Didn’t Jesus say that we would believe by seeing signs and wonders?
Take a close look at the flowers in the picture…they were created by our God. It defies logic and reason. How did that complex beauty come out of a little seed? Where did it get its design from? It is by any definition a miracle, a wonder of creation and a sign of the glory of our God.
This leads us to the question at hand: If signs and wonders produce belief for receiving from God, then, in light of these wonders of creation all around us, why would anyone still have unbelief?! There are many who marvel at the wonders in creation but do not believe in God. You might be thinking, what about the miracles, signs and wonders that Jesus did? Didn’t Jesus say that we would believe him for the signs that He did? Below we will connect the dots from the Word of God to understand what Jesus said.
We will start with the words of Jesus:
John 10:37,38 “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.”
John 14:10-11 (Jesus is replying to Philip) “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.”
In the above verses, Jesus was responding to those who would not believe what he had said; that God was his Father. So, he said that if they wouldn’t believe him because of what he said then they should believe the ‘signs and works’ as proof that he was the Son of God. Why? Because it was the Father doing the works in him and the works were testifying to the Father being in Jesus and Jesus in the Father. Jesus was testifying that no man could do the miracles, signs and wonders by themselves; it has to be God (who was the Father of Jesus) working through them. In John 3:2, Nicodemus acknowledged this fact when he said to Jesus “…we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” He had already told them in John 5:19,30 that he could do nothing of himself. He made the same point to Philip who told Jesus to show him the Father (remember Philip was one of the twelve who saw signs and wonders done by the spirit of God through himself and the rest of the disciples).
Jesus was saying the works testified that the Father was in him and he in the Father. They were not done to produce believing for healing miracles, casting out devils or any other work that was done through Jesus; just that he was the Son of God (his Father, Jehovah – the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, etc.) and it was God doing the works in him. Yet this doubt was a challenge that he faced often and responded by addressing their unbelief that he was from the Father. See below:
Matthew 12:23-28 “And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”
Jesus said for us to have those works in our life we must believe on him so the same spirit of God in Jesus would be in us doing those works:
John 14:12 “… he that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these because I go to my Father.”
John 17:21,22 “…that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gave to me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one…”
Signs and wonders are not guaranteed to produce belief for a miracle. Many sick people attend healing conferences where there are miraculous healings, but only a small percentage walk away free from their symptoms. When I was sick with cancer, I saw others receive miracles, but only felt discouraged because I would walk away still sick with all the same symptoms. With all the signs & wonders we read and hear about, why do so many people remain sick? Jesus said the key to receiving was simply believing, (Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24) the believing that comes from receiving and embracing the truth.
In John 5:20, Jesus makes the statement that seeing signs and wonders will cause you to marvel but says nothing about them causing one to believe.
“For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that Himself does: and He will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.”
In John 5:36 Jesus says the ‘works’ simply testified that God sent Jesus; they were for no other purpose, but to reveal the Kingdom of Heaven and the Father to the people.
“But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.”
John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.”
Notice: they saw the works, but they did not believe in Jesus but rather hated him. These are Jesus’ own words. Even in John 14:29 and 13:9, Jesus said I tell you before it come to pass that when it comes to pass you ‘might’ or ‘may’ believe. He didn’t say that it would cause them to believe, he just said that there is a possibility by them hearing it before it happens it could produce belief in them but no guarantee.
Signs and wonders cannot change our will, they can influence it, but only the truth (the word of God, John 17:17) that we receive in our heart will produce belief. Please read Hebrews chapter 3 and 4, which illustrate this point with the children of Israel.
Our Father did not send signs and wonders to heal and deliver, but he sent his word, Psalms 107:20; “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”
Yes, even the power in the word, He says, is subject to our will. He sent his word to all of Israel but not all were healed or delivered. Jesus had this same experience. They heard his words, they saw the mighty works but remained in unbelief. See Matthew 13:54-58:
“And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
This was nothing new, it happened to many others that the Father sent to share His “word”; consider what Jesus said in Luke 4:21-29:
“…he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.”
Jesus said the miracles and signs he was doing were not moving people as a whole to believe and receive. Many more people remained bound in Jesus’ day than actually received the deliverance he offered, even though his miracles were ‘published abroad’. He rebuked Chorazin, Capernaum and Bethsaida (Matthew 11) because he had done many signs and wonders yet they would not repent and believe.
Jesus said that signs follow the preaching of the Word. They do not go before; he said that the Father confirms the Word to those people that will believe with signs following, not preceding.
Mark 16:20 “And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.”
In Romans 10:17, It tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, not by seeing signs and wonders.
Signs and wonders have the potential to positively influence our heart, generally producing a deep desire to see or experience them for one’s self, but there is no guarantee that they will cause you to believe to receive. God gave us his truth as a basis for belief and the ability to choose of our own free will; let’s choose to believe the truth and see the goodness of our Father here and now (Psalms 27:13)!
We should all desire to see the signs and wonders of our Father. In fact, if we are believing, we can expect to see them because we are believing the Word. Our focus should be the same as Jesus’, he did all that the spirit of our Father led him to do and to speak, and he left the results up to our Father.
Jesus said to Jairus, “…fear not, only believe and your daughter will be made whole…”(Luke 8:50), He was encouraging Jairus to make the choice to believe then he would see the sign and wonder of his daughter being made whole. Jesus did not say “look at what I did for that woman, just hold on and I’ll do the same for you…”
Let’s choose to believe the word our Father is speaking to us, and we will see the signs and wonders just as Jairus did.
For more of what the word shares on signs and wonders Click Here (I touch on this subject in many of the videos in this ’Believing’ series and more specifically in parts 6 and 7).