Close Your Eyes to Blind Faith

Bible Reading: John 8:31-32

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.   John 8:32

You’re trying to tell a friend about Jesus when she starts to sound like a college professor. “So,” she says with a creepy voice and one eyebrow raised, “can you prove with 100 percent certainty that Jesus rose from the dead?”

You’re not sure where your friend suddenly got the jumbo-sized brain and smart-sounding question. Your answer comes out in a mousy squeak. “Umm, no.”

Some people call our Christian belief in Jesus’ resurrection a “blind faith.” That’s a belief accepted without any proof. Or they slam our faith with nasty labels like “ignorant,” “irrational,” or “unreasonable.” Those are all big words that more or less mean the same thing as “dumb.” If someone puts you down this way, you’re probably left feeling red-faced. Odd. Stupid. Defeated.

Some people figure that if a truth can’t be proven with 100 percent certainty, it’s useless or untrue. If Jesus’ resurrection or his claim to be the Son of God can’t be proven with 100 percent certainty, they say, then the Christian faith isn’t worth bedeviling.

That’s a myth. Few things can be proven with 100 percent certainty.

In a court of law, for example, a jury can never be 100 percent sure that someone committed a crime. But the jury weighs the evidence to declare that someone is guilty—or not—beyond a reasonable doubt.

In the same way, your belief that Jesus is God can’t be proven with 100 percent sureness. But that doesn’t mean it’s stupid to believe the Christian faith. The apostle John wrote, “Jesus’ disciples saw him do many other miraculous signs besides the ones recorded in this book” (John 20:30). Jesus, in other words, did many other things that demonstrated that he was the Son of God. The evidence the Bible provides doesn’t include everything Jesus said or did, but what it does tell us is enough to form a well-grounded belief. John wrote in the next verse, “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life” (verse 31).

Your belief in Jesus is plenty smart. Blaise Pascal—a famous French mathematician, philosopher, and scientist—said that there is enough evidence for the Christian faith to convince anyone not already set against it. But there isn’t enough evidence to bring anyone into God’s kingdom who doesn’t want to come.

TALK: Answer in your own words: Why is it not foolish to believe in Jesus?

PRAY: Jesus, give us opportunities to share with our friends the truth about who you are and what you’ve done for us.

ACT: Is there a question about your faith that puzzles you? Ask a more mature Christian for help digging for the answer.