Believing God

In church last Sunday, Pastor was preaching through the last few verses of Mark 16 when something stood out to me I had never noticed before. The chapter details the resurrection, the appearances of Christ to believers, and the ascension. Verse 14 tells us,

“Afterward He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen.”

This might seem very unlike our idea of Jesus, especially when we remember passages like James 1:5, which tells us that God will not upbraid us for asking for wisdom, but although it goes against our preconceived notions of Jesus, I think this verse tells us something important.

Look at the verse again, and notice what He upbraids, or reproaches, them for. Mark records that the disciples had each been told at least four times that Jesus would rise from the dead (Mark 8:31, 9:9, 9:31,10:34; 14:28,) and the angel at the tomb had reminded the messengers that Christ had risen “as He said” (Matthew 28:6.)

Clearly, Jesus expected them to not only know, but believe the things He had told them.

Notice that Jesus here does not view the disciples as victims: unbelief is not a condition, but a choice. He upbraided them for their unbelief and the hardness of their hearts.

They were unwilling to believe that Jesus had risen—perhaps afraid to be disappointed again, or to reopen the wound of fear and disillusionment caused by the crucifixion. But that unwillingness was in itself a cause for reproach.

It is easy to view unbelief as a condition: something we can’t change. Either we believe something or we don’t, right? But the Bible doesn’t treat belief that way. People are held accountable for their belief.

Abraham, for example, “believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3) And Revelation 21:8 lists the unbelieving as those who will “have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

The disciples had been given all the information they needed in order to pass through the trial of Christ’s crucifixion and 3-day entombment with joy and hope in what Christ Himself had told them about His coming resurrection. But they didn’t. In fact, they ran away, hid, and acted as though the arrest, trial, and crucifixion were an unthinkable turn of events, instead of a purposeful part of God’s plan.

Then, when the glorious morning dawned and the women came running back from the tomb to say that Jesus had risen, the disciples made a choice not to believe. Of the eleven, only two went to the tomb, and only one is recorded to have seen “and believed.” (John 20:8)

This was the unbelief for which Jesus upbraided the disciples. Their unbelief was neither inevitable nor inescapable. It was an act of the will for which the disciples were held responsible.

And why is this important? Because it reminds you and me that we are equally responsible for the truths God has given us—specifically, in the Bible.

Just like the disciples, God has given us everything we need in order to face the trials of life in victorious faith and hope. But just like the disciples, we often instead choose to react as if God isn’t there, or as if we had never heard the truths of God’s Word.

Sometimes, whether out of fear, pride, or anger, we simply don’t want to trust God or believe what His Word says about the things we are going through.

And, just like Jesus, the Holy Spirit will upbraid us for our unbelief and hardness of heart—not to beat us down or to punish us for our failure, but to help us forsake what God clearly views as sin and turn instead towards God, choosing to yield our hearts and minds to the truth of God’s Word.

We often have to pray as one man did when Jesus was on earth, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)

With God’s help, we can trust God, we can believe His Word, even when we don’t feel like it. It simply takes yielding to the Holy Spirit, letting Him give us the strength we need to choose belief over unbelief, humble trust over hardness of heart. We can face each day in faith—and God expects us to.

“Now the God of all hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Romans 15:13