Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.” (John 10:22-25)

Seeing And Not Believing

After more than two years of the ministry of Jesus, the Jews demanded Jesus declare publicly if He was the Christ, the Anointed One. The prophets had promised the coming of the Christ centuries earlier, and there had been many false men who claimed to be the chosen ones of God. Jesus began His ministry a few years earlier, teaching the multitudes the will of the Father. Throughout His ministry, Jesus had performed miracles to show the world He was the Son of God. Every miracle provided infallible proof that Jesus of Nazareth was Christ. They also established that God was with Jesus.

In the short time of the ministry of Jesus, He changed water into wine, fed more than nine thousand people with food left over, calmed a storm in the middle of the sea, walked on water, healed thousands of sick people, restored sight to the blind, cured leprosy, and cast out numerous demons from the possessed. Jesus brought Lazarus from the dead, raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, and had compassion on a widow from Nain by raising her son from the dead as they took him to his burial. There would be more miracles before His ministry is completed.

The Jews doubted Jesus, not because of what they saw but of what they felt. There was never a time when the critics of Jesus doubted a miracle had been done. They never challenged the miracle and sometimes tried to doubt the person to whom the miracle was done, but there was never an occasion the Jews could find a miracle of Jesus failed. It seems incredulous that after nearly two years of teaching and miracles, the Jews demanded Jesus prove He was the promised Christ. They demanded that Jesus tell them in plain language that He was Christ.

Doubt filled the hearts of the Jews because they did not want to see the miracles of Jesus as proof. Watching Jesus heal a man with a withered hand in their presence did not move the needle toward belief. Because of their hardened hearts of unbelief, they could witness Lazarus walking out of the tomb dressed in a burial garb, and leave trying to find a way to kill Jesus. If Jesus was not the Christ, how could He have raised Lazarus from the dead? All the proof they needed stared them in the face, yet they denied the power of God. It may seem improbable for something like that to happen today, but it does.

Jesus returned to the Father after His resurrection. He gave instructions to the eleven to return to Jerusalem. On the Day of Pentecost, the kingdom of God began with great power and demonstration of the grace of God. From those humble beginnings, the gospel spread throughout the world. Shortly after the establishment of the church, the final canon of truth was found in what would become the Old Testament and the New Testament. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, sixty-six books are contained in a book called “The Bible.” Contained within the pages of the Bible is the proof that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. From Genesis to John’s final revelation, the Bible’s message points toward the kingship of Jesus Christ. Taking anything away from the Bible will bring the wrath of God. Adding more than what God has contained in the Bible will also bring the wrath of God. Everything a man needs to know about Jesus Christ is found in the Bible. Skeptics, like the Jews of Jesus’ day, will say, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If Jesus is the Christ, tell us plainly.” The answer is the same as Jesus when He said, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.”

John signified in his gospel that the signs Jesus did in the presence of His disciples were done to convince the reader that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God, and that believing a man can have life in the name of Jesus. The gospels do not contain all the miracles of Jesus, yet many are recorded in the gospels that prove Jesus of Nazareth was God. Like the Jews in the days of Jesus, many deny what they read. No other revelations, testimonies, or witnesses will be given about Jesus. The Bible is the message of God to those who will read and understand His will. If you do not believe Jesus is the Christ through the testimony of the Bible, you will die in your sins. There is no other proof or evidence that will be given.