Faith in that which cannot be seen

1. After seeing flesh and blood, Thomas declares faith in Jesus’ unseen divinity
2. We have not seen Christ nor His divinity, and yet declare our belief that Jesus is our Lord and God
3. We receive this faith in the unseen through Jesus’ word of life
4. In turn we boldly confess the faith, even at the ridicule of the world

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

As the idiom goes: seeing is believing. It’s a rule we often live by, skeptics we are, that we don’t believe something unless we see it. Nowadays with the rise of so-called Artificial Intelligence image, video, and audio generation, we’re skeptical of pretty much everything unless we see it in person. Considering our world is not unlike Crete, where we could say: “All Americans are liars,” it’s no wonder we’re so frequently skeptical.

We are usually like St. Thomas who needs to see something before he believes it. “Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “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.”” 

I know we sometimes refer to Thomas as “Doubting Thomas,” but he’s not really doing any more doubting than the rest of the apostles. Remember when the women brought news of the empty tomb to the apostles, and they considered it nothing more than an idle tale, and so Peter and John raced to the tomb to see it for themselves. Or consider how ten of the apostles were hiding as if Jesus had not been raised. Or consider how even when some of the apostles saw Jesus in Matthew 28, “when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted.” All of the apostles doubted, but Thomas’ doubts are singled out for our benefit.

Because eight days later, after Jesus came to all eleven apostles, again locked inside, He instructed Thomas to touch Him, and not to disbelieve, but believe. At which point Thomas exclaims: “My Lord and my God!” Jesus then explains: “Because you have seen me, you believe. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” What’s valuable for us here is not that Thomas believed after seeing, but that Thomas believes in something which cannot be seen.

Thomas’ response to touching Jesus: “My Lord and my God!” is not a logical response. Thomas does not declare: “I believe that you rose from the dead!” That would be logical, because that’s what Thomas saw. Thomas did not see Jesus’ divinity, he only saw that Jesus was alive. Other people had recently been raised from the dead (Lazarus, the widow at Nain’s son, a little girl), and yet Thomas didn’t call them his lord and god. But after Thomas sees Jesus’ flesh and blood, he confesses faith in Jesus’ unseen divinity. 

That Jesus is God is not something that can be perceived by the senses. In fact, just the opposite: “For He grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” By all outward appearances, Jesus is not God, but man. That Jesus is divine cannot be apprehended by seeing Him. That Jesus is my Lord and my God is only possible to believe by faith working through the Word.

I know many Christians long to see a sign, perhaps to meet Jesus face to face, to get to have the St. Thomas experience and touch His scars, but such an experience is not what gives faith. You have everything you need already to believe that Jesus is the Christ. Afterall, “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.” You have not seen Christ, and yet, you declare the same faith as Thomas: My Lord and my God! You have this faith apart from seeing, because “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” 

This is why the task of speaking was entrusted to the apostles, to pastors, and generally to all Christians. Blessed are the feet of those who bring the Gospel! I know maybe this seems too simple, or too easy, and yet this is the simplicity of the work entrusted to us Christians. This Easter season let us return to this simplicity of Christianity, and return to the simple word of the Lord. Let us become “Like newborn infants, who long for the pure spiritual milk [of the word], that by it we may grow up into salvation.”

This book has been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. So take it up and read! Today we have a catechumen who is going to be confirmed, Charlotte, and she will confess her faith in the simple words of the Lord. Over the past years she has studied the catechism and the Bible, the basics of Christianity. She has become like a newborn infant, longing for the pure spiritual milk of the word, so that her soul may be nourished such that she matures unto salvation. This simple nourishment she’s received is not just baby food for children, the Bible and the catechism are not like the grammar books children use to learn the language which are no longer useful once we grow up. Instead, what Charlotte has received is meant to be matured into. She’s received something which she’s only just begun to grasp.

What I say about this catechumen, I say also about every one of us. What we have in the Word of the Lord is simple, simple enough that a child can grasp what it says and appreciate it. It doesn’t take a genius to comprehend the words that Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins, so that when we die we go to heaven, and when Jesus comes back He will raise us from the dead and take us to paradise. It doesn’t take a genius to understand the words which say that this bread is Jesus’ body and this wine is Jesus’ blood. It doesn’t require high IQ to recognize that God created the world in six days, that He still sustains it, that Jesus rose from the dead, and that I’m God’s child through baptism. This is all very simple.

But it is also very rich. The Words which our Lord gives to us are astounding in that no matter how many times you read them or meditate on them, there are more treasures to mine. So while a small child can understand this simple word, even old Christians who have read these words for decades still are growing and maturing in the faith. Regardless of how simple these words are, since these words are so rich, we never stop growing in the faith when we return to these words of life. This is the case because the Holy Spirit is working through these words on your heart, so that like St. Thomas you may confess that Jesus is your Lord and your God! 

Ultimately that’s what this simply rich Word of Life is going to work in your hearts: A boldness to confess the faith even while the world ridicules you. This is what the disciples prayed for when they were rebuked by the authorities for preaching: “Lord, look upon their threats and grant to Your servants to continue to speak Your Word with all boldness.” Then, when the apostles were released from prison for boldly speaking the word, the angel instructed them: “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” Lo and behold, they did! When they were rebuked again by the authorities, they simply replied: “We must obey God rather than men.”

It’s that kind of boldness that God has given to you through the power of His Word! For your faith is not merely in that which is seen, but God has given you faith in the invisible divine truths which only the Holy Spirit can implant in your hearts. In the eyes of this world you look crazy, believing in something which cannot be seen or proven. But here you are, gathered together in this sanctuary on the 8th day. In this place the Lord comes to you and you behold bread and wine, yet your faith perceives more than what is seen, and you receive the body and blood of the Lord. Here the Lord commands you not to disbelieve, but to believe. In this place the Lord breathes His Holy Word upon you, and His Spirit is poured out into your hearts. Your eyes see some men dressed in white robes, but by faith you see the slain Lamb of God standing upon His throne and declaring: “Peace be with you.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!