doubt.  Our faith falls short.  We lack something in the area of true belief.

Eckhard Schnabel, in his Tyndale NT Commentary on Mark, describes the man, “He acknowledges his lack of faith, which is not an unwillingness to commit to Jesus’ power but an inability to believe in the face of immense odds, given that the nine disciples were unable to heal the boy.”

The reassuring thing is that this admission on the part of the father, “I believe; help my unbelief!” turns out to be enough of an expression of faith that Jesus heals the son.  The demon doesn’t come out without a fight, but it is a fight that Jesus cannot help but win.

We need to be willing to express our faith in Christ and the lack thereof.  Our belief and unbelief which somehow coexist in our torn and divided hearts.  It is not a rejection of Jesus so much as a wavering acceptance with a desire for the waves to calm down.  The doubts of the saint and those of the skeptic are of a different species entirely.

We believe Lord, help our unbelief!  And help he will.

 

Familiarity – Mark 6:1-3

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Everyone in Nazareth knew Jesus.  The town wasn’t that big and Jesus had lived there most of his life.  When he came home and taught in the synagogue, the response might have been positive.  I’m the sort that loves it when guys from my hometown of Buffalo, NY, or my current home of Indianapolis make it big in one way or another.  Imagine if one of your local boys turned out to be the Messiah!?  It doesn’t get any bigger than that.

Alas, that was not the case.

Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.

Familiarity can go two ways.  They clearly knew enough about Jesus and his “mighty works” to put two and two together.  It was an informed decision.  But they also had enough information to imagine that their unbelief was justified.  “He’s just a carpenter, right?”  “And his mom, brother and sisters are just normal folks. We’ve known them forever.”  If they had anything privately against the family, say suspicion surrounding the circumstances of Jesus’s birth, or some minor scuffle with a one of the brothers, these things would not work in Christ’s favor.

They were still wrong.  Jesus was and is the Christ, the Son of God (Mark1:1).  Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)

We can make the same mistake today.  People reject Christ due to familiarity.  They grew up in a Christian home or they know any number of Christians that they find unimpressive.  Or they pay Christ a bit of lip service while not accepting the Jesus we find in the Bible, because, well, they know a little too much, they believe.

This also happens in churches to otherwise solid believers.  It is more subtle, but the same basic thing.  The longer we know a pastor, a worship leader or the overall atmosphere of the church, we are faced with a continuous decision.  We can stay faithful for the sake of the relationships and continue to help build the ministry – or not. 

Maybe we’re kind of bored with the music.  Maybe we wish they would stress our favorite doctrinal stance a little more then they do.  Maybe we like the decor of another building or the neighborhood in which another church is located.  We can go on. 

Familiarity can increase commitment, cultivate brotherly love and build trust.  Long, old friendships are usually the best we have.  Or, we can collect evidence that something is seriously wrong.  If they did it with Jesus, we can certainly do it with other sinners saved by grace.