Tag: Skeptics

Jesus meets skeptics where they are at

“Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’” John 1:48

The next day, Jesus “found Philip” who then “found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ ” (John 1:43-45). Nathanael is a little more skeptical than the other men who came to Jesus (cf. John 1:37-44). He does not respond in immediate faith. Nathanael said to Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46a).

So what does Philip do? Does he give up or argue? “Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ ” (John 1:46b). Philip does not give up or argue with Nathanael, he does the only thing he knows to do. He says, “Come and see” for yourself. I don’t have all the answers, but come and meet Jesus. Then you will see what I’m talking about.

As Nathanael approaches, Jesus builds him up: “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!’ ” (John 1:47). Jesus is saying,“I know you Nathanael for who you are and you are a man of integrity.” Nathanael is surprised that Jesus would say this, so he says to Him, “How do You know me?” (John 1:48a). Nathanael is amazed because he has never met Jesus before and knows of no reason why Jesus would know his character so well.

Jesus draws Nathanael in when He says to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” (John 1:48b). Jesus saw Nathanael’s heart as well as his presence under the tree. Perhaps Nathanael was praying or reading the Bible under that fig tree. Jesus is saying, “Nathanael, I know who you are. I know everything there is to know about you. I know what you think and where you go and what you do. And I want to have a relationship with you.”

How do you think Nathanael responds? “Nathanael answered and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ ” (John 1:49). Nathanael places his faith in Jesus. “Only the Son of God could know this. You must be Him!” And to believe that Jesus is the Son of God results in eternal life. John 20:31 says, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

Jesus replies to Nathanael, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ And He said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” (John 1:50-51). Jesus is saying, “I am glad you believed, but you believed because I gave you a miraculous sign. But Nathanael, you have seen nothing yet. You are going to see greater signs than these.” Verse 51 refers to Jesus’ Second Coming to earth as King. Jesus has already shown His supernatural knowledge, but when He comes the second time He will show His supernatural power. When Christ comes back as King, the Bible says, “Let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.’ ” (Hebrews 1:6-7).

No matter how skeptical a person may be about Christianity, just introduce them to Jesus and let Him do the rest. You and I cannot change people, but we can introduce them to the One who can. Jesus takes Simon and makes him Peter, a rock or leader of leaders. Jesus takes the doubter and transforms him into a devoted follower. He takes the sinner and makes him a saint. Jesus takes the drunkard and makes him sober. Jesus takes the prostitute and makes her pure. Jesus takes the worrier and gives him peace. He takes the spiritually blind and makes her see. Jesus takes the dirty and makes him clean. Jesus changes lives.

God wants to use ordinary people like you and me all around the world to introduce people to Jesus. You may think you do not have what it takes to do that. All Jesus asks of you is to tell people the truth about Him. He will do the rest.

If you are reading this article and you can identify with Nathanael’s skepticism, please know that Jesus loves you and He will meet you where you are at. He will provide answers to your questions if you are willing to listen. He may come to you in unexpected ways such as through a dream or a vision or even through a child. He knows everything about you – your likes and dislikes. Your sorrows and your joys. Your thoughts, actions, and words. He knows the hidden wounds of your heart. He knows the dark secrets in the depths of your soul, and He still loves you and He longs to be in a personal relationship with you.  

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for pursuing me when I was lost in the darkness of my own sin and shame. Thank You for providing answers to the deep questions of my soul. Lord I am very concerned about those who are like Nathanael. They are skeptical about You. They need evidence for their skeptical minds. They need answers for their hurting hearts and they need a relationship with You for their fragmented souls. As You did with me, please meet them where they are at. Reveal Yourself and Your power to them in a way that leaves no room for doubt about Your identity. Show them Lord Jesus, that You are the Son of God, the King of Israel, Who will give them everlasting life the moment they believe in You. Thank You my Lord and my God for hearing my prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

How do we share the gospel with intellectual unbelievers?

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30

When the apostle Paul preached to “Epicurean and Stoic philosophers” (atheists and pantheists) in the idolatrous city of Athens on Mars Hill (17:16-22), he began by acknowledging that they were “very religious” (17:22b) which expressed their longing to connect with their “UNKNOWN GOD…whom” they “worship without knowing” (17:23). Paul masterfully begins with God as everyone’s Creator (17:24-29) and then brings His audience to God as everyone’s Judge (17:30-31). 

As their Creator, “God…made the world and everything in it, since He is the Lord of heaven and earth” (17:24). He sustains “all things” and is not dependent on anyone for His needs (17:25). The true God is the source of all people whom He “has made from one blood” [Adam] to dwell on all the …earth,” having “determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings” (17:26). God’s sovereign control over the times and locations of people was so they “should seek the Lord…and find Him” (17:27). 

Paul then cited two of their Greek writerswho said, “For we are also His offspring” (17:28). Since God created people, then it is illogical to conclude that God can be made from materials like “gold or silver or stone” (17:29).

