That Ye Might Believe CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
John said that he wrote about the signs in his gospel so that ye might believe. There were many other signs about which he did not write. However, he said that if you were to read about and believe the ones he recorded, then you would believe that Jesus is the Christ and that he is the Son of God. These two things are very important. As the Christ, he is the Jewish Messiah and the heir to David’s throne from which he will rule the world as King of the Jews. As the Son of God, he is God manifest in the flesh who, through his one sacrifice for sins, is able to save sinners and give them eternal life.
He wrote that ye might believe through his:
Miracles – his disciples believed on him through changing the water into wine at Cana, Jn 2:11 – Nicodemus believed that he was from God because of his miracles, Jn 3:2 – following the feeding of the 5,000, Peter confessed that he and the disciples believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jn 6:68-69 – when Jesus healed the man born blind, he believed that Jesus was the Son of God, Jn 9:35-38 – many Jews believed on Jesus following the resurrection of Lazarus, Jn 11:45; Jn 12:10-11. Now, what about you? Do you believe that Jesus did these miracles and that he is the Son of God or are you a skeptic who believes these stories were made up?
Prophecy – the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well believed that Jesus was the Messiah and convinced others that he was because she said, “He told me all that ever I did,” Jn 4:25-26, 39-42 – he was truly the Messiah, the Saviour of the world – are you going to trust him to be your Saviour like she and the Samaritans did or are you a skeptic who believes that he was just a prophet and that you don’t need a Saviour?
Crucifixion – Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be lifted up like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness and that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life, Jn 3:14-15 – when Jesus was crucified, the thief on the cross believed in him and was saved, Lk 23:42-43 – the centurion which stood over against him at his crucifixion believed that he “was the Son of God,” Mk 15:39 – are you going to believe these eyewitnesses to his crucifixion or are you a skeptic who believes that Jesus was just a man who died like any other man?
Resurrection – Jesus knew that his resurrection from the dead would cause men to believe him and it did, Jn 2:18-22 – his resurrection is the most compelling sign that he is the Son of God and the Saviour of all who would believe in him, 1 Cor 15 – even many of those who wanted him to be crucified later repented and were saved, Act 2:30-36, 41, 47.
Conclusion: There is an interesting fact. Jesus’ false accusers knew the signs and their meaning, they just didn’t believe that they were true. The last two false witnesses misquoted what he said in Jn 2 to accuse him, Matt 26:61 – isn’t it remarkable that they were referring the very sign that he gave them about his death and resurrection – the Pharisees didn’t believe him and yet admitted their error when they besought Pilate to secure his tomb, Matt 27:63-64 – the chief priests, when they found out that he had risen from the dead, bribed the soldiers to lie, Matt 28:11-15 – they knew the signs, they just didn’t believe than and accept him – so what are you going to do with these signs? Are you going to go along with the false witnesses and the Pharisees or are you going to let these signs that John wrote down be the cause that ye might believe and accept him and “have life through his name,” [Jn 20:31]?