Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen and Yet Have Believed

This blog is based on a sermon by Pastor Teresa Howell-Smith on April 7, 2024

Have you ever reached the end of a story and thought that there must be more to it? 

Maybe it was a television program or a story told by a friend in which you had only heard the punchline.

In the verses John 20:19-31, we feel as though we are walking in the shoes of Thomas – thinking to ourselves that there must be more to the story. In the beginning of the verses, Jesus’ disciples are locked in a room. It feels like an episode of Scooby Doo – the disciples are hiding behind a locked door, fearful that the religious authorities that came for Jesus would come for them. But amidst their fear, Jesus appears in the room and says, “Peace be with you!”

Just as Jesus appears in the locked room that the disciples are hiding in, He appears within our own lives – in the areas in which we have internally locked away and kept hidden –  and tells us to have peace.

Thomas was not with the disciples when this happened. He had gotten a reputation for being skeptical and had become known as Doubting Thomas. When the disciples told him that they saw Jesus appear before them behind a locked door, he refused to believe them. Truthfully, Thomas is like us – not many of us would believe that such a miracle had occurred. Thomas says, “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.” Thomas needed proof.

A week later, Jesus does what scholars call a performative faith. He allows Thomas to have the proof he needs to in order to increase his faith. Thomas joins the disciples in the locked room, and once again, Jesus appears and says, “Peace be with you!” To Thomas, he says, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 

Thomas is shocked to see Jesus, and Jesus says to him: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

We’ve seen performative speech before. We’ve seen it in Genesis when God says, “Let there be light.” We’ve seen it when Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, simply commanding him to “come out” of the tomb. 

When we look at our own lives, we must ask ourselves: “Where are our locked doors?” 

Perhaps the locked door is representative of the disciples’ fear that Jesus would be unforgiving towards them for betraying Him. Jesus says to the disciples, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” He forgives the disciples.

When our doors are locked and we are fearful, we need to remember what God has done. I remember my former pastor Reverend Joseph Roberts reminding me to keep a notebook of where I had seen God’s hand in the world. Sometimes when we see what’s happening in the world – when we see all of the war, poverty and hatred – we wonder if God is big enough for these problems. But we need to remember what God has done. We need to see the miracles at hand. 

One of the joys in my life as being a part of a ministry is walking beside people. Sometimes we see people with illnesses who were told they would only live for six months live for another five years. These are miracles at hand. 

Thomas’ doubt about Jesus appearing behind a locked door teaches us that science and faith do not have to be mutually exclusive. We can have faith and believe that what God created was good in the creation story but also refer to science to understand how it was created. We don’t have to leave our brains at the door to have faith. 

We must change the narrative of our lives. We are more than the stories that we tell ourselves or that others tell about us. Thomas is more than a question or a doubt. David is more than an affair. Sarah is more than just the woman who laughed at God. We are children of God. 

The disciples who left Jesus on that Maundy Thursday and Good Friday were so much more and Jesus saw that. I believe that’s why he appeared to those disciples behind that locked door and said, “Peace be with you.” Those disciples left that room to do great things.

The same peace that Jesus spoke to the disciples goes with us behind our own closed doors. In the moments where we have fear and then faith. In the moments where we, like Thomas, need more details to the story. God offers us God’s grace and gives us the gift to ask the question over and over again.

I like Thomas’ story because one of my dear friends from seminary is from South India and she talks about how Thomas was a great leader who brought Christianity to India. Thomas, the one who was doubtful. Thomas, the one who was a martyr for his faith. Jesus was okay with him asking the question, and Doubtful Thomas went on to do great things. 

I leave you with an excerpt from a blog by the SALT Project,  titled “Three Kinds of Doubt: SALT’S Commentary for Easter 2.” It reads:

“It’s as if Jesus says, I understand that you need to see and touch my body in order to believe, and I will oblige – but there’s an even deeper form of faith and trust, an even higher gear of understanding, that isn’t dependent on ‘signs and wonders,’ or even on the presence of my physical body, but rather has the ears and the eyes to discern me within you and among you and throughout creation. And I call you and commission you toward that deeper faith, that higher understanding. Now I give you the Holy Spirit, and send you out into an even deeper, blessed intimacy with me. Even my resurrection, the sign of all signs, isn’t the end of the road for you: with the Spirit’s help, go, climb still higher! There is a more blessed faith beyond signs and wonders: the trust of those who have not seen!”

It’s okay to ask the question. God offers us grace upon grace, just as he did for the disciples who felt as if the God that they had loved and trusted wasn’t big enough for the problems at hand. We might find ourselves hiding behind locked doors, but God commissions us to open those doors and find peace. God breathes the holy spirit on us, therefore we must go out and do great things.