Several years ago a famous liberal named Norman Cousins wrote an editorial for a magazine called the Saturday Review. Understand that he was no friend to Christianity when he wrote this. But what he wrote was true and should convict us all. He wrote about a conversation he had on a trip to India with a Hindu priest named Satis Prasad. Mr. Prasad told Cousins that he wanted to come to America as a missionary. Of course Cousins assumed that he meant that he wanted to convert Americans to the Hindu religion. But that wasn’t the case. Mr. Prasad said, “I would like to convert them to the Christian religion.” That didn’t make a whole lot of sense to Cousins, so he asked him to explain. Mr. Prasad did. He said, “Christianity cannot survive in the abstract. It needs not membership, but believers. The people of your country may claim they believe in Christianity, but from what I see at this distance, Christianity is more a custom than anything else. I would ask that either you accept the teachings of Jesus in your everyday life and in your affairs as a nation, or stop invoking His name as sanction for everything you do. I want to help save Christianity for the Christian.” Mr. Prasad had it right. Christianity doesn’t need membership. Christianity needs believers. This nation is filled with church members. This nation is filled with people who identify themselves as Christian. Some surveys indicate that up to 80% of Americans call themselves Christian. If that’s the case, why are our churches empty? Why are drugs and alcohol problems so rampant? Why is homosexuality becoming socially acceptable? Why is the mass murder of unborn babies not just tolerated, but promoted? Because there are a lot of people in America today who believe—but don’t really believe. There is a huge difference between claiming belief and really believing. Just like there was a difference between the disciples who believed in Jesus in the past two passages… and the many who “believed” in this passage this morning. At the wedding in Cana that we talked about two weeks ago… Jesus performed a miracle. He miraculously turned the water into wine. And 2:11 tells us that the disciples believed in Him. But ultimately, they didn’t believe in Jesus because of the sign. They didn’t believe in Jesus because He changed the water into wine. They believed in Jesus because He changed their hearts. And then last week we talked about the first time that Jesus cleansed the temple. And verse 22 says that the disciples remembered Jesus’ Word, and they believed the Scripture. They believed in Scripture and in Jesus. The disciples truly believed in Jesus. They had a true, saving belief in Jesus. But then when we get into our passage this morning, there is a stark contrast. The past two events resulted in a few people truly believing in Jesus. But that wasn’t the case with everybody. So what was the difference? Apparently all of these people saw the same things. They all saw the miracle Jesus performed. They all saw the authority Jesus exercised. So why did a few truly believe while the vast majority only “believed.” In order to figure that out, this passage lets us know what belief isn’t. First, true belief in Jesus isn’t about chasing Jesus’ signs.
Notice where verse 23 says, “Many believed in His name when they saw the miracles which He did.” True belief isn’t about chasing Jesus’ signs. When you study the earthly ministry of Jesus, one of the interesting things to look at is how the people responded to Him. Early on in His ministry, just a few people followed Him. But then He started performing miracles. And as soon as the miracles started happening, the crowds started building. People are always looking for a good show, aren’t they? And they were sure getting one. We don’t know what all happened between the time that Jesus cleansed the temple and verse 23. But Jesus was performing some miracles. It was an action packed Passover. It started with Jesus raising a ruckus with the moneychangers and moved on to Him performing miracles. I’m sure He was making the lame to walk, giving sight to the blind, causing the deaf to hear. I’m sure He was doing all of that, just like He did throughout His time on earth. And when all that happened, the crowds grew and grew. But as you look at Jesus’ ministry, it hit a turning point. The nature and frequency of the miracles slowed down. And at the same time, the teaching became more difficult. It didn’t really become more difficult—it’s just that the people began to really understand what Jesus was teaching. They began to