Believing Is Seeing

John 20:24-31 “Believing Is Seeing”

“You will never guess what I’m seeing.” I was on the phone with my mom, and I was updating her on what was going on in our lives. As I was explaining some rather mundane details, she started to chuckle. I didn’t think what I was saying was funny at all. No, it was what she was seeing. Yes, it was true, I could not guess what she was seeing. Apparently my 23 year old brother had just ridden into her kitchen on a tricycle. Unexpected, yes. Unbelievable, no…especially if you know my brother.

We have heard of weirder things happening then grown men riding tricycles in the house. Sometimes we are told a story that stretches our imagination to its limits. We say: “I’ll believe it when I see it.” That is often how people treat the resurrection. Inconceivable! In our text this morning we will find one such man: Thomas.

Read John 20:24-31

Today, we will simply look at Thomas’ response to the resurrection, then consider our response to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

1. Thomas’ Response
As we read earlier, Thomas had not been there when Jesus first appeared to the disciples. The disciples said: we have seen the Lord! His response: “I will believe it when I see it!” Come on, Thomas! Why don’t you believe? 10 of your friends all are reporting the same thing. Why don’t you believe? Jesus even predicted he would rise from the dead.

Let’s be easy on Thomas. The other disciples saw Jesus standing in the same room with them. Thomas did not. The disciples didn’t have a choice whether or not to believe a report of the resurrection. Jesus appeared right before them. Thomas only heard; he did not see. His faith was weak. Let’s face it. The resurrection of Christ is inconceivable from an earthly perspective.

8 days later, Thomas was there with the rest of the disciples. It was a Sunday. The same day of the week that Jesus appeared the first time. 8 days later was a week later, in the reckoning of the Jews. The lesson here is: don’t miss church. Something unbelievable could happen!

Jesus appears, and he says “peace be with you.” When someone just appears in a room with you, it should freak you out. Jesus calms their fears: “peace be with you.” If that surprise wasn’t enough, his response to Thomas is another.

You know when you are talking about someone with a friend, then that person shows up? You feel embarrassment. Shame. When I was in college, I had a couple friends waiting in line at the cafeteria. One was doing an impression of a certain professor. Then they turned around…and that certain professor was standing right there. Multiply that shock and shame by 100, and you’ve got Thomas at this moment. This isn’t your friend showing up. This is Jesus. Who you challenged. This is the risen Savior who you doubted. And there he stands.
As a skillful surgeon of souls, Jesus commences a heart operation on Thomas. “Here I am! I’m real! My wounds that were inflicted for you are visible for all to see. Believe in me.” He ends with this in verse 27: “and be not faithless but believing.” A better translation would be: “don’t be an unbeliever, but a believer.”

Thomas’ startled response is one of worship: “my Lord and my God.” Jesus, the only Lord was speaking to Thomas, responding to Thomas’ words of doubt. God himself stood right in front of Thomas. The only appropriate response was worship. The early disciples had no hesitations about calling Jesus the ruler of the universe and God himself. This is not merely a theological statement. It is a cry of intense personal trust. Thomas claims this Jesus as his own: my Lord and my God.

Thomas at first doubted, but they believed and worshiped Jesus when he appeared.

2. Our Response
Jesus didn’t just do this for Thomas. He did this for us. He appeared to Thomas to encourage our faith as well. John writes in verses 30-31 that the signs—Jesus’ miracles—are recorded for us so that we will believe. Look at 19:34-35. Eye witness testimony is vital for the truth and spread of the gospel. Christ’s death and resurrection were witnessed by many people. Not just to encourage their faith, but to also build us up in our faith.

The KJV does a good job of translating vs 29. It’s not a question, but a statement. “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed.” Thomas did not have a false faith because he believed when he saw Jesus. He had weak faith. Christ’s physical appearance propped up his faith. Even though we weren’t there with those first disciples to see the risen Christ, we stand with them as we believe the words they wrote. God’s favor is upon us if we trust what we cannot see. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

The miracles of Jesus are written down for us so that we would believe. What do we believe? Belief or faith has an object. Belief in what? Faith in what? People may say “just have faith.” “You just got to believe.” Often they mean, believe IN YOURSELF. “Yourself” is bad place to place your faith.

