Seeing is Believing

This year, Pakistan presented many opportunities for mean to share from the Bible with believers. I was invited to speak at the FGA Church Gujrat and this is what I shared.

John 20:24-31

24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clarkmaxwell/5334654281/sizes/s/in/photostream/

Last week we celebrated Easter, we remembered the death of our Lord, and celebrate his resurrection. These events are the central point for our faith and hope. Jesus said and did a lot of things during his time on Earth. He really prepared his disciples to lead the church and evangelise the world in the future. But his purpose and mission of being born on the Earth was to die and be raised to life. Without this, we have no faith. Without this, we would have no claim and no hope for our life in Heaven. Thanks be to God for doing this wonderful and mighty work!

On Easter Sunday, the Bible tells us that Jesus began to appear to his followers and disciples.

Mark 16:9-11

9 Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

This tells us that Jesus first appeared to Mary, and when she told the disciples, they did not believe her. They would not believe until they had seen. Mark 16:12-13 tells us the same story.

12 After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

We are told that the disciple Thomas was not with them when Jesus appeared to them the first time. And so Thomas uttered these words – “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” John 20:25.

And God heard him.

Eight days after the resurrection Jesus answers the challenge of Thomas. You know, our Lord is good to us, for he meets us at the level we are at. He meets us as sinners, we are not qualified for his grace and mercy, but this is where he takes us from. Some people are hard, and must hear the word many times, and so he bears with us.

So Jesus knows that Thomas will not believe unless first he sees. For the sake of Thomas’ faith, he appears to him. When faced with the reality of the living Christ, Thomas stops doubting, and all that he can do is worship the Lord.
The scriptures do not say whether or not he touched Jesus, it seems that he no longer requires the proof.

Who of us has personally seen Jesus? Very few believers have this rare privilege. But Jesus says “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29.

So, if you are a believer, Jesus calls you blessed, for you have heard the word, read the word, and have been saved by faith. You are blessed because you have received the promise of eternal salvation.

When I have witnessed to non-Christian friends in the past, some of them have said similar things to what Thomas did, “unless God does a sign for me, or does this thing or that thing according to my own will, I will not believe.”
This kind of attitude is nothing but blind human arrogance and pride. As if God is to be bent to the will of a man or woman. Still I pray that he either does a sign, or gives them faith in their hearts to believe so that they will be saved.

John 20:30-31

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

This is the reason for which John wrote his gospel – to tell us the signs that proved that Jesus is the Christ and that we may believe and be saved.

This is the gospel simply stated, that we are saved by putting our faith in Jesus, we are saved by believing in Him. There is no work that we can do which will be pleasing enough to God to save us from judgement. It is only our belief and faith in Christ.

Last night we shared the gospel with a nearby community, and I talked about the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. We consider them to have been great people of faith, and they were. But they sinned and made wrong decisions. They did not follow God perfectly or obey Him perfectly. How were they saved? By their faith in God. They were also considered blessed because they believed God and trusted that His promises would come to pass, even though they would not see it in their own lifetimes.

They were blessed because they believed, even though they had not seen.