“But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.” (John 6:36, NIV)

Wouldn’t it have been amazing to have lived during the same time and in the same place as Jesus?

You could have walked around with him. You could have listened to him. You could have eaten with him. You could have seen his miracles. You could have benefited from his presence in a way that only a select generation ever could.

One of the questions that would remain, however, is: Would you have believed him?

As I’m reading the gospels I can sometimes lament the fact that I wasn’t born then. There’s so much in the gospels that I just don’t have a context for. I have to work hard—really hard—to peel away my assumptions and my own context when I listen to Jesus tell a parable about a farmer and his field or a king and his servants. We all do. Our lives just aren’t the same as they were for those in Jesus’ time. And, because of that, I (and perhaps you, too) can feel as though I’m missing out. Wouldn’t it be easier to believe if I lived then instead of now?

The answer—as shocking as it may be—is a resounding NO.

In the grace and mercy of God we are not worse off because we live now instead of then. We can know this by reading the same gospels—or John’s gospel in particular—that require us to work hard to get at their meaning.

In John 6 Jesus lays out a difficult teaching to those who were listening to him. He had just finished feeding more than 5,000 people with some fish and bread that wouldn’t have been enough for 10 people when some came to him with questions about who he really was. They wanted answers because they just saw a miracle. They wanted more from him because he had just filled their bellies. What they got, however, was the truth that even though they had seen with their eyes they hadn’t understood with their hearts.

You have seen me and still you do not believe.

They were there. They ate the food he made. They were full and they knew it was because of Jesus and yet they didn’t believe him. Their eyes saw but their hearts refused to believe. So, the question comes back around to us.

If you had been around then would you have believed?

I don’t know the answer and, honestly, it doesn’t matter. You and I were not around then and yet we can believe now. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John show us Jesus. The rest of the New Testament shows us Jesus. Even what Moses wrote shows us Jesus.

He’s right before you.

You can see.

Just believe.