Second Sunday of Easter
March 30, 2008
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
Believing Is Better Than Seeing (John 20:19-31; 1
Peter 1:3-9)
The disciples were pretty lucky, werent they? I
mean, getting to see Jesus in the flesh, to travel
around with him, to see him perform his miracles, to
actually see him risen from the dead, to see him with
their own eyes. What could be better than that? No
wonder they had such a strong faith! Too bad we cant
have that kind of faith in our day.
Just look at the advantage they had! Easter day, that
evening, Jesus himself comes to them, shows them his
hands and his side. No wonder they believed! Well,
most of them, at least. Thomas wasnt there that
night. Must have been out bowling or something. The
other guys tell him, We have seen the Lord. Oh,
yeah, right. What you guys been drinkin? He was
crucified, remember?! Just a couple days ago. Hes
dead, Jim--and John and Peter and all the rest of you.
Our master is dead. Roman soldiers dont mess up on
things like that. No, I cant believe your crazy
wishful thinking. Mass hallucination, thats what it
must be. 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.
Well, a week later, Thomas was in the house, there
with the rest of them. His bowling league must have
had the night off. And guess who shows up? Jesus.
Again. Again with the hands and the side. This time
for Thomas. Put your finger here, and see my hands;
and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do
not disbelieve, but believe.
See? Seeing is believing. Thomas gets to see. The
rest of them get to see. And they believe. Lucky
dogs. Oh, those lucky, fortunate disciples! If only
we could have been in their position! Then we would
be strong Christians and wouldnt falter in our faith.
Right?
Wrong. Thats not how Jesus sees it. Or says it.
Jesus says to Thomas, Have you believed because you
have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have believed. Whoa! Jesus kind of rebukes
Thomas here. Says that seeing is not an advantage.
Seeing is not the same as believing. In fact, Jesus
turns it around. He says, basically, that Believing
Is Better Than Seeing.
Whats going on here? What does Jesus mean by this,
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed? How do we fit into this picture? In a
sense, the people were most like in this story are
not Thomas and the other disciples. Actually, were
like the people, the blessed people, Jesus is
referring to when he says, Blessed are those who have
not seen and yet have believed. Hey, thats us!
Jesus is talking about us right there! Did you know
you are mentioned in the Bible? You are! Those who
have not seen and yet have believed. And Jesus says
were pretty blessed. We are the fortunate ones!
Believing is better than seeing.
Were also in the same category as the people the
Evangelist John is writing this account for, some
several decades after the fact. When John is writing
his gospel, hes writing it for folks who had never
seen Jesus up close and personal like he had, either
because of the years or the distance. There were only
a relatively small number of persons in the world who
got to see Jesus during his public ministry, and even
fewer who saw him after he rose from the dead.
Although, there were enough eyewitnesses to attest to
the physical, bodily resurrection of Christ for all
time to come. Jesus did want a core of witnesses to
verify the factuality and physicality of the
resurrection. Like Peter would testify to the Jewish
council, We are witnesses of these things. And the
Apostle Paul would later write: For I delivered to
you as of first importance what I also received: that
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the
Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on
the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then
he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one
time, most of whom are still alive, though some have
fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all
the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born,
he appeared also to me.
So there were enough eyewitnesses to establish the
facts at the time of the founding of the church. But
it wasnt the seeing alone, it wasnt the seeing per
se, that produced the faith. Seeing, by itself, is
not the same as believing.
No, you and I are like all the many millions and
millions of Christians around the world, going back
even to the first century, who never got to see Jesus
and yet who still believe in him. And Jesus calls us
all blessed. We still get in on the blessings that
come by faith in him.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed. Well then, we must be very blessed indeed!
Cause think of all we havent seen! We havent seen
Jesus turn water into wine like the disciples did. We
havent seen Jesus heal a man born blind. We havent
seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. We havent
seen Jesus himself risen from the dead like Thomas and
those guys did. Yet we believe. And are blessed.
The blessedness of believing rather than seeing is a
consistent teaching across the New Testament. You
heard it in our Epistle for today. The Apostle Peter,
again writing several decades after Christ had
ascended into heaven, writes to Christians just like
us: Though you have not seen him, you love him.
Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and
rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with
glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the
salvation of your souls. There is the blessedness of
believing apart from seeing! We know who Christ is
and what he has done for us, so that we love him. We
rejoice with an inexpressible joy, because we know
that we will obtain a glorious outcome, even our
eternal salvation.
You see, thats something else that we havent seen.
