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| Believing Without Seeing |
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“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” John 20:29
Thomas was a pessimist, always looking on the dark side. When Jesus was talking about going back to Galilee during that time when the authorities were actively seeking His death, Thomas resigned himself to going to his death along with His Lord (John 11). We have to give him brownie points for not running away then. They were all willing to die then, but when the time actually came, the story had a different ending. All the disciples, including Thomas, ran. Some returned after the Lord died, in time for the resurrection. They still struggled with believing, but they did come back—all except Thomas. So deep was his disappointment and his pessimism, that he stayed away, absent from the upper room when Jesus first appeared to the disciples.
But he heard the story from the others. For a pessimist, seeing is believing, and Thomas was not going to believe even his most intimate friends.
It had all begun on that Sunday night, according to our calendar the night of the resurrection. No doubt the conversation in the upper room was all about the events of the morning, the craziness of the women and their account of what had happened at the tomb. Peter’s discovery, and John’s sensitivity in letting Peter beat him to the grave. The experience of the two men who had met Jesus on the road would be discussed. But in spite of their excitement the disciples were also afraid—if Jesus could be so easily taken and killed, as His followers so could they. The doors were locked—not that that would have prevented the Roman soldiers from entering if they had wanted to, or the Jewish authorities from arriving to test their orthodoxy.
Then Jesus appeared. He didn’t knock, or call up from the street. He walked into the room. No lock could prevent Him. If there needed to be proof of the resurrection, here it was. “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’” (20:19). He showed them His hands and side and they were beside themselves with joy at His presence. What more could they want? But Thomas was not present to experience all of this.
When the others told him about the coming of the Lord, Thomas, his usual pessimistic self, didn’t believe them. He declared: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and our my hand into his side, I will not believe it” (20:25).
Thomas is typical of so many. Like those who want to confine God to a test tube before they will believe, Thomas wanted proof. If he had been where he was supposed to be, he would have gotten the proof. Just as those who want to see God are seldom found where He might be seen, Thomas was absent from the logical place where the Lord would appear.
But that didn’t discourage the Lord, and it taught Thomas (unlike many others) a lesson. This time he stayed with his friends, and a week later got his proof. Thomas was a believing doubter as opposed to an unbelieving doubter. He really wanted to believe so he made sure he didn’t miss the next appearance.
The Lord came in spite of locked doors. The terror of discovery and imminent persecution of the disciples prompted His first words: “Peace be with you!” (20:26). Knowing what He did, Jesus went immediately to Thomas: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe” (20:27). The Lord invites us to investigate, to “reach out and touch” Him, to see for ourselves that He is real, and that His story is true. He is not afraid that we will find some kink, some untruth, some weakness or inconsistency. He knows that when we touch Him, when we see Him for ourselves, we will stop doubting and believe.
Thomas didn’t even need to touch—seeing was believing.
What he did do was confess his faith with five potent words: “My Lord and my God!” (20:28). We don’t hear much more about Thomas after this incident except that tradition tells us that he ended up in India preaching the Gospel of Christ and died as a martyr to the Lord’s cause. He once said that he would follow the Lord to the death—and so he did.
We hold the disciples up as models of faith—in spite of their obvious weaknesses. But the Lord sent out a prophetic compliment to future generations in response to Thomas’s declaration. He said: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (20:29). Faith sometimes hangs on a thread, but as in the case of Thomas, God is always willing to reach down and grab the hand that holds the thread. In grabbing our hands, he shows us His own—the ones bearing the scars of our redemption and the proof that He is indeed Lord and God.
Peter writes complimenting his readers on believing without seeing: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8,9).
John mentions his purpose in writing, and not writing, what he did in his gospel. We only have a very limited account of all the happened during those few years of Jesus’ ministry. Despite the speculation about the events we know nothing about, John tells us why those particular happenings are not important.
“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20:30-31).
This whole event recorded for us here is about believing, and all that has been recorded under the influence of the Holy Spirit, preserved for us in the Scriptures is meant to help us believe. This is God’s rescue mission designed from before the foundations of the earth were formed. He wants to restore His creation, bring it back into sync with Him—a mission that requires belief. Everything He does is meant to strengthen that process of redemption, to take back what was lost in Eden.
1:8 Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. 1:9 As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls. |
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