From the Pastor

Not Seeing is Believing

Poor Thomas. Because of one simple mistake, written down by John, the beloved disciple, in the eternal words of the Bible, Thomas is now forever labeled as “Doubting Thomas.” Out of all the nicknames that Bible characters have, this one could very well be the worst. The focus in the name is all on Thomas’ inability to believe in the resurrection, but that is where all of us begin. All of us are little “Doubting Thomas’” without the Spirit to guide us in the resurrection promise. We should look to Thomas with joy, knowing that there is hope in the face of our doubts.

Maybe we should thank Thomas for his doubt. Because of his doubt, Jesus spoke words directly to us, words that John took time to include in his account of Jesus’ ministry, because he would not just leave us doubting, there had to be hope. Jesus was thinking of you when He said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). You and I have never seen Jesus with our own eyes. We have not put our fingers in the nail marks and our hands in His side. We have not hugged our Savior in the joy of the resurrection. We have not talked with Him and walked with Him as Thomas had before and after the resurrection, yet we have believed, and Jesus calls you “blessed.”

That is the incredible work of Jesus. Nowhere else in all of creation can we honestly say, “not seeing is believing” the opposite is true. See is believing! Even though we can “see” everything because of modern technology, there are times that we are caused to doubt even if the pictures we see come from reliable sources. We want to experience the real thing. To see it with our own eyes so that we have proof that it actually happened. But Jesus changes that. In the resurrection, Jesus has changed everything.

Because of Jesus’ words, we are confident in the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:17). Not because we have seen it but because Jesus said so in the words of Scripture. In these words, handed down throughout the millennia and put in your hands today, we get to see Christ. In not seeing, we believe and in believing the Word of God we then see Jesus. When we pick up the Bible, we are putting our fingers in the nail marks of Jesus’ hands and putting our hands in His side. When we read God’s Word, we hear God speaking to us. In the reading is the seeing.

In the Word of God, Jesus makes both statements eternally true. “Seeing is believing” because in Scripture we see God’s work, we feel His love, and we receive what He wants us to have. “Not seeing is believing” because “faith is the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is all about not seeing, we believe in what we do not see. If we could see it, then it wouldn’t truly be faith. Not seeing is believing in the glorious day to come when we do see Jesus face-to-face and cry out with Confessing Thomas, “My Lord and my God.”

So, as we travel into the summer, take time to “see” Jesus and read His Word. Take time to “not see” Jesus and be reminded of the power of the resurrection. Not seeing is believing, but we see what God calls us to see through His Word.

Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Zach Sarrault