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240 How Are the Christian Scriptures Confirmed by the Peculiar Glory of God?
The Links between Miracles, Glory, and Faith
When John wrote, “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son
from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), part of that glory
was the glory of his miracles, which John regularly calls “signs.” We
know this because after Jesus’s first miracle, John said, “This, the first of
his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory” (John
2:11). So Jesus knew what he was doing with his miracles. He was giving
signs. And the signs were pointing to his glory.
This was intended to be the foundation for a well-grounded faith.
Repeatedly Jesus spoke of his works as a good reason to believe in him.
“The works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works
that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me”
(John 5:36). “The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness
about me” (John 10:25). “Even though you do not believe me, believe
the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in
me and I am in the Father” (John 10:38). “Believe me that I am in the
Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works
themselves” (John 14:11).
Faith without the Sight of Glory
But Jesus gives us a warning that miracles can win him a following
without winning saving faith. There is a way to “believe” in Jesus’s
miracles without believing in Jesus as he really is. John’s Gospel bears
clear witness to this danger and points us to the peculiar glory of the
miracles that many people did not see.
For example, on one occasion, John reports that “as he was saying
these things, many believed in him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had
believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John
8:30–32). Keep that in mind: he is talking to those who in some sense
had “believed” him. Surprisingly, they respond critically, “We are offspring
of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it
that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Then Jesus stuns us (remember
he is talking to those “who had believed”) by saying, “You seek to kill
me because my word finds no place in you” (John 8:37).
Jesus taught so clearly, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life”