Believe it or Not-Jesus is Alive!
4/30/25 Bible Thought (John 20)
I’ve often heard people describe various words as antonyms for faith. Probably the most common one is fear, but one that I believe is frequently overlooked is sight.
The author to the Hebrews famously defines faith by writing,
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).
The whole nature of faith requires believing without sight in things that are merely hoped for and not yet seen. Ironically, this is something that Jesus’ original disciples struggled with.
When Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved, John, arrive at the tomb, John stoops in and the Scripture records, “and he saw and believed” (Jn. 20:8, emphasis added). For they didn’t yet understand the Scripture that He would rise from the dead (Jn. 20:9).
Fast forward a few days, and Jesus appears to His disciples in a locked room (Jn. 20:19-23) but at least one of them wasn’t there on this occasion—Thomas.
Thomas is later told that Christ had been raised, and he responds,
“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” (Jn. 20:25).
He was so let-down by Jesus that his faith was going to require sight. Which again, is not really faith. I don’t need to have faith that my couch is in the living room. I can see it right now. I know it’s there.
Jesus apparently wasn’t too hurt by this though. He probably understood the disciple’s disappointment and so He graces them with His presence a second time, again in a locked room (Jn. 20:26-29).
After arriving, Jesus makes one short greeting to the whole group and then He goes right to Thomas. Now, what is so beautiful is that He doesn’t rebuke him for his lack of faith. He doesn’t criticism him for being hard-hearted and slow to believe all the prophets had written. Instead, Jesus extends an invitation:
“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” (Jn. 20:27).
Thomas doesn’t even have to ask. Jesus knew. Jesus heard the conversation that Thomas had with the other disciples and in His grace offers him just what he needed. Thomas might not have had enough faith to believe without sight, but upon touching the wounds of Christ that He bore on Thomas’ own behalf, he cries out, “My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20:28).
Jesus then responds with a message for all Christians for all time:
“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (Jn. 20:29).
We can’t put our hands in the nail-prints in His hands, we can’t see the wound in His side, we can’t hear His voice, we can’t break bread with Him—but we can still believe. Truly, this was John’s purpose in writing his Gospel, that we might believe, “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31).
They might have had the privilege of seeing Him, but we get a special blessedness for faith without sight. Our faith is 2,000 years removed from the events themselves, and yet it is faith in the same Messiah who gave His life upon Calvary for a sinner such as me. We might want to have been there and experienced those things, but it’s actually better to be here now.
Faith without sight, now that is true faith.