Faith or Facts – June 10, 2021

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:31

Faith or Facts

Is the Christian faith blind faith? What I mean is, do Christians believe without looking at the evidence? Or, to say it another way, is faith in opposition to knowing facts?

At first glance, that’s the kind of Christianity that Jesus seems to have been advocating when he spoke to his disciple, Thomas. After Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas demanded to see Jesus’ scarred hands and side before he would believe. When Jesus showed up and let him touch his hands and feet, he scolded Thomas, saying, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). So was Jesus saying that we are more blessed if we just thoughtlessly follow whatever Christianity says?

Not exactly. The writer John says in the next verse, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30,31). Did you catch that? John recorded a number of Jesus’ miracles so that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ. John was saying that Jesus gave all of us, including Thomas, plenty of “signs” that revealed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.

Faith is not against facts. The reality is we have more than enough facts about Jesus to believe. We have the facts of hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that were all fulfilled in Jesus. We have the facts of Jesus’ miracles and signs that convinced his early followers. And we have the facts of Jesus’ resurrection that emboldened almost all his apostles to give up their lives for him.

We have enough facts about Jesus. Trust that these facts are true.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me all I need to trust you in this life and the life to come. Amen.