The last of the questions asked Grok about God is, "Why do people believe?", which it then divides into 'psychological', 'cultural', and 'sociological' reasonings. And frankly, just like the last couple of questions, I was at a loss to figure out how to approach this. But then, I heard in my head, "Why did Peter believe? Why did John believe?" and I knew Jesus had already given the answers in the Gospel.
Why did Peter believe?
Luk 5:1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,
Luk 5:2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.
Luk 5:3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
Luk 5:4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Luk 5:5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”
Luk 5:6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.
Luk 5:7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
Luk 5:8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
Peter was called, but didn't know WHO called him until this moment- a moment much like (in his reaction) when Isaiah was called. Peter believed when he saw that Jesus could do what he had not been able to- and was willing to do so.
Why did John believe?
Joh 1:35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,
Joh 1:36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
Joh 1:37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
John (and Andrew) believed because they had heard the preaching of John the Baptist, which pointed Him out- they had heard the Gospel that they were to become Apostles of.
Why did Nathaniel believe?
Joh 1:46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Joh 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
Joh 1:48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Joh 1:49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Nathaniel was a seeker- he was reading Psalm 32:2 under the tree:
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man to whom Jehovah does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
And he might have passed off Jesus's greeting off as a coincidence, until Jesus applied the passage TO Nathaniel. He believed when Jesus made it personal.
Why did Matthew believe?
Mat 9:9 And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax-office. And He said to him, Follow Me! And he arose and followed Him.
Matthew was a tax collector- the lowest of the low, somewhere on the social scale between "shepherd" and "leper". But Jesus did what no rabbi would, what no Jew would- He looked at him with love, and made the offer. Matthew had no one to respect him, be his friend (except others of his kind), no one to love him. And yet, Jesus loved him. That's why he believed.
Why did Nicodemus believe?
Joh 3:7 Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again.
Joh 3:8 The Spirit breathes where He desires, and you hear His voice, but you do not know from where He comes, and where He goes; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
Joh 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, How can these things be?
Joh 3:10 Jesus answered and said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things?
Nicodemus, unlike his fellow 'rulers of the Jews", took the Word of God to heart, but he had to make the connection between the Word and the God of the Word. He needed the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit, going where He will, chose him.
Why did the woman at the well believe?
Joh 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot and went into the city and said to the men,
Joh 4:29 Come see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Is this One not the Christ?
Joh 4:30 And they went out of the city and came to Him.
................................
Joh 4:41 And many more believed because of His own word.
Joh 4:42 And they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of your saying, for we have heard Him ourselves and know that this is truly the Christ, the Savior of the world.
More than once, John tells us how the Spirit converts us by CONVICTING us- showing us our sins, shaking us out of the complacency of our lives to see how pitiful we really are. How much we need a savior.
Why did Paul believe?
Act 9:3 But in going, it happened as he drew near to Damascus, even suddenly a light from the heaven shone around him.
Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?
Act 9:5 And he said, Who are you, lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you persecute. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
Paul was very religious, very zealous. He thought he knew all about God, but like Nicodemus, he hadn't made the connection. But where Nicodemus came to Jesus seeking, Paul had to have Jesus come to him, and show him the blindness of his faith. Without the connection, the Holy Spirit, your 'faith' is just kicking against the goads.
There are so many others I can cite- the Ethiopian eunuch, Simon Magus, the many blind and sick and even dead that Jesus healed- but these tell the greater story. Each one is an element that touches the heart of every true believer.
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