If you were not a Christian, what would it take to convince you that Jesus is who he claimed to be? What evidence would you expect from one making such a claim?
What Proof Is There That Jesus Is Who He Claimed To Be?
Why should we believe that Jesus is the Son of God the Saviour of the world? The Bible tells us that God wants everyone to believe in Jesus Christ; that he became man, died upon the cross, was raised to life on the third day, ascended to heaven and will return one day to take his people to be with him forever. But what evidence is there to support the claims of Jesus? The miracles of Jesus are his credentials. Let’s examine some.
“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him” (John 3:2). The miracles of Jesus aroused the holy curiosity of Nicodemus who rightly concluded that God was indeed working with Jesus. How else could the miracles of Jesus be explained?
It was a Sabbath day when Jesus healed a blind man. The religious authorities saw this as a violation of the Sabbath, yet they could not deny that a miracle had taken place. They interrogated both the man and his parents in an attempt to have them denounce Jesus and discredit what had taken place. The man says, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes… Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:30-33)
On another occasion Jesus affirmed that he and the Father are one. This drew an angry response from the Jews. “Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’ ‘We are not stoning you for any of these,’ replied the Jews, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God. ‘” (John 10:31-33)
The Jews had a perfect opportunity to challenge the statement Jesus made regarding his miracles, but they didn’t. How could they deny that a blind man had received sight, that a lame man was walking, that lepers were cleansed, that deaf people could hear, that thousands were fed with five loaves and two fishes? They couldn’t. The evidence was undeniable.
The miracles were the best evidence God could provide to help us believe. This is borne out by the words of Jesus, ‘Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.’ (John 14:11) If his miracles did not carry compelling evidence, Jesus would never have appealed to them.
The purpose of John’s gospel is clearly stated: ‘Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’ (John 20:30-31)
Jesus supported his claims with miracles that were designed to move people from unbelief to faith in him and thereby receive eternal life.
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