Jesus actually did supernatural miracles to the satisfaction of his audience. For example, when asked by the disciples of John the Baptist whether or not he, Jesus, was the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus told John’s disciples to return to John with the following message: The lame walk; the dead are resurrected. Nobody is denying this! All these miracles are being performed in public, open to objective verification by any skeptic.
Why is that important? And where’s the unexpected turn?
It was not only that Jesus performed miracles, but two other conditions had to be met. First, he had to do specific miracles that the Old Testament prophets said the Messiah would do. Second, and completely out of his control, he had to do these miracles at that exact moment in human history.
If you are not, you ought to be surprised by that answer. It’s not something you read every day, if ever. But keep this in mind: the Old Testament prophet Daniel foretold the exact week in human history in which the Messiah would die, and that moment had to occur within weeks of the time Jesus was doing his miracles! Had Jesus not died on the very week he did, all bets were off. Jesus would have been a fraud, regardless of his unexplainable miracles.
You see, folks, it’s not just that Jesus did miracles; it’s that he did predicted (very specific) miracles, miracles that were predicted literally hundreds of years before he was born. It’s not just that he did miracles that were subject to verification by the skeptics of his day; it’s that he demanded that nobody believe in him unless he did such miracles as could be verified. It’s not just that he did all this; it’s that he did all these predicted things WHEN he did them. (Miracles performed after the first century have no divine authority or sanction.)
And now, this story takes yet another unexpected turn. And I mean unexpected.
The challenge Jesus made to those skeptics of his day is as much open to verification today as then. Anyone is free to examine the evidence. And if one is not absolutely convinced that Jesus was who he claimed to be, then on the authority of the word of God I say, “Do not believe him.” He will not hold you liable. All of which means, Jesus insists that you accept his claims, not on faith, but on objective, verifiable evidence.
Let me reiterate what I said earlier. Christianity is not based on religious faith. Religious faith has no place in Christianity. And why is that? Because Christianity must remain open to objective verification to all skeptics, and skeptics are not expected to have any kind of faith BEFORE they examine the evidence! And further, Christian faith is the opposite of religious faith. If you want to believe some religion on faith, join the Muslims or Mormons, or even the Hindus. But if you want to know the truth, examine the objective evidence. Don’t believe anything that can not be proven! (Jesus never asked anyone to have faith in him! I defy anyone to show me anywhere in Scripture where Jesus asked someone to have religious faith in him. Remember, Jesus demanded that nobody believe him unless he could prove himself.)
Some people actually do turn to Christianity on the basis of religious faith. I did. But I have long since abandoned that. Yes, you can now see what I mean when I say that I have abandoned my faith in Christ. I have abandoned my faith in Christ and exchanged it for proof. After all, the statement Jesus made, that nobody was to believe him unless he could prove his claims, applies to me. To believe in anyone or anything before examining the evidence takes religious faith, the kind of faith every religion stands of falls on. But only Christ requires us to examine the evidence, and to have biblical faith in him if he can prove himself. As strange as this may sound, biblical faith corresponds to our English word “proof.” (In Acts 17:35 it is actually translated “proof.”)
If you are a Christian and base your belief in Christ on something other than the objective, verifiable evidence, then obey the command of Jesus himself and stop that! You are no different than a Muslim or Mormon, or New Age nut.
With every ounce of creativity you can muster, try to imagine Mohammed or Joseph Smith, or any religious leader saying, “Do not believe me, unless I perform (specific, predicted) miracles from God.” Biblically, no one can. Why? Because they are all disqualified. Why? Because the only messenger God authenticated had to have lived in the first century per the Old Testament predictions! There is only one individual who qualifies.
