Signs, Wonders and Beliefs

Then they brought him a demoniac who was blind and mute; and he cured him, so that the one who had been mute could speak and see. All the crowds were amazed and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons, that this fellow casts out the demons.” 

- Matthew 12:22-24

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 

- John 14:8-11

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” … So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

- John 11:38-48 and 53

Signs, Wonders and Beliefs - Condensed Video

Beginning with converting water into wine at a wedding celebration (see John 2) and continuing until He blessed the disciples with a miraculous catch of fish (see John 21), Jesus’s ministry revealed God’s glory in many ways including miraculous signs, wonders, loving deeds and authoritative teaching. John testifies that he wrote his gospel based on his personal experience with Jesus. Then he says, “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). While Jesus Christ was on earth in fully human form, God’s glory flowed through Him through works too numerous to record.

Philip ate, traveled and lived with Jesus, and studied under and followed Him for years. He likely witnessed many of Jesus’s works; he likely experienced God’s glory flowing through Jesus in remarkable ways day after day. After all their time together, after living an amazing collection of remarkable experiences, on the evening of the Last Supper, Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied” (John 14:8), as if all the previous revelations of God’s glory flowing through Jesus were not enough to support Philip’s faith, trust and belief. He needed more.

In essence, Jesus says that, at that moment, there was no more; Philip simply needs to believe. He says, “Believe me … but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves” (John 14:11). Jesus urges Philip to believe on the basis of their relationship, but if that is not enough, believe on the basis of having experienced God’s works performed through Jesus.

Philip had years of personal experiences with Jesus, yet he struggled to believe. We have so much more than Philip had at that moment. We have what the prophets of the Old Testament longed to possess, we have what the disciples longed to experience – we have Jesus’s spirit dwelling within us. Pause for a moment and let that sink in. Think about what makes a person who they really are – their personality, character, wit, sense of humor, memories, ability to think, emotions. The characteristics comprising the essence of a person are spiritual. We have His spirit within us! We also have the body of God’s holy word; we have truth describing some of God’s works in the world performed through Jesus Christ; we have an amazing collection of God’s promises to us; and we have our personal experiences with Jesus Christ who dwells within us. We have felt Him lift the veil from our eyes as we read His holy word. We have prayed and felt His holy presence as we breathe Him into our hearts. We have experienced His blessing as He answers our prayers. We know He is here and active. We know that He is love and He loves us.

But is that enough to support your faith, your trust, your belief?

When Jesus healed people and cast demons out of people and raised people from the dead and multiplied loaves and fish and performed other amazing signs and wonders, some saw what God did through Jesus and believed in Jesus while others saw the same events yet failed to believe.

Religious leaders were the people who should have been closest to God, the people who lived their lives striving to be near God, striving to represent God on earth, the people whose occupation was studying and teaching God’s holy word, but when they heard that Jesus cast demons out of a blind and mute person who was suddenly able to see and speak, they accused Jesus of performing the good deed through the power of Satan (see Matthew 12:22-24). And when they heard that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, they plotted to kill Him (see John 11:46-47).  

Seeing does not always lead to believing, but believing leads to seeing. Jesus urged Philip to believe so that he might see. Do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus continues to reveal His signs and wonders around us? Ask God to open your eyes to see His glory as He reveals Himself around you today. Ask God to use you as His instrument today so that others may see Him through you.

May God continue to reveal His glory through you.