Articles
Why Didn't Jesus ...
Jesus own fleshly brothers were skeptical of His claims: “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world” (Jn 7:3-4).
Do you ever wonder what they did? Why didn’t Jesus emit a divine glow? Why didn’t He make Himself 100 feet tall, like the statue in Rio, so His divinity would be obvious? Why didn’t He enter the Sanhedrin chambers and strike them blind?
Well, God had done similar things before – a towering pillar of cloud and fire directing Israel; Moses entering the palace of Pharaoh to announce miraculous plagues; opening the ground and swallowing Korah and his rebel allies. Did overwhelming displays of power win people’s hearts? No.
Also, such actions would have only been witnessed by that generation. Eons of time lay ahead where God wanted people to come to faith on a more solid basis than ancient events alone. God doesn’t do things haphazardly; He provides the very thing needed for the outcome He desires. There is enough evidence to convince a seeker of God that Jesus was divine. To the heart that is resistant to God, no grand spectacle will overcome unbelief. Only God’s character will do that. God has to be discovered, and He gives us clues in nature and Scripture.