understand things like, “Whoever puts their hand to the plow and looks back isn’t fit for the kingdom of heaven.” They began to understand things like, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” They began to understand things like, “take up your cross daily and follow me.” And as they began to understand that teaching, the crowds began to shrink. They even dwindled down to the point that Jesus even asked His disciples if they were going to leave Him too. The novelty of the show began to wear off. That’s the thing about a show, isn’t it? A show always has to get bigger and louder and more dramatic to hold our attention. Otherwise, it gets old. The novelty wears off. It can even get boring. Hollywood knows that. That’s why movies have to get more and more violent. They have to get more and more action packed. They have to get louder and louder. The sex and violence have to get more graphic. The suspense and romance have to get much more manipulative and complicated. Otherwise, people are bored with it. If you believe Jesus only for the show, it’ll never be enough for you. If you only believe Jesus for the signs, you’ll end up being one of the multitudes who walked away from Him. If you only believe Jesus for what He can do for you, then He won’t commit Himself to you. He won’t commit Himself to you, because He knows your heart. And if you only believe in Jesus for what He can do for you, then who is your focus? Your focus is you. And if your focus is you, then you are the one who is on the throne of your life. You are only calling on Jesus to serve you. And if you are looking for Jesus to serve you, then you are the Lord of your life. And Jesus won’t be your savior if He can’t be your Lord. Jesus knew those people’s hearts. He knew that they only “believed” in Him because He was putting on a good show. They only “believed” in Him because He was doing things for them. They only “believed” in Jesus because of His signs. And that’s not true belief. True belief isn’t about chasing Jesus’ signs. But that’s not the only thing that belief isn’t. Because true belief isn’t about building Jesus’ team.
You would think that if Jesus was building a ministry, He would have done it a little bit differently. I mean look at the opportunity He had here. Verse 23 says that “many believed in His name.” He had a whole group of people that were gathering around Him. He should have capitalized on that popularity as much as He could. He could have rallied that group of people and gotten them organized and taken Jerusalem by storm. But He didn’t. As a matter of fact, He really did the opposite. Verse 24 says that Jesus didn’t commit Himself to them at all. What an opportunity He missed. He could have built a great team. He could have built a huge following. He could have rallied them into a great coalition. Think of all the things they could have accomplished with all of the vast numbers of people Jesus was drawing. But that wasn’t what Jesus was after. He wasn’t about building a crowd. He was about changing lives. He was about glorifying His Father. When we see all of the political wrangling back and forth during this time of the year, we see what the politicians are about. They’re about trying to build the biggest team they can. They’re trying to generate the most votes they can so they can win. Jesus isn’t looking to build a team. He isn’t looking to generate the most votes for Him that He can. Jesus already has all the power. He doesn’t need popular support in order to win. That’s why He’s not interested if you’re just coming to Him because that’s what the crowd is doing. He’s not interested if you’ve only come to Him because your family did. He’s not interested if the only reason you’ve come to Him is because your parents did. If that’s the case, Jesus won’t commit Himself to you. He hasn’t committed Himself to you because He knows your heart. Jesus knows what is in the heart of everyone including you. You can’t hide it. You can’t cover it up. You can’t come to Jesus as part of the crowd. You can’t come to Jesus because it’s the accepted thing to do in your group. Jesus isn’t building a team. He is bringing glory to the Father by individually saving souls from an eternity in Hell. By individually saving souls who have, by His grace, truly believed in Him. Believed in Jesus for who He is and not just because it’s the accepted thing to do. Not just to be part of the team. True belief isn’t about chasing Jesus’ signs. True belief isn’t about building Jesus’ team. And true belief isn’t about filling Jesus’ needs.
