Believing Without Seeing

John 20:19-31

Are there times when part of you acknowledges that God will keep the promises He made in the Bible, but you still are unable to overcome the feeling that the issues that you face are simply too great for God to handle.  You know that God has made a promise to His followers, but unless you see the evidence right before you with your own two eyes, you find it hard to have faith and believe. This is the place where the Apostle Thomas is in our Scripture reading from John’s Gospel.

Ten of the remaining apostles had been gathered together after Jesus’ crucifixion, hiding from the religious leaders who had Him put death, afraid for their own lives.  The betrayer, Judas was dead. The other apostle, Thomas, was hiding somewhere else, probably wishing to grieve by himself. When the other apostles told him that they had seen the Lord, Thomas said he couldn’t believe unless he saw Jesus with own eyes.  There have been times when my faith has wavered when I don’t have the solid evidence right before me. God has promised to meet all of my needs, but my bankbook looks empty. My faith struggles unless I can see the evidence. The storms are raging outside, either literally or figuratively, and are we cowering in fear, or trusting that the Lord will take care of us?

Jesus did not chastise Thomas when he finally saw Him, instead He invited Thomas to check the evidence with his own eyes.  Gideon was another that needed help with his faith and believing that what God said was true and could always be relied upon (Judges 6:36-40). God acquiesced, and showed Gideon and responded to his request. When the man who had a demon possessed son came to Jesus for help for his son, He asked the man if he believed.  The father answered “I do believe. Help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:23-25). So often I feel that is my prayer. I do believe, but my faith wavers and struggles, like when Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water, and then saw the waves.  Like He did with Thomas, Gideon, and this father, Jesus gently leads us to where our faith becomes stronger.

The essence of faith is that even when we don’t see God at work, we still have confidence in Him.  We are blessed if we believe without having to see. Today we have the Bible, which the earliest Christians did not have.  The Scriptures contain the Words of God, which is all the proof we ever need. We should trust God even when we can’t see. Trust Him and His work, as He has never failed us.

Another verse in this passage that I would like to touch on is verse 23.   This verse does not give authority to forgive or not forgive others their sins.  Rather, we can tell a sinner who has come to Jesus for salvation that now their sins are forgiven.  The same would hold for someone who refuses to come to Christ that their sins are not forgiven.

God doesn’t give any excuses here or elsewhere for not forgiving others what they have done to us.  No excuses are allowed, such as what they did was too terrible, or that they did it deliberately, or even that they didn’t ask for forgiveness.  God knows what they did, and He still tells us to forgive. Our unforgiveness will put a roadblock in the way of our relationship with God. They may not deserve our forgiveness, but neither did we deserve God’s forgiveness.

In closing, the scars that Jesus showed Thomas in this passage that day, the nail prints in His hands and feet, and the spear hole in His side, are all proof of His love for us!