04.08.20 - So That You Would Believe...
Do you ever have those moments where you struggle to believe that God really is real? Maybe you’ve heard about Jesus your whole life and profess to be a Christian, but then something happens and you begin to consider, “Is this really true?” If you have, then guess what, you are not alone! Having doubts about your faith is part of the Christian life. Jesus knew these moments would happen to us. Jesus knew we would have days where we struggle to believe. One thing you can do during such times is to look at how Jesus gave His disciples assurance during those times. He gave them assurance by making predictions about his life that all came true! Not only are there plenty of prophecies about Jesus from the Old Testament, but there are prophecies He made about himself!
Read John 13:19. In this verse we read that Jesus told His disciples everything that would happen. But why?...so that “you would believe”. Jesus took up the principle of what he said in Jn 13:19 and foretold numerous details of what was going to happen. Check them out…
He foresaw that his death would be by crucifixion (John 3:14; 12:32).
He predicted that the disciples would find an unridden colt when they entered the town (Luke 19:30).
When the disciples entered Jerusalem that last Thursday, he predicted they would meet a man with the water pitcher who would have a room for them to meet in (Luke 22:10).
Jesus knew that he would be betrayed, and who would betray him, and when it would happen (John 6:64; 13:1; Matthew 26:2, 21).
He knew and predicted the fact and the time of Peter’s three denials (Matthew 26:34).
Jesus predicted that the disciples would all fall away and be scattered (Matthew 26:31; John 16:32; Zechariah 13:7).
Jesus prophesied that he would be “lifted up from the earth” (John 12:32). That is, he would not be stoned to death but crucified—not by Jews but by Romans.
In other words, Jesus is saying, “If you struggle to believe that I am the promised Messiah, that I am the divine Son of God who can forgive your sins and give you eternal life, then I want to help you believe. One of the ways I’m going to give you a well-grounded faith is to tell you what’s going to happen to be before it happens, so that when it happens, you will have every reason to believe in me.”
There are no Questions for Reflection today. I suggest you look up the Bible references above to read the predictions Jesus made about himself.