seeing isn’t believing

8Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry, 11inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory. 12It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look! (1 Peter 1:8b-12, NRSV)

This is what I was talking about in the last devotional. Seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing. We have seen Jesus because we believe in the promises and the stories we have heard.

The truth of the promises overtake us and we believe with no discernable proof of the whole thing. But it goes back to that line from the Santa Claus 2, where Santa’s son Charlie is explaining to his high school principal that his father is Santa and that it is hard for adults to believe in Santa and the North Pole because we can not see it, but little children just believe, and therefore it is real to them.

Is Jesus real to you?

Seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing!

a sign

38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. 41The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! 42The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!  (Matthew 12:38-42, NRSV)

Why do we need to see something to believe it?

We need to observe things with our eyes in order for it to be believable. And that is crazy. I have a friend in Washington state who is a pastor, a coffee roaster and a magician. I have seen him do things I can not explain on Instagram and Facebook. I have seen it and I believe that it happened but I also don’t believe it. When I was a kid I watched David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear. Did it actually disappear? No, it didn’t but it appeared to. One of my all-time favorite movie quotes is from The Santa Claus 2, “Seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing.”

We don’t need a sign, God is good to the promises God has made.

So hold to the promises.

most to be pitied

19If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. 28When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.  (1 Corinthians 15:19-28, NRSV)

How many of us remember B.A. Baracus, “I pity da fool.” This is an interesting passage for me because this says that “if for this life only we have hoped in Christ,” which to me means if we only hope in Christ for life now. And that is really the opposite of what I think most people hope in Christ for. Most people think that hope in Christ will get us eternal life with God. Which it will, but hope in Christ also give us abundant life now.

You see death came through Adam and our life comes through Jesus for life eternal and abundant now. It isn’t an either-or but a both-and.

Do not be one to be pitied, trust in eternal life and abundant life here and now. That is what Christ did for all of us.

Raised from the dead

12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. 19If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20, NRSV)

We have to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. If we do not believe this then our faith is in nothing.

But if we believe that Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, why can we not believe that Jesus himself could walk out of the tomb?

You could say that we can’t prove it because we did not see it. There are a lot of things we can’t see but most of us still believe in. For instance, can you see the wind? You can see the effects of the wind, but we can’t see the wind. And even though I can’t see the wind I still believe it exists. And I know, you can see the effects of the wind, well I can see the effects of Jesus’ resurrection too. Life abundant all around me, and that is the life that walked out of the tomb.

Don’t be unbelieving of the resurrection of Christ. It is the foundation of our faith and the true hope of life!

Whating Thomas

19When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” 26A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” 30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31, NRSV)

Where was Thomas the first time Jesus came to be with the disciples?

But to the title of this post, this Sunday, the second Sunday of Easter is always this text from the 20th chapter of John about Thomas. It has been called Doubting Thomas Sunday, which is not a good title for Thomas and is a bad translation of the text. Jesus didn’t actually say to Thomas, “Do not doubt but believe.” Jesus actually said, “Do not be untrusting but trust.” or “Do not be unfaithful but have faith.” or “Do not be unbelieving but believe.” Jesus never said that Thomas doubted.

We have come to think that doubt is bad, but doubt makes us find answers. Doubt pushes us to seek the truth. And that is not bad, but to be unfaithful, untrusting, or unbelieving is bad.

So don’t worry about doubting or questioning, worried about not trusting what God has promised us.

Take refuge in God

1Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
3As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.
4Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips.
5The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
6The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.
7I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
8I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.
10For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.
11You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16, NRSV)

God will protect us. God is the place you can take refuge.

God will give us what we need. And will help us make it through anything that comes our way.

We can always be assured that God has us and is a place of refuge for us.

Trust in this. Hold close to God.

hold firmly

Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. 3For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe. (1 Corinthians 15:1-11, NRSV)

Hold firmly to what we know is true, that Christ died for all of us and gives us new life.

Believe it and trust it.

The scripture tells us it is true and we just need to believe it.

Hold firmly to that and God will never let go of you!

Devote yourselves to prayer

2Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. 3At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, 4so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should. 5Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. (Colossians 4:2-5, NRSV)

Be thankful for what God has blessed you with.

A new day.

A place to shelter in place.

Health.

And all the other wonderful things…

And pray for all of those who may not have those things.

And be ready for God to reveal grace and love through you to the world.

On the Road to Emmaus

13Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” 25Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. (Luke 24:13-27, NRSV)

Here is another example of people who should know what Jesus looks like and recognize Him when He walks up to them, but they are so distraught that they are weighed down in grief and despair that Jesus is some random stranger.

But these two, Cleopas and the other are walking to Emmaus a village 7 miles from Jerusalem on the night Jesus rose from the dead. They really haven’t figured this out yet, because they left before Jesus appeared to the disciples, but He had to the women. And they are wondering what will happen to all of them. And Jesus comes along and opens the scripture for them, which is the Hebrew Scripture or the Old Testament.

What would you do if someone made your heartburn as the opened the scripture for you?

Would you know it was Jesus?

Have you been on the road to Emmaus?

Dejected and filled with despair?

Jesus might be walking with you…

Mary and Jesus

11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:11-18, NRSV)

Have you ever seen someone and not recognized them?

I mean we all probably wonder how is it that Mary saw Jesus but didn’t know who he was? I mean she had been with him for a long time and knew him.

But also remember that she is in deep despair and anguish. She has just lost some she loves deeply and then only to discover that his body is missing. You might not recognize yourself in that mess.

But the moment Jesus says her name.

She knows Him. It is the most wonderful sound you can hear. Jesus calling you by name.

Jesus calls you name, are you ready to respond. To hear the sweet sound of God calling you by name and sending you to go.

Know that God loves you and died for you, and is alive now and calling you by name. Listen and hear God calling, and follow where God leads.