Christ's Doctrine of Faith: A Study of "Believing" in John's Gospel (John 11:45)

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In John 11:45, we discover the sixty-sixth occurrence of “believing” in the Gospel of John. The text says: “Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him” (KJV). As always, we will attempt to see 1) what the immediate context of John 11:45 is and 2) what are some facts about faith we see in John 11:45. So, let’s do it!

            First, the immediate context. Right after Jesus communicates with God the Father, saying that He knew that the Father heard Him always but, because of the people who are standing by Him, He said what He said, so that these people would believe that the Father had sent Him. When He says this, He cries, with a loud voice: “Lazarus, come forth!” And a revived Lazarus emerges, bound hand and foot with graveclothes and his face bound about with a napkin. Jesus tells the people to loose him and let him go. Then, many of the Jews, who had come to Mary and seen the things that Jesus did, believed on Him. This is the context of John 11:45!

            Second, some facts about faith. First, we see here yet again the principle that Jesus’s miracles, when viewed through believing eyes (see John 20:27), are aids to one’s faith. Because, after seeing Christ raise Lazarus from the dead, the people standing by Him believe on Him. And the reason I add the “through believing eyes” caveat is because of the second fact I will bring up, a fact which comes from the verse immediately follow 11:45. And that brings us to the second fact, which is that Christ’s miracles, when viewed through unbelieving eyes, actually hardens one in his unbelief. Because, while verse 45 says that many of the Jews here believed on Jesus, some of them went to the Pharisees, the clear enemies of Christ, to tell them what He had done. Think about that, reader: seeing the Lord raise someone from the dead is not a great enough miracle to induce trust in Him in the hearts of unbelievers. It is the principle of Luke 16:31 fleshed out! And these are two truths about faith that can be drawn from John 11:45!