{"id":43655,"title":"The Blessing of Believing Without Seeing - The Believe Blog","description":"I never really understood what Jesus truly meant when he spoke to Thomas and the disciples after appearing to them in the upper room after He had risen. Thomas had been verbal about his struggle to believe in the testimonies he was hearing concerning his beloved rabbi having been seen by some of the other disciples...","content":"

\"si4tocsfxbg6829zoeqzjgvmumcljmla84jqxdmvu4fn1ijb.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\"\u201c\u2026blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.\u201d John 20:26<\/p><\/blockquote>

I never really understood<\/strong> what Jesus truly meant when he spoke to Thomas and the disciples after appearing to them in the upper room after He had risen.<\/p>

Thomas had been verbal about his struggle to believe in the testimonies he was hearing concerning his beloved rabbi having been seen by some of the other disciples. He went as far as to say that he would not believe<\/strong> unless he, \u201c...see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.\u201d<\/em> John 20:25<\/p>

If I have learned one thing as a believer - don\u2019t give God ultimatums!<\/strong><\/p>

I love what happens next. In the following verse, Jesus does something truly supernatural<\/strong> that\u2019s easy to miss. <\/p>

The disciples are in a room together and it says that the doors are shut, likely locked. (Let\u2019s face it, they\u2019re likely all quite frightened of the persecution that\u2019s heading their way and fair enough.) But John 20:26 says that Jesus suddenly appears in the room! <\/strong><\/p>

I can only imagine the looks on the disciples faces, especially Thomas.<\/p>

Jesus then addresses Thomas immediately and invites him to do exactly what Thomas had claimed in private to his friends - to physically touch the wounds on Jesus\u2019s body in order to verify that He had indeed risen from the dead.<\/strong><\/p>

As I\u2019m sure we would do, Thomas exclaims, \u201cMy Lord and my God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>

But Jesus offers the gentlest of rebukes and utters the words to impact believers for centuries to come,<\/strong> \u201c...because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>

If you take these words at face value, you could simply take away that Jesus is saying that blind faith is rewarded by God. Which is true. We are to take God\u2019s Word as it is without requiring more evidence <\/strong>beyond the reliability of His character That is, by definition, faith. Hebrews 11:1,6.<\/p>

However, that is only one side of the revelation<\/strong> to obtain here.<\/p>

The disciples had lived with Jesus for 3 years. He had lived as a human man, enduring everything that being human implies. The disciples had witnessed Jesus break down emotionally. Jesus had smelled bad for days at a time. Jesus needed to eat and digest.<\/strong> <\/p>

Do any of those things lend themselves to Christ\u2019s claims of being the Word that was with God from the beginning? Do any of those things help us to believe that if the disciples had seen Him then they had seen the Father<\/strong>, Holy God?<\/p>

This is my crucial point - we have an advantage over the disciples.<\/strong><\/p>

\u201cIf only I had seen the miracles that Jesus did, I would never have doubted like Thomas,\u201d<\/em> is what many of us have said.<\/p>

But, to put it plainly, poor Thomas had to reconcile miracles with Jesus\u2019s body odour. And this is where we have the advantage.<\/strong><\/p>

In faith, we can read the accounts of Jesus\u2019s life and \u2018see\u2019 Him as a man<\/strong> but primarily we \u2018see\u2019 Jesus as being glorified.<\/strong> To us, believers of today, it is easier to believe in a resurrected Christ who sits at the right hand of God than it is to believe on one that we have lived and suffered with in poverty.<\/p>

Therefore, it is a blessing to believe without having seen.<\/strong><\/p>

Scripture illustrates over and over again that seeing does very little for believing.<\/strong> All we have to do is look at the Israelites after escaping captivity in Egypt. They see the mighty works of God, His deliverance, the parting of the red sea and even God\u2019s presence on top of the mountain. <\/p>

And still they doubted, <\/strong>making a golden calf to worship!<\/p>

The pharisees understood the prophecies concerning the messiah better than anyone and yet when presented with Jesus, who fulfilled all 300+ messianic prophecies,<\/strong> they still had Him executed - breaking their own laws in the process!<\/p>

Seeing is overrated.<\/strong><\/p>

Believing God at His Word is where truth really is to be found. This is where we begin our victorious life with Jesus. This is where we step into a life abundant with blessing.<\/strong><\/p>

\u201cFor we walk by faith and not by sight.\u201d<\/em> 2 Corinthians 5:7<\/p>

Jacob Shepherd<\/p>

CEO & Co-Founder | Revival<\/p>

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