“Do You Believe…?” (Part 3 of 3)

When Jesus restored the sight of a man who had been born blind, that was just the beginning of the story.

Jesus had healed him physically and the Pharisees had interrogated him endlessly. So what more did he need to confess? Well, today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg makes three observations regarding the one question Jesus requires each of us to answer, Do You Believe?

Essentially, this morning's study turns between a question and an answer. The question is there at the end of verse 35, Do you believe in the Son of Man? And the answer, which then comes in verse 38, Lord, I believe. Jesus, we learn from the opening part of verse 35, has sought out this man in order to ask him this express question. The question is there, Do you believe in the Son of Man?

And I want to suggest to you three things concerning the question. First of all, I wonder, would you agree with me that what Jesus poses is a vital question? John chapter 3 and verse 13, Jesus says, No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

Now, remember what the question is. Do you believe in the Son of Man? What are the implications of belief? Answer, belief is the open door to eternal life. Therefore, Jesus sets the question in the context of eternity.

If you look at verse 18, you have a solemn statement, still in John 3 and in verse 18, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. So the question of believing in the Son of Man, the question posed to this man once born blind, addresses the whole issue of life itself. And in John's Gospel particularly, there are a tremendous number of statements concerning life.

It bursts upon us in the prologue when Jesus is introduced. In him was life, and this life was the light of men. In John chapter 3, Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about eternal life. In John chapter 10, he says, I have come that you might have life and that you might have it in all of its fullness. Well, in every instance he was speaking to people who had life, who had physical life, who were alive, pointing up the fact that Jesus' use of the terminology speaks to something far deeper, far more significant than simply our journey through our earthly existence, whether it be seventy years or longer. And to this man, he says, I have a question for you.

Do you believe in the Son of Man? He's asking him whether he has ever entered into the discovery of a life that is in Jesus, a life that once in Jesus goes all the way unhindered into eternity. Now, that, of course, will be challenged by people.

It may even be challenged by some who are listening to me now. The idea of a life that will never end. Yes, that's what the Bible says—that once we discover the resurrection life in Jesus, once his Spirit comes to live within us, even though we die, even though they put us away in the ground, still we will live. And the reality of that truth brings to the Christian an expectation of what is still to be, while they enjoy the privileges of life in the now.

So that eternal life is not something that we aspire to over there when we get there, but eternal life—the life of which Jesus is speaking—is a life which begins now and continues all the way through into eternity. Now, some years ago, maybe twenty years ago, maybe twenty-five, we'd have to go back. People would have pooh-poohed this in general conversation. And most people would have said, especially if they came from a scientific background, I never heard such hogwash in all my life. I am a scientist. I'm a rationalist. I know certain things.

I have verifiable data. This is all speculation and spurious nonsense. But I have found—and not exclusively, but increasingly—that many of my friends who were once marked by that kind of rationalism are beginning to change their tune. Perhaps there is something more. Perhaps the Bible has something to say.

Now, we know why the sneaking suspicion is there. Because the Bible says that God has set eternity in the hearts of men and women. In other words, a man and a woman knows intrinsically that death is not a cul-de-sac, that death is actually a gateway. And it is for that reason that death, when it comes in all of its finality, still doesn't end the conversations that people have about their loved ones. So that even though they may be unbelieving people, they're still talking about where their loved one has gone or what has happened to their loved one or how they felt their loved one with them.

Why do they say these things? Why can they never imagine themselves dead? Do you ever imagine yourself dead in your coffin? It's impossible. Because you're alive imagining it.

You can't imagine it. You're still thinking, Life, life, life. Now, when we bring this back to the man born blind and the assertion that this is a vital question, what are we saying?

Well, think about it. This man who'd been born blind might have been ready to conclude that his big problem in life was over. After all, his big problem in life was being blind. And Jesus had come and dealt with his blindness. Therefore, no more blindness, no more big problem. Let's just get on with our lives.

He might have been very quickly, within earshot of people, who, seeing him now, able to move around and enjoy life in a whole different dimension, as they talked with one another about the experience and so on, one of them said just before they parted, Well, you know what everyone says. As long as you have your health, that's all that matters. Which is, of course, one of the mantras of our day, isn't it?

As long as you have your health, that's all that matters. It's not all that matters. Not when you put eternity into the picture. Not when you ask this question, Do you believe in the Son of Man and believing is the gateway to eternity?

Then it introduces to our portfolios something that is far more significant. So when Jesus asks this man about his need, he's asking him about his need of spiritual sight. This man, although he could now physically see, needed to see Jesus, needed to believe in him. If blindness was the issue, then the story was over.

I was blind, now I can see. Case closed. Wrap it up. Why does Jesus seek him out? He seeks him out to ask a question. And I say to you again, it is a vital question. Secondly, you will notice that it is a specific question. It's a specific question. He doesn't ask the man whether he believes something or he believes anything or whether he's feeling religious or whether he's a spiritual man.

