v 29. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
How often we have heard it said – ‘Seeing is believing’ !
I must confess, I have every sympathy for Thomas! “You can’t really believe these simple Galilean fishermen, nor the women either. I’ve got to see this for myself.” Quite so Thomas; you are a REAL man; hard-headed, practical; and you don’t believe in fairy stories. You need evidence, real, hard evidence, seen with your own eyes. I get Thomas’ outlook on life. It lies behind some of my own viewpoints. Do you ever remember doing old-fashioned Geometry at school, and writing at the end of a problem QED.
It was like saying “There you are, dear teacher – I’ve proved it.” That clear evidence of Jesus’ resurrection is what Thomas wanted. And he got it! The very next week (What a long time for him to wait!) he saw Jesus for himself.
So here is the rub – Jesus reserves a blessing for those who believe without seeing!
Paul mentions some 500 people seeing the risen Jesus (1 Cor 15:6 which we shall read tomorrow) but since then Zillions have believed without seeing. That is where the blessing lies – and it includes us, today.
Faith is not based on some strange fairy tale, but the historically attested fact of Jesus’ resurrection. Faith is not in believing it, but in accepting it as the truth to live by. It is not like believing in Julius Caesar or William the Conqueror, it is taking the step of saying ‘Yes – Jesus is the risen Lord of my life, and I will follow Him, always.’
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