Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen!

2nd Sunday of Easter, 4/7/13
John 20:19-31


Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen!
I. They take Jesus at his word.
II. They live in Easter peace.
III. They have eternal life.


Few of us are in the position to buy something expensive sight unseen. I can’t imagine buying something as substantial as a vehicle or a house without eyeballing it. In fact, we often have such items professionally inspected. We want to be absolutely certain about what we’re buying. We’ve heard too many stories about people who been victimized because they didn’t take the effort to investigate fully what they were getting into and it caused untold heartache.

Sight unseen. And yet that’s exactly what Jesus expected his followers to do regarding something far more amazing than the purchase of a big ticket item. He wanted them to believe his resurrection. Beginning with the day of his resurrection and then going on into the following days Jesus wanted his followers to believe he had risen from the dead sight unseen. That would have taken a leap of faith for them. But it’s the very same one the all of us have taken. We have not seen the risen Lord Jesus and yet we know and believe that it’s true. And for that, we’re blessed. Jesus states, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

That’s you. That’s me. We haven’t seen but we believe. And how blessed we are for it! Jesus shares just what those blessings are in this familiar account that so many Christians have dubbed the story of doubting Thomas. Let’s see what those blessings are for us who haven’t seen the risen Lord Jesus.

Part I.

We like to think that people will believe what we say simply because we say it. Our history is that we tell the truth and therefore people can count on what we say being true.

If that’s true with us, sinners that we are, then how much more true is it of Jesus, who is the Truth. Again and again he had told his disciples exactly what was going to happen to him. He was going to Jerusalem to suffer, die and rise again on the third day. He even told them when it would happen. But they didn’t believe him. In fact, they tried to stop him from going through with it all.

But that’s exactly what happened. John, who was there, writes, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’” He had wanted his disciples to believe that he was already risen simply because he had said so. He would have been overjoyed if they had been sitting in that upper room with the doors wide open, just waiting for the risen Jesus to appear to them. But that wasn’t the case. In spite of all that they had seen and heard in the previous three years, they weren’t going to take Jesus at this word. It was going to take visible, physical evidence. So that’s what he gave them.

And then he went further than that. “After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” Jesus overcame the fact that they didn’t believe his words by giving them visible, tangible proof of what he said.

But one of the disciples wasn’t there to share the experience with them. For whatever reason, Thomas was not among them that evening. But the disciples still wanted Thomas to know the truth that Jesus had risen from the dead. So they shared their experience with him. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But Thomas wouldn’t believe them. In fact, unlike the other ten disciples, Thomas made demands. He would not believe unless he could touch the Savior’s nail wounds to be absolutely, 100% sure that this was the same Jesus who had been crucified and not some imposter.

Had Jesus ever given Thomas any reason to doubt what he had said? Never. It’s a hardened, brazen soul that makes demands of Jesus rather than take him at his word.

That’s why Jesus declared that those who have not seen are blessed. They take Jesus at his word.
When we listen to the account of Thomas on this Second Sunday of Easter, we may think that he gets a bad rap when Christians refer to him as “Doubting Thomas.” After all, he wasn’t the only one who doubted Jesus words; all the other disciples had as well. What’s more, we can’t say with certainty that we would have taken Jesus at his word either. In fact, if we think just a little, we can easily point to countless times in our lives when we haven’t taken Jesus at his word. Jesus tells us all our sins are forgiven. Our guilt has been removed. We’re his dear children by faith in him. But we feel so sinful, so guilty at times. We’re pained by the mess we’ve made of things and feel as if Jesus can’t possibly love us ever again. Or we look back at the last tragedy in our lives and conclude that, even though we had no part in it, Jesus must not love us. We’re suffocated by all the trouble in our lives and feel as if nothing good will ever come of it. All those thoughts refuse to take Jesus at his word. He has clearly told us our sins are forgiven, our guilt is gone, that he will work out everything for our good. But we doubt. We worry. And in sincere repentance we proclaim, “Lord, we do believe; help us overcome our unbelief!” And he does. Through his word which never fails. A word that declares his death for our sins and his resurrection for our justification. Indeed, blessed are those who have not seen. They take Jesus at his word.

Part II.

Given the patient teaching and proclamation of his promises to his disciples, we wouldn’t hold anything against Jesus if he had appeared to his disciples on that Easter evening and proclaimed with indignation and disappointment, “I told you so! You wouldn’t believe me, but I did it!” After all, that’s what we’d be tempted to do. It grinds us when we tell people what we’re going to accomplish but they refuse to believe we’ll do it.

But we hear no righteous indignation in the words Jesus spoke. Instead, we hear him say, “Peace be with you!” Has it dawned on you that this had turned out to be Jesus’ standard post-resurrection greeting? More than once we read that Jesus met one or more of his followers with the greeting, “Peace be with you!” Why would that be the case?

First, it was entirely appropriate considering the emotions of the disciples. Recall that they weren’t gathered in that room filled with joyful expectation for Jesus to appear. They weren’t standing there with glasses ready to hoist in the air and toast his appearance. No, they were huddled in fear. The enemies of Jesus had succeeded in killing him; were they next? They were hoping to remain with Jesus; now he was gone. What was next for them?

So Jesus greets them with his peace. But it was more than just a greeting. When Jesus proclaims his peace, it’s a reality. Because of his resurrection from the dead, the whole world had been justified, declared not guilty. That meant the disciples by faith in Jesus as their crucified but risen Lord had the peace of forgiveness for their sins. All was well between them and the holy God. They stood before God wearing the holiness that Jesus had won for them. That holiness filled them with peace.

The disciples were confident of that peace because they had now seen the risen Lord. Blessed are those who have not seen. They live in Easter peace.

What fears cause you to huddle in your room? A dubious educational or career path? Someone who appears to have an unhealthy control of your life? Maybe it’s your own sins, your own weaknesses, your own addictions. We fear what our financial advisor or our doctor may tell us. We fear answering the phone because we know who might be calling. We fear going to God about it in prayer because we know we don’t deserve to have him listen to us, let alone answer our prayer favorably. And then it hits us. It’s all because we’re worthless sinners. And that’s when Jesus appears among us and greets us not with the words, “You’re right, you lousy sinner!” but with, “Peace be with you.” He brings us his peace, the peace of knowing that all our sins have been paid for by his life and death. His resurrection assures us that we have eternal peace with God. That’s our blessing from Jesus. Blessed are those who have not seen. They live in Easter peace.

Part III.

If I give you my word, will you believe me?

If so, then believe what Jesus says. John concludes his words to us this morning by saying, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
You and I have not seen Jesus. And yet he gives us his word so that we have life in his name. That life is yours right now by faith in Jesus. You will never die. Oh, your body may die if Jesus doesn’t return first. But by faith in Jesus you possess life—real life—right now. You see, without faith in Jesus there is only spiritual death. No real life. But with faith in Jesus you have life, the life God intended for you, a life with him.

And that life now means that you have life with him forever. God created us to live with him, not die. Sin ended that plan. So God devised another one. It involved sending his Son to live for us, to die for us and to rise again to live with us forever. That life is yours by faith in Jesus. You already possess the greatest goal that God wants to accomplish in you—life with him forever. Won’t he take care of all the lesser details in your life until he calls you home to heaven? Of course he will. And we don’t have to see them accomplished before our eyes to believe they are true. Blessed are those who have not seen. By God’s grace we believe. We have eternal life. Amen.