Not only have we not seen Christs resurrection, we
certainly do not see our own. I dont know about you,
but I havent seen any of the folks Ive buried get up
out of the grave. And theres a grave up in Chicago
waiting for me, with my name engraved on it. I dont
have any YouTube video from the future, showing me
getting up out of that grave on the day when Jesus
comes again. And yet I am absolutely certain that
that is what is going to happen. Well, unless Jesus
comes first before I get put in the ground. But
thats basically the same thing, believing that Im
going to live forever because of my Savior Jesus--whom
I have never seen. Believing is better than seeing.
Likewise, Paul writes in Romans 8 that we wait eagerly
for the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope
we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope.
For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for
what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Or again, in 2 Corinthians 4 Paul writes, We look not
to the things that are seen but to the things that are
unseen. For the things that are seen are transient,
but the things that are unseen are eternal. And in
chapter 5: We walk by faith, not by sight.
The writer to the Hebrews says the same thing in
chapter 11 of his epistle: Now faith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen.
You see, all these passages are saying that you dont
see! And remarkably, what you dont see is what you
get! The eternal things, things like the salvation of
our souls and the redemption of our bodies. You and I
cannot see those things with our eyes. Yet that is
our sure and blessed hope, as sure as the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. How is it that we
believe all these things, Christs death winning our
salvation, Christs resurrection guaranteeing our own
resurrection? We cant see forgiveness. We cant see
eternal life.
But seeing does not equate with believing. It never
did. There were plenty of people who saw Jesus but
did not believe. Think of the chief priests, the
scribes and elders of Israel, who mocked Jesus while
he was on the cross: He is the King of Israel; let
him come down now from the cross, and we will believe
in him. Well, no, they wouldnt have believed in
him. They wouldnt have trusted in him as their
Savior. All they would have done is to see the man
they hated and had rejected, and they would have been
terrified, not filled with faith. They were like the
people Jesus talked about in one of his parables: If
they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will
they be convinced if someone should rise from the
dead.
Seeing by itself does no good, if it is not
accompanied by repentance over ones sin and faith in
ones Savior. And if there is repentance over sin and
faith in the Savior, then seeing is not needed. For
that is not how repentance and faith are produced.
And here now is the key. Here is how saving faith is
produced: It is by the Word. The living and active
word of God works repentance and faith in our hearts.
The Law convicts us of our sin and our need. The
Gospel leads us to our Savior, Jesus Christ, so that
we trust in him to supply our need, which is
forgiveness for our sins and life that lasts forever.
That kind of faith we get only through the gospel, as
the Holy Spirit works that miraculous believing that
is better than seeing in our hearts.
The Word, the good news of Jesus Christ, thats what
does it! Thats what John says right after the Thomas
account, as the purpose statement for his whole
gospel: Now Jesus did many other signs in the
presence of the disciples, which are not written in
this book; but these are written so that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have life in his name.
Its the gospel, the good news of Christ, as it is
preached to us, taught to us, sacramented to us--the
gospel leads us to believe in Christ our Savior and
thus receive the gift of life he gives us.
And even that faith is a gift. As we say under the
Third Article of the Creed: I believe that I cannot
by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ,
my Lord, or come to him; but the Holy Spirit has
called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his
gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. The
Holy Spirits works this saving faith in us, our whole
life long, from start to finish, and the means he uses
is the gospel.
Therefore, my friends, in light of all this, what is
to be our response today, and in the days to come?
Two things, very simply: 1) Be in the Word, and 2)
Praise the triune God.
Be in the Word. If, as Paul says in Romans 10, faith
comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of
Christ, then how important is it to remain in that
word? Obviously, all important! How we need the word
of God throughout our lives, every year, every week,
every day! This is what sustains our faith! Without
that life-giving word, coming to us here in church
every week, through the preaching and teaching of the
gospel and the administration of the
sacraments--without the word in our homes and our
hearts in daily devotions--without the word, our faith
would grow weak and be in danger of dying. God
preserve us from that! But with the word, with the
gospel of Christ burning bright in our hearts and
minds, our faith will grow stronger and we will be
active in good works and bear the good fruits of
faith. God help us to that end!
Be in the Word, and secondly, praise the triune God.
Praise the Father for sending his Son to be our
Savior. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ! Praise the Son, Christ, who willingly
went to the cross to die as the sacrifice for our sins
and who rose from the dead victorious over sin and
death. We fall down before him in worship and say
with St. Thomas, My Lord and my God! Praise the
Holy Spirit, who brought us to faith in Christ and who
keeps us in that saving faith through the churchs
ministry of the gospel. How blessed we are who have
not seen and yet have believed! Yes, praise God from
whom all blessings flow! Praise Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost. Amen.
Charles Henrickson
4749 Melissa Jo Ln
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 845-8811 (home)
(314) 779-8108 (cell)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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