Jesus Challenges People to Think

Return to 3rd Quarter 2026 articles.

The title of this article is JESUS CHRIST CHALLENGES PEOPLE TO THINK with an illustration of Jesus spreading his teaching to people.

People today often refuse to use evidence when making decisions about everything from personal relationships to politics. One distinctive feature of the Bible is that Jesus Christ challenges people to think.

a model sits on the end of the word think

In the book of Matthew, Jesus uses the phrase “What do you think” five times (Matthew 17:25; 18:12; 21:28; 22:17; 22:42). Jesus never called his listeners to blind acceptance or thoughtless adherence to authority. In biblical Christianity, faith is not an emotional response. Despite this, modern Christian denominations have relied on blind acceptance and emotion rather than thoughtful reasoni ng.

A large part of this failure is simply intellectual laziness. People emotionally follow charismatic leaders because it is easier than thoughtfully examining the evidence. The result is that we have cults and abusive religious systems. Unlike other world religions, the Bible and Jesus challenge us to examine the evidence and act on it.

Jesus used miracles to convince people of his divine nature. The prophecies about Christ predicted that he would not attract followers by his physical appearance. Consider Isaiah 53:1-6, which is undeniably a messianic prophecy. That passage says, “he had no form or comeliness; … there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: … we esteemed him not.”

Jesus Christ challenges people to think, but as long as people refuse to use their minds and examine the evidence, skepticism and chaos will result. Throughout the Bible, we find encouragement to look at the evidence, know that God is real, and let his Word guide our lives. Read Psalm 19:1; Psalm 53; Psalm 139:14; Proverbs 8; Matthew 6:26-30; Acts 17:22-31; and Romans 1:18-20. Waiting for God to “zap” you with faith is an exercise in futility. Instead, God rewards those who seek to understand and never calls us to blind acceptance.

The Does God Exist? program never relies on the opinion or credentials of any human. Instead, we call on all people to come to faith by using their intelligence and what they can see in the world around them. Read the Bible and examine the evidence!

Our materials (www.doesgodexist.org) are free or at cost and provide a way to organize the evidence so that each person who is willing can “know there is a God through the things he has made” (Romans 1:20). That means looking at the physical world and the spiritual world and dealing with the evidence that is all around us. Still, in today’s world, Jesus Christ challenges people to think.

— John N. Clayton

A man examines the blocks with the word facts with a magnifying glass.

Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. Unhighlighted scriptures can be looked up at their website.