Believing Goes Beyond Seeing – April 22, 2020

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. … Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:24-26,29

Believing Goes Beyond Seeing

I have a confession to make. I’ve noticed that I believe everything I read in the newspaper—that is, until it’s about me or something I have seen for myself. Then I note all of the inaccuracies in the story. But afterward, I go back to believing everything I read.

The disciple Thomas was not like me. He was a skeptic. Even when reliable people told him that Jesus rose from the dead, he thought it was fake news. I don’t know what made Thomas like that. Maybe he had been disappointed in life. For whatever reason, he said that he had to see the risen Lord Jesus for himself.

He saw Jesus. Jesus let him touch his wounds from the crucifixion. We have the eyewitness testimony of John that it happened. Thomas went out as a missionary to the world and told everyone what happened.

So, do you believe it? Jesus says that you are blessed if you believe it even though you have not had the same experience that Thomas had.

How are you blessed? Believing that Jesus rose from the dead means that your sins are forgiven. Because Jesus rose from the dead, you know that all of his promises are true, and he can keep all of them. When he promises to be with you wherever you are, you know he can and will do it. Even death can’t hold him back.

The internet has made me suspicious of believing every news item I read online. But because I believe the eyewitness accounts in the Bible wherever I read them, I am blessed.

Prayer:
Lord, help me to believe even though I have not seen. Amen.