It’s Christmas and my friend and his family are in another country. As they’re getting ready to go to their church on Christmas Day with their eldest son, the youngest son says he’s not going with them. The older brother takes him on and wants to know why not. 

Shocked, he hears his brother say: “I don’t believe in these Jesus things …” 

It’s a bitter pill for the parents to swallow. 

In our own country, a very well-known theologian in the church wrote that he no longer believed in the resurrection of Jesus. Another “great” theologian stated frankly that God did not exist. And some of these books won the legendary Andrew Murray Prize. 

What would Andrew Murray say about these award-winning books? It’s quite ironic that they received this prize with points of view directly opposing those of Murray. 

Some of the readers to whom Peter was writing also doubted. They may have expected a different Jesus. A Jesus who would overthrow kings and set up His new Kingdom. It didn’t happen and the world still looked like it did before Jesus came. 

People have always doubted. One of Peter’s colleagues, who had seen everything with his own eyes and was with Jesus step by step, doubted whether Jesus had risen from the dead. He first wanted to feel the holes in Jesus’ body, before he would give the green light to his faith. 

Peter knew that some people would doubt, so he defended his words: 16We weren’t, you know, just wishing on a star when we laid the facts out before you regarding the powerful return of our Master, Jesus Christ. We were there for the preview! We saw it with our own eyes … 

Peter was there. Yes, Peter also slipped up and denied Jesus. But there by the Sea of Galilee, he and Jesus made up. And there Jesus established Peter as the rock on which the church was to be built. 

Peter saw all of Jesus’ miracles with his own eyes. Starting with only a few fish and a few slices of bread, Peter was among those who gathered baskets full of leftover food after the miracle. 

He saw how Jesus healed people who were sick. He was even there when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He heard Jesus’ sermons and stories about God firsthand. 

Peter was a witness. He doesn’t talk rubbish. Why would he want to lie about something like that? What would be the point of him making up stories about it? No, the words he wrote down are the pure truth. You can believe it. 

I pray that you won’t listen to the people who sow doubt. Rather, may your life be a testimony of the living God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. May your living faith make those who doubt believe.  

Scripture
2 Peter 1:12-15  

Reflection
Do you doubt sometimes?
How firm is your faith?
Can your faith inspire those who struggle to believe? 

 Prayer
Father, sometimes I doubt, but deep down I believe in You. Help me to live in such a way that others who doubt also want to believe. Amen.