To Encourage You

John 20:30-31 “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.”

The words above follow immediately after the account of the one that we know as “doubting Thomas.”  Jesus had appeared to 10 of the disciples after His resurrection.  The two who weren’t there were Judas, who had committed suicide, and Thomas.  When Thomas showed up, the testimony he heard from these 10 men with whom he had lived, ministered, and been taught directly by Jesus was “We have seen the Lord.”  To that Thomas replied “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.”  Then we are told that eight days later Jesus suddenly appeared to Thomas as well as the other 10 disciples and invited him to indeed touch the marks the nails had made in His hands and that the sword had made in His side.  It was only then that Thomas believed, to which Jesus replied “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 

To what was Jesus referring here?  What was Thomas to have believed?  The only thing Thomas had to go on was the testimony of the disciples.  But it wasn’t only the testimony of the 10, for Thomas also had the testimony of the prophets throughout the Old Testament as well as the prophesies that he had heard directly from Jesus’ own mouth. 

Thomas wasn’t the only one that Jesus had rebuked for not believing what the prophets had said about Him.  When He met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, again after His resurrection, He said to these sad souls “’O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27). 

You see, Jesus has so ordained that the eyewitness, first-hand accounts of the disciples and prophets that have been recorded for us in the Bible are more than sufficient for us to believe in Him and be saved.  In light of this, what’s keeping you from belief?  Maybe you’re an unbeliever and you’ve made up your mind that there is no way you will believe unless you see or experience X, Y, and/or Z.  In other words, you, like Thomas, think you are in the position to dictate the terms of your belief.  However, Jesus has made it clear that we are in no position to dictate anything to Him. You see, we’re the creatures and He’s the Creator. As such, He knows us better than we know ourselves.  Jesus’ following words regarding the rich man in hell likewise speak to us: “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. . . If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead (Luke 16:29-31).”  God has given unbelievers enough to believe.  It is only the love of their own sin that keeps them from believing the irrefutable proof of the “eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).  It is not a question of evidence.  It’s a matter of the “willing ignorance” of the heart (2 Peter 3:5). 

But what about those who call themselves Christians, “believers,” if you will.  Remember, Thomas was a follower of Christ. Yet He didn’t believe the word of 10 other disciples who were eyewitnesses of His resurrection.  If the testimony of the disciples and prophets is enough for the unbeliever, how much more sufficient should they be for the follower of Christ.  It’s such an incredible testimony to the loving mercy of Jesus that He doesn’t immediately strike dead any Christian who refuses to believe something in His Word, and even worse, when we, in effect, try to set the terms by which we will believe.  How merciful the incarnate Word of God, and how patient, to reach out to Thomas despite His sinful unbelief and address him in a way that spoke to the very things that were keeping Him back from believing.  Just the same, Jesus knows exactly what it is that each one of us is refusing to believe from His Word.  Whatever the doubts that are at the root of any anxiety we feel about anything – He knows what it is.  And wonder of wonders, He patiently waits and continues to work to strengthen the faith of those who doubt His Word. How often He continues to prove Himself to us in ways that are beyond what He would have to, for He’s already done more than enough.  How often He works in our lives to show us one more time that whatever He said is true, and whatever He has said can always be trusted. 

May God help us to believe the Word of the omniscient, eternal, omnipotent, and totally truthful Son of the Living God.  And may God have mercy on us who believe at least some of what He has told us.  May He enable us to pray with the “believer” we are told about in Mark 9:24  who said to Jesus, “I believe, help my unbelief.”