John 20:24-31 – Believing is seeing

Thomas, one of the remaining eleven apostles of Jesus, was absent when Jesus appeared in the Upper Room on the evening of the first day of the week. Thomas, also known as Didymus was not there and we do not know why. But we know he had missed something wonderful – an encounter with the Lord. Though this is a moot point, but it underscores for us the importance of not missing church on Sunday.

The other disciples present then decided to tell Thomas about it. They said to him, "We have seen the Lord." However, Thomas was more than a doubter, he had determined not to believe. Notice how he responded when told of the appearance of the Lord, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” He seemed to be saying this: “The evidence must be in accordance to what I want to see, otherwise no go for me.”  Perhaps he was a born pessimist. The kind of people who could only see the hole and not the dough in a doughnut. Just as belief, unbelief is also a choice. And Thomas chose not to believe. It revealed his faithlessness. 

We don’t know how the other ten apostles felt, but it shows that despite being together with them for close to three years, yet Thomas trusted the words of none of them, all ten. They unequivocally and explicitly told him, ‘we have seen the Lord face to face’. Yet he refused to be moved, unless he could feel and touch the Risen Lord. Take note that while feeling is needful, we must know that faith is the best way to begin our journey with God. To experience the things of the Lord, often times believing is seeing and not the other way around.       

What happened eight days later highlighted the goodness of the Lord! This time the disciples were again together in the house, and Thomas was also with them. Although the doors were again tightly shut, Jesus came and stood among them. As before He began by pronouncing "Peace be with you." Then, He turned to Thomas and said, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas must have felt foolish for his stubborn refusal to believe the words of his close associates. Immediately he responded saying, “My Lord and my God!”  Notice how gracious the Lord’s dealing was. He did not chide him but instead said, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” All of us are so blessed because we believe on the evidences of the resurrection although we did not see it. 

In the last two verses, John tells us that Jesus did innumerable miracles, so much so that it would be impossible to record all of them. Countless books would have to be written if all that Jesus had done were to be captured. However, John had chosen seven miracles that He termed signs in this Gospel. He had recorded them in this Gospel to generate faith in Jesus, the Son of God. When one believes in Jesus and invites Him to step into the arena of his or her life, there is no way to fully describe the transformation that will take place. With Jesus in our life, we will have the most wonderful kind of life – eternal life. It’s a life of peace, joy, beauty, holiness, abundance, His ever abiding presence and much more! What a promise! What a life! Let’s go for it!