As their Judge, “God overlooked” these “times of ignorance” when He had not revealed as much about Himself before Christ (17:30a). “But” now that God has revealed more of Himself to people through Jesus Christ, He “now commands all men everywhere to repent” (17:30b). Paul invites them to “repent” (metanoeō) or change their mind about Christ and see that He is the One who “will judge the world in righteousness” (17:31a). The proof that Jesus is qualified to judge humanity is that God raised “Him from the dead” (17:31b).  

This is what makes Christianity distinct from all other religions. The founders of all other religions are still in their graves, including Mohammed of Islam, Buddha of Buddhism, Confucius of Confucianism, Joseph Smith of Mormonism, Charles Taze Russell of the Jehovah Witnesses,  Rubin Ecleo of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Assoc., and Felix Manalo of the Iglesia ni Cristo. But Christians worship a Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and remains alive today!

Christianity is reasonable because it is based upon historical facts. There are a number of very strong evidences for the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 

1. The historical record. The Bible explains Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God with power… by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:3-4). The proof that Jesus rose from the dead was that He was seen alive after His death by over five hundred eyewitnesses (I Corinthians 15:3-8). Just as history proclaims that Ferdinand Marcos was the President of the Philippines (1965-1986), so history proclaims that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead.  The resurrection of Christ is the most attested fact of history.

Thomas Arnold authored a three-volume history of Rome and was appointed to Oxford’s Chair of Modern History. Concerning the evidence behind the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he said, “I have been used for years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than that Christ died and rose from the dead.”

Frank Morison, a British trial lawyer, vowed to write a book disproving Christianity and committed to base his book on a collection of facts. Using a critical method of evaluation and despite his initial beliefs, he concluded that Christianity is true. The resurrection convinced him, and he wrote a book entitled Who Moved the Stone? which begins with the chapter, “The Book that Refused to Be Written.”  

Intellectual atheists such as Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel set out to disprove Christianity only to be persuaded that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true! They have written books containing the strong evidences that persuaded them to become Christians (see The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (1999) and Evidence for the Resurrection (2004) by Josh McDowell and The Case for Easter (2004) and The Case for Christianity (2014) by Lee Strobel.  Another proof of Jesus’ resurrection is… 

2. The change in the lives of the disciples. These disciples were not shrewd men who figured out some weird way to start a new religion. They did not say, “Let’s get our Leader killed off. Then we’ll go hide out in an upper room and then all of a sudden we will have a new hope.” These were depressed people. They were hiding for fear of the Jews (cf. Mark 16:14; Luke 24:11;  John 20:19). All of a sudden their lives were changed overnight! And they went out preaching the gospel without fear (Acts 2:14ff). What happened to them? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. The third proof of Jesus’ resurrection is…

3. The silence of Jesus’ enemies. If you are one of Jesus’ enemies (the Romans or Jewish Pharisees), and you have the disciples going around saying Jesus is alive and it’s bringing people away from your faith to a new faith, what would you do to stop them? Go find the dead body of their leader. “If I could find the dead body of Jesus Christ, it would bring this entire movement to a stop.” But they couldn’t find the body. Why? Because there was no dead body to be found because Jesus rose from the dead! We will never hear a news report saying that they found the dead body of Jesus Christ because He is risen, and He remains alive today (I Corinthians 15:1-8)! The fourth proof of Jesus’ resurrection is…

4. The changed lives of people today. Because Jesus Christ is alive today, He changes sinners into saints, promiscuous people into pure people, hateful people into loving people, greedy people into generous people, impatient people into patient people. But sometimes, an unbeliever will say, “I believe in this Eastern mysticism philosophy.  It has changed my life just like your belief in Jesus Christ. What is the difference?” The difference is an empty tomb. The difference is we have a reality behind our faith. It’s not just a philosophy. We have evidence for our minds. 

When Paul’s audience “heard of the resurrection of the dead… some mocked” ( Acts 17:32) but “some men joined him and believed” in the risen Lord Jesus Christ (17:34).  

When sharing the gospel with intellectuals, begin with what is familiar to them and then share the truth of the gospel with them, citing sources that will encourage them to agree with the truth. Give them evidence for their minds. Christianity is reasonable because it is based upon historical facts. Let the Holy Spirit persuade them to change their mind about Christ (repent) so they can believe in Him for His gift of everlasting life (cf. 17:30, 34).  

When Paul said God “overlooked these times of ignorance” (17:30) when people had limited revelation before Christ came to earth, they were still guilty as sinners before a holy God and would be separated from Him forever if they did not believe in Jesus (cf. John 3:36; Romans 5:12-14). This reminds us of an important truth: when greater revelation of God is given to us through Jesus Christ, there is now greater responsibility for both believers and unbelievers (cf. Matthews 12:38-42; 23:14; Mark 12:40). 

For Christians, this means we must take the gospel to everyone because God “commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30a). But people everywhere cannot repent or change their mind about the greater revelation of Jesus if believers do not go to them and share Christ with them (cf. Romans 10:14-15). Likewise, now that Jesus has come, God will hold non-Christians more accountable for responding to Jesus in faith. The key for non-Christians is to respond positively to the light or revelation that God has given to them so that He will give them more light, including the gospel of Christ (cf. Romans 1:18-24). Then they can believe in Him.