The Good News - A Journey of a Lifetime Volume 2, No. 27

Welcome to this week's Bible lesson for The Good News – A Journey of a Lifetime Volume 2, No. 27. This week we are going to talk about believing without seeing. Some things are easy to believe. We know the air is there, as we breathe it in, or as the wind blows the air, we feel it. It is invisible to our eyes, but our other senses can see the effects of the air. You can see the air blowing leaves across the yard, and you can see a kite fly in the air. Just because something is not visible to our eyes, doesn't mean that God isn't there. God has given us senses to use. Speaking from experience. I experience neuropathy in my legs and feet, due to damage to my spinal cord and I'm still dealing with that issue 16 months later. It has gotten better, but due to this condition, if I touch my feet or legs, they are numb. I can still function and move my feet and legs, but it makes it feel different. It's like you lay on your legs the wrong way and your legs and feet go to sleep. That is how my legs feel. I do experience pain and sharp gouging shocks, so I feel that really well. But when the pain and shocks have dissipated. So when I touch my feet, I really can't feel my hand touching my feet. I can feel the pressure, but I can't feel the actual touch. Now, I know I'm touching my feet, because I see myself touching my feet, but my physical sense of feeling is not there, unless I feel the pressure on my skin. So in this situation, God gives us other senses to use to know what is going on and to believe.

John 20:19-31 (NIV)

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.

31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

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Have you ever had to see something with your own eyes before you were willing to believe it? Suppose your mom came in and told you as a child that there was a puppy waiting for you at home or your husband came into you and said to his wife and said to you, I have a surprise out in the driveway for you, and you go out and see a brand new vehicle. You might have a hard time believing it was true until you actually got home and saw the puppy or the vehicle with your own eyes, right? The same is true for many of us. We often have to see something to believe it.

On the evening of the first Sunday after Jesus was crucified, His disciples were together in a locked room. They were afraid that those who had crucified Jesus would also want to put them to death. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the locked room with the disciples. It was hard for the disciples to believe, but they saw Him with their eyes. Jesus showed them the wounds in His hands and His side, so they knew it was Him.

One of the disciples, whose name was Thomas, was not with the others when Jesus appeared to them. When they told Thomas they had seen Jesus, he did not believe them. He had seen Jesus crucified and buried; how could He be alive? Thomas said, "Unless I see the wound in His side and put my finger in the holes where the nails were in His hands, I will not believe it!"

A week later, the disciples were in the locked room again and this time Thomas was with them. Again, Jesus came and stood among the disciples. Jesus said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe."

Thomas fell on his knees and answered Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

You and I have never seen Jesus with our own eyes. The question is, will we be a doubter like Thomas? Or will we be blessed because we believe, even though we have not seen?

Prayer: Dear Father, help us to believe in our heart those truths we find in Your Holy Word, even though we have not seen them with our eyes. Amen.