'He [Abraham] said to him [the dead rich man], "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead."' Luke 16:31
"His [Jesus'] resurrection also was no demonstration for the world. The empty grave as such convinced no one who did not believe in Him." Herman Sasse
"If only I could see a miracle, then I would believe." A few years back, I read a quotation along these lines in a book written by an atheist. After basically trashing the Christian faith throughout his book, he finally comes to answer the "question" of what would cause him to believe. His response is that, if he saw something that would be defined as a miracle, then he would believe.
In some ways, that's an understandable human response. We want to see something great to prove something that we cannot see. And yet, there is a very distinct line here that must be drawn. That line is this: would you believe in something you saw that was unbelievable if you didn't believe that it was possible?
We humans have a way of trying to explain away things that don't make sense. Try to convince someone that you saw a UFO, and you'll probably fight an uphill battle. Who are the only ones who will believe you? The ones who believe in UFOs. For the person who doesn't believe in UFOs, you're probably not going to convince them, no matter how much evidence you may have.
That's why I find this quote of Jesus from the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31) so interesting. Basically, Jesus says that if you don't believe in what God has told us through the words of His book, then you won't believe a miracle, even one as pronounced as a dead man rising back to life. Seeing is not necessarily believing. In fact, it seems that believing that it can happen is necessary to seeing it for what it really is.
I see this in many of Jesus' miracles, as I think about it. How often was Jesus' response to the person, "Your faith has made you well." He didn't make them well, and then they believed, but rather, they believed that He could do it, and He responded to that faith. Maybe that's something along the lines of what Jesus meant when He said that if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.
"His [Jesus'] resurrection also was no demonstration for the world. The empty grave as such convinced no one who did not believe in Him." Herman Sasse
"If only I could see a miracle, then I would believe." A few years back, I read a quotation along these lines in a book written by an atheist. After basically trashing the Christian faith throughout his book, he finally comes to answer the "question" of what would cause him to believe. His response is that, if he saw something that would be defined as a miracle, then he would believe.
In some ways, that's an understandable human response. We want to see something great to prove something that we cannot see. And yet, there is a very distinct line here that must be drawn. That line is this: would you believe in something you saw that was unbelievable if you didn't believe that it was possible?
We humans have a way of trying to explain away things that don't make sense. Try to convince someone that you saw a UFO, and you'll probably fight an uphill battle. Who are the only ones who will believe you? The ones who believe in UFOs. For the person who doesn't believe in UFOs, you're probably not going to convince them, no matter how much evidence you may have.
That's why I find this quote of Jesus from the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31) so interesting. Basically, Jesus says that if you don't believe in what God has told us through the words of His book, then you won't believe a miracle, even one as pronounced as a dead man rising back to life. Seeing is not necessarily believing. In fact, it seems that believing that it can happen is necessary to seeing it for what it really is.
I see this in many of Jesus' miracles, as I think about it. How often was Jesus' response to the person, "Your faith has made you well." He didn't make them well, and then they believed, but rather, they believed that He could do it, and He responded to that faith. Maybe that's something along the lines of what Jesus meant when He said that if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.
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