As I’ve been studying lately (read: listening to sermons on my iPhone) I’ve noticed how often in the New Testament Jesus started a sentence with “I tell you the truth” (sometimes translated “verily” or “assuredly I say to you”). According to a quick Google search, he’s recorded using that phrase 78 times in the gospels, 30 times in Matthew alone.

I’d never before questioned why this was, assuming it was just the way they spoke back then, but as I began to think about it, I realised he was making a point.

Usually when he said this, the words that followed were completely contrary to the normal thinking of the day. Think how ridiculous “unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” would have sounded the first time it was spoken.

The truth of God’s word is so opposite to our realm of thinking that Jesus had to keep reminding his disciples that they couldn’t trust their own understanding. When Jesus told them that they could command mountains to move if they could only get rid of their doubt, their likely reaction would have been to laugh.

Through their eyes, they may have looked at the weakness in their own bodies. Even the strongest of them would have been unable to lift a large rock, let alone move a mountain. But understanding the difference between what you can physically achieve through your own strength, and the authority given to you spiritually is key to removing the doubt Jesus spoke of.

Knowing that Jesus himself is the truth puts extra emphasis on believing what he says over what seems possible in the natural.

I’m learning to put my trust in God’s truth, even when my five senses are telling me something different. The beauty of it all is that when I’m able to do that, the things I perceive with those same five senses will begin to line up with what God says.

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

Mark 16:17-18