No. Because that's another of our mantras in our day, isn't it? People, as a sign-off, they'll say, Well, as long as you have health. Or they will say, Well, all that matters is you have faith.

Isn't that what our friends say? Well, just as long as you have faith. What do you mean, as long as you have faith? Faith in what? Faith in whom? Jesus isn't asking, Are you a religious person? Do you believe something? Do you believe anything? No.

He's asking a specific question. Do you believe in the Son of Man? Now, Son of Man is a designation that you find throughout the Gospels, over eighty times in the Gospels, many of them here in John as well.

We're not going to delay on the term. A good concordance will help you with that. The term derives from Daniel chapter 7. It runs through the Gospels. You find it again reappearing in Revelation chapter 1. All that matters for our purposes this morning is to recognize that in using this designation, Jesus is indicating his own heavenly and transcendent nature.

It is a designation which contains in it all kinds of notions that run from the Old Testament all the way through into the apocalyptic literature of the book of Revelation. And it is, if you like, Jesus' favorite designation, with only one exception in 1234. The phrase never appears on anyone else's lips except the lips of Jesus. And what he is saying in this is that he is not a Son of Man, but he is the Son of Man—the Son of Man who has come down from heaven. Hence, his origin is transcendent and divine and unique. But he is the Son of Man who has come down and is connected with humanity. He doesn't speak to us from afar. He comes down to where we are. And he does not come down to where we are to live life free from the exingencies that face other people. He knows sorrow and disappointment and pain and thirst and so on, and indeed, in Isaiah 53, he is depicted as a man of sorrows and one who is acquainted with grief. It is for that reason that men and women who themselves are acquainted with grief and who understand sorrow will find Jesus a wonderful person to seek out. He is there, and he is ready, and he is willing.

In fact, he is the initiative-taker in reaching out to those who are in the predicament of their lostness. Do you believe in the Messiah of God? Actually, it's a question that is a very relevant question for many of us this morning, because we've been developing our understanding of Jesus—some of us, haven't we? We started off that there's a man called Jesus. We may, as a result of thinking about things, have concluded that he was actually a prophet of God. But we haven't ever come to the point where we have decided that he is the Messiah of God, that he is none other than God himself.

That's the third aspect I want you to notice. The question is not only a vital one, a specific one, and an unavoidable one. It was unavoidable for the man, and actually, it's unavoidable for each of us. Do you believe in the Son of man? Now, the answer to that is either yes or no. Maybe is a no. I don't know is a no.

An unchecked box is a no. And the reason I say that it is an unavoidable question is this—that although you may go through all of your life seeking to avoid the impact of this question, you will, when God calls you before him, answer this question. Because the Bible says it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this comes judgment.

And the basis of judgment is simply and essentially this. Have you believed on the Son of God? Have you believed in the Son of man? Have you cast all of your hope for forgiveness, for time, for eternity? Have you reached the point where, in casting yourself, in believing childlike faith upon Jesus, you're able to say, I know whom I have believed?

It's an unavoidable question. See, Jesus is inviting the man to trust in the one who is the revelation of God. And in verse 36, it would appear that the man is eager to believe.

He's saying, Jesus, if you can answer just one more question for me, I think the longer I have listened to you, the more I find a reason to believe in you. In other words, that this is not some great quantum leap into oblivion by this man. There is a growing sense of confidence. This man whom I had never known has intervened in my life. He has met me. He has opened my eyes. He has come and sought me out. He is speaking kindly to me now. He has this question for me.

Do you believe in the Son of man? What shall I say to him? Well, look at what I'll say to him. Who is he, sir?

Why don't you tell me, so that I may believe in him? This isn't the response of the Pharisees challenging Jesus. This is humble. This is genuine. And the Bible assures men and women that when they come to Jesus in this way, if they seek him, they will find him when they search for him with all of their hearts. And this man clearly desired to believe. Desired to believe. Do you desire to believe? See, you can desire to believe and not yet believe. Do you desire to believe? Do you have questions like the man had questions?

Do you have a basic question like this? Who is the Son of man? Tell me! Because I want to believe. Well, then, take a leaf out of the man's book. Go and inquire of Jesus. Go to your Bible. Read John's Gospel. Ask Jesus. Make yourself known to me, Jesus. Who are you?

Are you the person that you claim to be? Because it would appear that to this point the man had never even seen Jesus. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense that he would say, Who is he, sir? which is the word kurios in Greek translated sir here, translated Lord in verse 38, as a result of his eyes being further opened. Who is he, sir?

the man asked. And Jesus makes this amazing declaration in verse 37, You have now seen him. You have now seen him. I've seen him. That was something he couldn't have said before.

It's fabulous, isn't it? Maybe there's a smile on Jesus' lips. You've seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking with you.

Now, don't miss this, and we'll get ready to stop. But you can't miss this, especially if you're here today wondering about the claims of Jesus and saying to yourself, I wonder who is this Jesus? I wonder if I can rely on him.

