"Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" John 20:29
There is a story about a man who thought he was dead, when in reality he was very much alive. His delusion became such a problem that his family finally paid for him to see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist spent many laborious sessions trying to convince the man he was still alive but nothing seemed to work. Finally the doctor tried one last approach. He took out his medical books and proceeded to show the patient that dead men don’t bleed. After hours of tedious study, the patient seemed convinced that dead men don’t bleed. "Do you now agree that dead men don’t bleed?" the doctor asked. "Yes, I do," the patient replied. "Very well, then," the doctor said. He took out a pin and pricked the patient’s finger. Out came a trickle of blood. The doctor asked, "What does that tell you?" "Oh my goodness!" the patient exclaimed staring at his finger, "Dead men do bleed!". To some people seeing is not believing!!!
'Seeing is believing' is an idiom that denotes that only physical or concrete evidence is convincing. The disciple got the name ‘doubting Thomas’ (John 20:24-29) because he refused to believe until he saw and touched Jesus. The four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - include in their Passion/Resurrection narratives a series of episodes related to the appearances of the risen Christ to his disciples. In these episodes the disciples, after passing through a phase of doubt, unbelief, trouble, confusion and astonishment, come to the point of believing that Jesus has been risen indeed. There is, however, the Gospel of John stands out in describing the appearance of the risen Lord to Thomas (Jn. 20:24-29). As they were gathered in the house, behind closed doors, the risen Christ came and stood among them (Jn. 20:27). This time Thomas was with them. Jesus, after greeting them with the traditional, “Peace be with you,” without any delay turns to Thomas and addresses him: “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side, and do not be unbelieving but believing” . (Jn. 20:27). Jesus accepts the challenge of Thomas and invites him to proceed with the demanded test. Thomas responds with an astonishing confession of faith: “Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God’” (o Kyrios mou kai o Theos mou) (John 20:28). You may want to note that John says nothing about Thomas proceeding with the touching of the body of the risen Lord. Some think that Thomas actually put his hands on the marks of the nails and of the spear, whereas others like Augustin claim that Thomas did not touch the risen Christ. This goes well with the earlier encounter of Mary Magdalene where Jesus tells her not to touch him because he has not ascended to the Father (John 20:17). Thomas made his great confession of faith during this time he acknowledged "My Lord and My God" is not as result of his touching, but by seeing he believed. Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29). It leads to a sophistry that "seen evidence" can be easily and correctly interpreted, when in fact that is not true. Interpreatation of the perception of sight can be extremely difficult.
It shows the significance of and believing without seeing versus believing after seeing, (or because of seeing). Peter who was a witness to the resurrected Christ, says, "Though you have not seen him, you love him; even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (1 Pet 1:8). Peter writes to a group of believers who have not seen Christ, but they believe in Him. Not only that, they love him also. He was speaking a group of persecuted Christians. “To God’s chosen people who are away from their homes and are scattered all around the countries of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (I Pet. 1:1).
Loving Christ means experiencing Christ . When you love him your faith is translated into trust. Seeing and believing may seem easy. Not seeing yet believing, on the other hand, involves more willingness, more decisiveness, more readiness for exposure to all kinds of probable dangers. In this case, believing seems to acquire a high involvement of your whole being. The people of this category are called blessed, because they follow a very demanding path on their way towards faith. Many people who struggle with their faith imagine that things would be different if only God would give them more evidence. Many atheists blame Gof for their lack of belief. “If God wants us to believe in him,” they think, “then He should have made things more obvious.”
Christ said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” This is not a statement that declares that good people will go to heaven. It is a statement about the nature of spiritual sight and spiritual knowledge: it is directly related to the heart. Plenty of people had an objective experience of Christ. His miracles occurred in the presence of crowds. Many followed because of His miracles. But Christ did not come to give this form of knowledge. Judas saw all of the miracles, and, probably he too performed his share along with the rest of the Apostles. But Judas was never able to see who Jesus is. The pure in heart will see God in the moments of their lives.
We see Christ in and among us, in our community, in our church, in people who are in need. We also see and experience Christ in our love and fellowship with one another, in taking part in the communion of his blood and his body. So for us, seeing the Lord the way Thomas did, is no longer needed.
We are all familiar with the phrase, "Oh, I see" as a response to understanding. Imagine that you have the opportunity to encounter God face to face. There are two words we can use for this encounter: “look” and “see.” A person could “look” at God, and perhaps (in my imaginary scenario) come away with a description. But “looking” does not imply any level of knowing. God is encountered as a consumerist object here. When we look at objects, we are often doing nothing more than engaging the rational, critical faculty of our mind. There is no particular investment in the object itself. This is the knowledge is described as “consumerist” knowledge. My grocery store is full of objects. I buy some and eat them. But if we say, “He saw God,” there is a different kind of knowledge that is implied. Indeed, it would be possible to “see” God, and yet not be able to describe or even relate what you saw. It is not the knowledge of an object – it is an encounter that is rooted in communion. “Seeing” with the sense of “knowing” implies much more than simple observation. It infers a knowing with understanding, or knowing that somehow includes communion. “Now I see,” intimates that the one who sees is somehow different as a result of the seeing. Thats what made Thomas to acknowledge "My Lord and My God" when he encountered the risen Christ.
One cannot love without trusting. Loving Christ means experiencing Christ as reliable in all his promises and all his counsel. "We Love Him because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19). "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things that are not seen." (Hebrews 11:1). As someone has said in a song, “to be guided by a hand I cannot hold; to trust in a way that I cannot see that's what faith must be." (Music and words by Michael Card)
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