Believing and Not Seeing

Our journey of Holy Week and Jesus’ last days before He died can ignite such emotion in our hearts. Through our worship, we were there in the crowd on Palm Sunday, we were there with Him at the Last Supper, we were there by the cross, we were there by the tomb, and we were there celebrating His resurrection. This journey reminds us of our sinful nature and of God’s redemption for us. Now that Jesus has risen, we must believe. We must have faith that He died for us, that He rose from the dead, and appeared to those He knew on earth. 

So what does it mean to have faith? It is such a small word, but it carries such depth and weight.  Faith can be described by words such as acceptance, confidence, assurance, truthfulness, and surety. The book of Hebrews describes faith as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (NIV)

In John 20: 27-29, Thomas had to see Jesus to believe that He had indeed risen from the dead. Jesus replies, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Our journey of Holy Week helps us to be there with Jesus as He walks those last moments. But in reality, we weren't truly there. We weren't truly there when He appeared to the disciples. They were among the very few who did indeed see Jesus after He rose. 

We have to believe, to have faith, that He did rise that day. We haven't seen the risen Jesus like the disciples did, but we need to believe that He did rise that day so many years ago because Jesus has bridged the gap between man and God. Hebrews 10:19-23 says, "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, the body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." (NIV)

May we find that faith this Easter season that draws us close to God in full assurance that He did rise from the dead and now lives.