John 20:24-29
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Hebrews 11:1-3
By Faith
1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.
3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Jesus teaches us that blessed are those who believe that He has died and returned to earth and have not seen Him...Jesus knew that there would be many who would never physically see Him on earth...When He ascended to heaven, He knew most men, women, and children would have to believe in Him, without seeing Him...So He says -blessed are those who believe in Him and have not seen Him...This is the way God wanted it...God wants us to believe in the invisible and Jesus...Most of us will not physically see Him on earth, in this lifetime...God knew that Jesus today is two thousand years removed from us and faith in the world, and our own faith, would be as it is today...This is part of God's Plan...
The author of Hebrews has a similar statement as Jesus did about the invisible, in not seeing things, and having faith...Faith is believing in things we cannot even see...We must have faith to believe in the invisible...God created our world out of nothing...We did not see Him create our world, yet we look around and see His creation...What we see around us everyday (our universe) is something we have to have a belief in...The world is here, and how it got here takes faith to believe that God created the heavens and earth by His word...And even if you do not believe that God created the world, you have to believe that something created the sky, the trees, grass, the sun, the air, and the moon...Even if one believes in the randomness of the Big Bang (and before the Big Bang, the world was formless and and empty darkness), you have to have a belief (in something) that this is how these things happened, and how we got here...So it is by a believer's faith that we believe the universe was formed at God's command...And it is by this faith we believe that Jesus died and was resurrected and showed His wounds to Thomas...We cannot go back in time and see the creation or Jesus after He was resurrected from death...But we can know they happened by what we believe and our faith, even though we never seen them happen...Our faith is how we believe they happened...Believers believe God created the universe, and that He sent His Son, Jesus and non-believers don't...
For us to believe in things that are invisible and what we cannot see, feel, hear, or touch sometimes is a mystery...God wants it to be this way...God wants some mystery in our faith...He very well could have left Jesus on earth after His resurrection...After He talked to His disciples then to Thomas, then later to others, He could have stayed...God could have left His Son on earth...Then today I could see Him or hear Him...I could even go see Him...He could be on TV, the internet, and the radio...He could have easily reached most of the world today...Wouldn't have this been better for us, and easier for us?...It must not be better, or God would have done it...If Jesus was on TV everyday, it would be easier for me to believe...If He was on the radio, for me to hear everyday, I think my faith in Him would be stronger...Or would my faith, be the same, less, or taken for granted -if He is not on TV or radio everyday...For one thing God would not be hiding from me and not be invisible to me, if He was constantly on the radio and TV...The mystery would be gone, if God had allowed Jesus to remain on earth and not ascend to heaven after His resurrection...Faith would be easier...
So as we read the gospels and believe in this Man who could forgive others of their sins against God, who died, who rose from the dead is how God allows us to meet Him..We also meet Him in other Christians...God wants us to meet Him in the Bible and other Christians...When Jesus told Thomas that blessed are the ones who believe but will not get to see Him, we know that we must believe in the invisible mystery...God wants faith not to as easy as I would like it to be...It seems God does not want our faith to be easy or easier...Our faith is believing in those things we hope for and believing in this invisible hope and mystery...