Faith, Part 3 of 3Sample

Believing without seeing

“Jesus said to him [=Thomas], ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” (John 20:29)

When the Lord Jesus died and was buried, His followers had the greatest difficulty in believing that He would rise again from the dead. Jesus had told them this beforehand, but the reality seemed so hopeless that they had forgotten this promise. They dismissed the news from some women that Jesus had risen as "an idle tale." Only when He stood visibly before them did they believe that He had truly conquered death.

One of the disciples, Thomas, was absent when Jesus appeared. Consequently, he could not believe the news. He first wanted to see it with his own eyes. And he got that chance! He met the Lord Jesus in person. But later believers don't get that chance. Jesus calls people who believe without ever having seen Him “blessed."

In fact, it belongs to the essence of faith that you do not see that which you believe in. This applies not only to the risen Lord Jesus, but also to the future He promised. We do not yet see any of that, or perhaps a small ray of light now and then. We live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our life is determined by our faith in the Lord Jesus and by our expectation of His future; not by what is visible.

Does it bother you that there is so little to see of Jesus and His future? How do you deal with that?