Sermon 3/9/08
John 20:29 - Those Who Have Not Seen
Audio Sermon
Those Who Have Not Seen
“Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29)
While writing these words, I was sitting in a
stained plastic chair outside a garage in a neighboring city, waiting for my
wife’s car to be serviced. I glanced upward from the writing at one point and
saw an airplane emerge from a cloud. The plane was clearly seen for a moment
against a section of blue sky, and then it disappeared into the clouds once
more. But even though I could not see it, the airplane did not cease to exist
when it vanished from my sight; instead it was merely my ability to see the
plane that was obscured by the clouds.
Many of us are given eyes that see, ears that hear,
taste buds that enable us to enjoy food, and the senses of touch and smell place
us into contact with the world. But there are a large number of people for whom
one or more of these senses simply does not work. Our Associate Pastor at Friday
Study Ministries, who is called our “Minister of Abilities” because of his
outreach to the disabled, is blind. Pastor Timothy lives in Phoenix, Arizona,
and the two of us communicate by telephone and email several times a week. In
our conversations I have noticed how many times he or I will say we “have seen”
something, when in fact it really doesn’t always mean either one of us actually
saw it; instead we just knew it was there.
He and his wife, Susan, who is also blind, have a
television set and they love to “watch” TV, even though he means they actually
LISTEN to the words and let their minds fill-in the parts that could only be
perceived if their eyes could see. It should be noted by the way, that Susan can
see the color red. Blues, greens, yellows and mixtures of colors that do not
contain red are unavailable to her. When we were in Phoenix recently, I observed
that her husband, Timothy, was wearing a red shirt. I mentioned this, saying, “Susan, Timothy is wearing a red shirt – you can see him, can’t
you?” She smiled and replied, “Yes, I can.”
God has given her the gift of limited continued sight,
even though she cannot otherwise see. Something similar is true of people like
me who wear glasses. If I had lived in the many centuries before effective
prescription glasses were available, or if I did not have the money to buy them,
as is true in many parts of the world today, I would be one of those people
referred to as having “weak eyes,” and I would be thought of as “disabled” by
those I meet.
Years ago, when I worked for the Los Angeles County
Court system, I sat in on hundreds of civil and criminal trials. Everyone agreed
that certain types of evidence were admissible in a variety of situations.
Original documents that shed “light” on the guilt or innocence or a person were
often accepted as evidence, along with what is called “eye-witness” testimony.
It’s interesting that often two or three eye-witnesses would present conflicting
testimony about what they saw. If they were standing on three different corners,
they would have three differing perspectives on the accident that occurred in
the middle of the intersection. One would say the light was green and another
would say it was red. Both might be right, but their perspective was different
and what they reported was not quite the same.
There is another gift that helps us “see,” and it is
both the best ability of all and it is the least understood. It’s not something
strange, either. It’s the normal gift or gifts given to those who trust in the
Lord. When Jesus spoke to His disciples as He was about to leave this earth
through death on the cross, He said, “It is to your
advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to
you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). And He did.
That “Helper” is the One we call the Holy Spirit of
God. Sermonnetwork.com views the Spirit “like a good pair
of eyeglasses. If our eyeglasses fit comfortably and do their work well we
hardly notice them. They are there, not to be noticed, but to enable us to
notice. They are not to be seen, but to be seen through. When we misplace them
we are doubly troubled, for we have not only lost them, but cannot see to find
them.” The Spirit of God is with and in those who trust in the Lord, but we do not see Him,
though He enables us to “see” like never before.
The setting of our Scripture for today was a room in
Jerusalem. “The doors were shut” and the “disciples (of Jesus) were assembled
for fear of the Jews.” Suddenly Jesus was among them and He said to their
fearful hearts, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).
This was to be one of many such visits. He appeared to them often “during forty days” after His resurrection (Acts 1:3), and
at one point was seen by “over five hundred…
at once” (1 Corinthians 15:6).
Something remarkable happened in that “room in Jerusalem” – “He breathed
on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”
(John 20:22). Something of God Himself was planted deeply into their hearts, and
the capacity for a meaningful, godly forgiveness was given to them. Jesus
said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John
20:23).
“But Thomas (who was also)
called Didymus (the twin),
one of the twelve (apostles), was not with them
when Jesus came” (John 20:24). “The other disciples…
(later) said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord,’” but Thomas
replied to them in words that could be said by many today: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my
finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not
believe” (John 20:25).
Eight days later, Jesus’ disciples were once again
inside the same room and this time, “Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your
hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
And “Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my
God!’” Jesus continued speaking: “Thomas, because
you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet
have believed” (John 20:26-29). Through the Holy Spirit, God enables you to “see.”
Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He then appeared to His
followers on many occasions and they offer eyewitness testimony about what they saw and
heard. They were amazed, shocked and delighted and all those emotions and more
are reflected in the words they wrote. Soon, all of them, including Thomas,
would be given a new
experience with the Holy Spirit of God, equipping them for service to the King:
“Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come… they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak… as the Spirit gave them
utterance… the multitude (was) confused because
everyone heard them speak in his own language” (Acts 2:1-6).
Our Lord intends for you to "see" Him in the Spirit, to know His “peace,” to be prepared for eternity and equipped for God’s service. To believe in Jesus is to
become one of those “blessed…
who have not seen.” Will you receive the Lord, the Son of God?
Lord, I have not seen, but I believe. Forgive my
sins, especially my unbelief, and Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Thank
You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