I wonder if I can trust him. What does he actually say about himself? You will have read literature that tells you that there's nowhere in the Bible you can find that Jesus says, I am God.

That is absolutely true. There's no place in the Bible where he says, I am God. But the whole of the Gospels are permeated with his self-designation as none other than Son of God and Son of man. In John chapter 5 and verse 25, Jesus says, I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and he has given him authority to judge, because he is the Son of man.

Okay? So Jesus, within a matter of a few sentences, interchangeably uses the designations both Son of God and Son of man. Now, loved ones, if you're thinking then—which I'm sure covers a significant number of you—here we find ourselves at the very heart of Christianity. You see, what we are confronted with here is the assertion of Jesus, Do you believe in the Son of man? Do you believe in the Son of God? Do you believe in the Christ? Do you believe in the Messiah?

That's what he's asking. Do you believe in the revealer of God? Do you believe in the one who redeems men and women? The man says, Who is he?

Tell me so that I can believe. Jesus says, You're looking at him. Do you see what he's saying? I'm God. I'm the Messiah.

You're looking at the Messiah. Same as John 4. Who gives the living water that you don't have to come here and get more water? What is this living water? Who provides this living water? If you knew who it was, who was telling you this, you'd ask him, he'd give you living water. Who is this? We know when the prophet comes, Jesus says, Ego, I'm me.

It's me? Now, for those of you who read C. S. Lewis, you remember C. S. Lewis says we have three options, essentially. In relationship to such an assertion, either Jesus is deluded—he just doesn't know what's going on—or he is a deceiver, a flat-out liar, or he is the incarnate God. Lewis, in his memorable statement, says then, deductively, so you can come to him and spit at him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but do not come to him with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great moral teacher.

He has not left that option open to us he didn't intend to. So to believe in the one way is inevitably to close down the other options. Do you believe in the Son of Man? If the Unitarians are right, we are wrong as Christians, and we are idolaters because we have made a man into a god. Therefore, we have broken the First Commandment, and we have to acknowledge before the living God that we're absolutely wrong, if they're right. And the question is, have you examined the book? Jesus, a deceiver? Jesus, deluded? Or Jesus, the very person he claimed to be? And then you see the question remains, doesn't it?

A vital, specific, unavoidable question. Do you believe? Yeah, I believe. What?

Some people get off the bus at that stop. Well, it can't be as simple as that. There's becoming a Christian. Do you believe?

Yes, I believe. Or you've got to make it harder than that, Alistair. I mean, anything that's simple is very difficult for me. If you could make it very difficult for me, then that would be a lot simpler.

Right? So when you tell people, Come on now, would you believe in Jesus? They're slipping down rabbit holes all over the place, excuses and reasons for not believing. Do you believe? I always think of my friend Paul, when I ask this simple question, how he was in Edinburgh University studying to be a vet, and he was being pressed upon by various people from the Christian Union and invited to different things and given books to read and, Are you reading your Bible? and Have you considered this?

and so on. And eventually they prevailed upon him in the midst of all of these considerations of the claims of Jesus, and they took him to a Christian retreat center. And he told me afterwards how scared he was going into this retreat center and especially having a room with one of these Christian fellows. And before the end of the evening, as they packed their stuff up and were ready for lights out, the fellow from the other bunk said to him, Paul, I just have to ask you, do you believe in Jesus? And Paul said, I looked at the guy, and I said, Yes, I believe in Jesus. And he said, I mark my conversion from that moment, in that room, in response to that vital, specific, and in that case, unavoidable question. It's actually the question for everyone, for everyone. Do you believe in the Son of Man?

That is one question none of us can avoid. You're listening to Alistair Begg in a message called Do You Believe? It's part of our series titled A Light in the Darkness. And helping others come to recognize their need for a Savior is one of the reasons we make it our mission at Truth for Life to teach the Bible every day. We know that as God's Word is proclaimed, God's Spirit goes to work in a supernatural, miraculous way to transform the hearts and lives of those who listen.

Each day, this program is made available. Our prayer is that you will grow in your faith through Alistair's teaching. And if you have come to know Christ through the ministry of Truth for Life, we hope you will share these messages with others. Maybe you've been a believer for a while, and if you have, you are undoubtedly familiar with the feelings we all experience, the feelings of failure when we sin and struggle and grow weary and become discouraged.

Instead of giving up, let your despair drive you to Jesus because he has not given up on you. If you can relate to these feelings, you'll want to request a copy of the book Gentle and Lowly. This is a book we're recommending today because it reminds us of just how much God loves us. In fact, the book's subtitle is The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. And the bottom line truth reveals a portrait of a Savior who promises never to walk away, regardless of our failures. We'd love to send you a copy of this book when you donate by clicking on the Gentle and Lowly image you see on our mobile app or by visiting our website truthforlife.org slash donate or call us at 888-588-7884. I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for joining us. Don't miss tomorrow's message where you'll hear one man say, Lord, I believe. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.