What Would it Take for You to Believe?

John 1:47-50 (ESV) Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

A friend and I had some conversations about Jesus. I could tell this was not his favorite topic, but, fortunately, our friendship was strong enough that we could deal with the uncomfortable topics as well as the easy ones and still look forward to our next time together. One day in the midst of one of these talks I realized something. He had decided he would not consider believing in Jesus no matter how persuasive an argument I or anyone else presented. I asked him, “What would it take for you to believe?”

He replied, “I cannot believe. There is nothing you can say or do that would change that.”

He was correct in his statement. If he had made the decision beforehand, he closed himself off to the possibility of any other consideration. Yet, think of the implications. Suppose you were the chief account of a multinational bank who started in your role in the late 1960s, but you still (in 2015) refuse to allow any of your staff to use computers for any activities because you “do not trust them.” Instead, you demand all your accountants all over the world to make hand written notations and mail them to the head office. Think how inefficient and risk-prone your methods would be. Your entire company would be at a competitive disadvantage because you were unwilling to even consider the possibility that a computer could improve your work.

Nathanael started off hardened toward considering Jesus to be anything other than an ordinary man. He was not inclined to believe. Note his response when Phillip invited him to check Jesus out: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (vs 46) Yet it took just three verses for Nathanael to become a believer. Jesus’ accurate foreknowledge of Nathanael sitting under a tree was all it took for him to decide Jesus was the Son of God. You might need more than that. Jesus even gives allowance for those who need a little more: “You will see greater things than these.” The real question is are you willing to consider who Jesus is. We have to be willing to believe.

If you have not yet fully trusted Christ, I sincerely ask you today to answer the question for yourself, “What would it take for you to believe?” Be willing to ask for it and look for it. He sure beats a pen and paper.