So many times we get this picture of Jesus sitting, helplessly pining away, waiting for people to come to Him. Some of the songs out there paint an almost pitiful picture of Jesus. Here’s poor Jesus—He needs you to come to Him. Well, I’ve got news for you. Jesus doesn’t need anything. Jesus is the creator and sustainer of the universe. From eternity past, in the eternal counsels of the triune God, Jesus created the universe. All things were made by Him and through Him and for Him. Did He engage in His creative act because there was something in Him that was lacking? Did He create because He needed something? No—He created as a way to put His glory on display. He created as a way to manifest His greatness and goodness and mercy and grace and love. The eternal Father, Son and Spirit were, are, and always will be complete and in need of nothing. Jesus has all the company and relationship He needs with the Father and Spirit within the Trinity. That’s why salvation is so amazing. Jesus needed nothing. He doesn’t need a relationship with you. Unlike us, Jesus is completely fulfilled in who He is. But, in spite of that, He created you. And not only did He create you, He died for you. Jesus created you in order to manifest His glory through you. He died for you to provide the only way you can have a relationship with Him. A relationship He didn’t need. But a relationship He knows that you need. That is love. True, unconditional love. Love that completely gives—knowing that nothing can ever be returned, earned, or deserved. Jesus didn’t need the people in the crowds. He didn’t need the people who were gathering around Him because of the good show they were getting. He didn’t need them, but He certainly loved them. Because He didn’t need them, He didn’t commit Himself to them. But because He loved them, He would later die for them. Jesus knew what was in them. He knew their heart. He knew why they were there. And He loved them anyway. They didn’t truly believe in Him, so He didn’t commit Himself to them. He knew they didn’t truly believe in Him, because true belief isn’t about chasing Jesus’ signs. It isn’t about building Jesus’ team. It isn’t about filling Jesus’ needs.
Well, if true belief isn’t about any of those things, what is it about? What is true belief? True belief in Jesus is seeing Jesus for who He is. True belief in Jesus is seeing Jesus as the disciples who believed in Him at the wedding in Cana. True belief in Jesus is seeing Him as the only One who can create new life from old. It is seeing Him as the only one who will take the helpless and hopeless existence of your old life... and make it pass away. He will make it pass away and bring you to a completely new life in Him. Not a restored life. Not a reformed life. Not a souped up version of your old life. He will make you a new creation. Just like he turned the hand-washing water into something completely, fundamentally, elementally different. True belief in Jesus is trusting that He WILL miraculously make that kind of radical transformation in your life. That He will change you from worthless, dirty water to fresh, fine wine. That He will bring you from death to life. That’s what true belief in Jesus is about. It’s about seeing Jesus for who He really is. But it’s also about seeing your sin for what it really is. It is seeing your sin the same way as the sin of the moneychangers in the temple. Jesus exposed them for who they really were. He exposed their sin for all the world to see. And when He did, it wasn’t pretty. It was hard. It was messy. It hurt. But when the disciples saw Jesus exposing and judging and chastising sin, they believed. They believed His Word and they believed Him.
True belief isn’t about chasing signs. Will Jesus do wonderful things in your life? Yes. Can He do spectacular, miraculous things? Of course He can. But if that’s your motivation for following Him, it’s not true saving belief. And if it’s not true saving belief, then Jesus knows your heart and won’t commit Himself to you. True belief isn’t about building a team. The fellowship that comes from being part of a church family is a wonderful thing. The social aspect of being part of a youth group or Senior Saints group or WMU or Baptist Men is a wonderful thing. But if that’s your motivation for following Jesus, it’s not true saving belief. True belief isn’t about filling Jesus’ needs. There is nothing that you can provide for Jesus that He needs. You need Him—He doesn’t need you. That only shows how powerful and special His love really is. What kind of belief do you have? Examine your heart. Examine your motives. Think about why you’re here this morning. Is it primarily to have some sort of experience? Is it to primarily have fellowship? Is it because you think Jesus needs you? Or is it because you want to meet with Jesus? Do you see how desperately you need Him? Do you desperately want Him to expose your sin and cleanse you so you can be more like Jesus? The question is simple this morning. The question is simple, but all of eternity hangs on your answer. The question is, do you believe in Jesus? He loves you. He knows your heart. And He’s waiting to commit Himself to you. All you have to do is believe.