Verse 31 sums up the whole gospel of John in 4 key words or phrases:

-Believe
-Jesus, the Christ
-Jesus, the Son of God
-Life

We must believe that Jesus is the Christ: he is the promised Savior who rescued us from our sins. The only way he could rescue us was to die on the cross in our place. He took our punishment.
Jesus is also the Son of God. He is God himself who took on humanity. The only way that he could actually take our place on the cross was if he was the perfect Son of God. Only a perfect sacrifice would work. And Jesus is that perfect sacrifice. And he did that for us.

All 21 chapters of this book point to this truth: by believing that Jesus is the Savior for your sins, that he is God himself, you have life forever. Not long life in this world, but perfect life in a perfect universe forever. And new life here and now. That is the gospel…the good news. Christ’s death and resurrection make this gospel possible.

What is your response to the resurrection?

1. Doubt
“I won’t believe Jesus unless I see him” is the response of some. When people demand that they see Jesus before they believe, what they are demanding is this: unless Jesus does what I want, I won’t believe in him. I’ve heard people say this before. Unless God heals my relative, I won’t believe in him. Unless God brings back my child, I won’t believe. If God did do what you want, would you believe in him? Thousands of people saw Jesus on earth. They saw his miracles. Then they rejected and crucified him.

If Jesus did exactly what you wanted, would it actually be faith if you believed in him? Faith takes a hold of Christ for who he says he is. He is not our personal genie in a bottle. He is not a heavenly therapist. He is not a cosmic vending machine. He is the Lord. He is the Savior. And he is God. John writes this gospel for us to believe that Jesus is the very Lord of the universe in human flesh.

I like what Jesus does for Thomas. He doesn’t tell the disciples: “give a message to Thomas: grow up Thomas and believe in me. Seriously, I really did rise from the dead.” No. He shows up. He blasts away every doubt Thomas has. My prayer today is that if you doubt Jesus Christ, that he would show up and blast away your doubts. Not appear before your physical eyes, but appear to the eyes of your heart…the eyes of faith. He may not take away your road blocks to belief, but he will give himself. And getting Jesus is far better that anything you think you need in order to believe. One pastor calls Jesus’ appearance to Thomas a “miracle of kindness” (J.C. Ryle). That is what we need to believe. A miracle of kindness.

My plea to you is to believe Jesus for who he is: Lord and God. Make him MY Lord and MY God. Come bow before him, worship him, trust him. Believe him for WHO HE IS, and he will satisfy your soul.

2. Faith
The other response to the resurrection is faith. Did Thomas have faith? Yes. Verse 29 says that he believed. It is easy to blame Thomas. It is easy to say, “I would never do that.” The truth is we all struggle to believe at times.

The British pastor J.C. Ryle says this about our passage: “A passage of Scripture like this…was written for the special comfort of all true believers. The Holy Ghost knew well that the dull, and the slow, and the stupid, and the doubting, are by far the commonest type of disciples in this evil world. The Holy Ghost has taken care to supply abundant evidence that Jesus is rich in patience as well as compassion, and that he bears with the infirmities of all his people” (p 296).

Our faith is reinforced when we read this account of the kindness of our Savior. Jesus meets us where we are. Dull, slow, stupid, doubting. Weak, weary, worn, and sad. Jesus gives himself to us to increase our faith. You don’t improve yourself first then come to Jesus. You come to Jesus as you are. He will provide everything you are lacking.

We come to Jesus by faith. True faith is without physical sight. This is how we see Jesus as Christians: by faith. Do you want to see Jesus? Open your eyes and read the words on this page. Open your ears and hear our Savior’s voice from the Scriptures. John used his hand to write with ink and papyrus so we could see Jesus with the eyes of faith.

J.C. Ryle says again, “The cry of the modern sceptic is, ‘If I could see I would believe.’ The answer of the Christian ought to be, ‘If you would only believe, and humbly ask for divine teaching, you would soon see.’”

Believing is seeing spiritually. I want you to see the resurrected Christ. That’s why I am reading and preaching words that you can hear. Believe the message and you will see Jesus. And you will be blessed. If you believe Jesus in this world, you will see him face to face in the next. Not as the humble Savior who came 2000 years ago, but as the victorious risen Lord. And for that we wait. Walking by faith, not by sight.