And He Saw, and Believed

"Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed" - John 20:8

This is one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible.
This verse is the Apostle John, or the disciple that Jesus loved, referring to himself in third person. He'd just arrived at the empty tomb. He'd run there with Simon Peter. He beat Peter to the sepulchre, but he had not ventured in as Peter immediately did. But when he entered he immediately believed.
I believe that because of his deep love for his Savior he believed.
Later in this chapter is the story of Thomas, Doubting Thomas. Thomas didn't believe that Jesus had risen after he'd heard the account of seeing the resurrected Lord. He required that he see the wounds of his Savoir before he would accept it.The tendency of the modern Christian is to condemn Thomas for his disbelief, but I understand. In fact, in the interest of full disclosure, I think I would have as cynical an attitude, if not worse.
Imagine for a moment Thomas' emotions: He'd given everything to follow the Messiah, he'd believed that the Messiah would bring a Kingdom of peace and justice, as well as salvation. He'd spent three years working day and night with eleven other men to forward the message of the Christ, and in days his hopes and dreams had seemed to be crushed!
Have you ever been betrayed by a friend? I have. And not just little betrayal, life-altering betrayals. I understand that the eleven were hurt deeply by Judas' evil acts. They had trusted him, and learned that he'd lied and had been cheating them.
Poor Thomas had also watched everything he'd believed seemingly fall to shambles. His Savior died, and he'd found himself wanting, running and hiding instead of staying faithfully by His side.
Thomas was a broken man. Experiencing more severe anguish than most of us comfy, modern Christians can even imagine.
But, then the Savior came!
I love the song, "It's Just Like Jesus"
It's just like Jesus
To roll the clouds away.
It's just like Jesus
To keep me day by day.
It's just like Jesus,
All along the way.
It's just like His great Love!
Isn't it just like Jesus to seek that one hurting, doubting soul, and to show that one His compassion. I can't think of how many times I've felt alone in this dark world and called on my Lord to show me He is real and with me. He's never failed! Every time I've asked the Lord to show Himself to me, He has!
After Thomas sees his Lord he wholly believes, without reservation.
Then, Jesus offers a blessing that, I believe, Christians today can only partially claim:
"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." - John 20:29
No, we haven't touched the risen Savior, but, honestly, haven't we seen? Not only do we have the Bible, which has proven itself true, infallible and relevant throughout the years, we also have archeology, which is continually proven the accuracy of God's written word, we have history, did you know that there were over 500 witnesses to the resurrected Savior? There were less than that to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and we accept that into the truth of history.
John finishes this chapter with one of my favorite verses:
"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." - John 20:31
We have seen the truth of God's word. Christ's resurrection is historical fact, do you believe?

If you have questions about Eternity & how to secure a home in Heaven please check my What I Believe page! Or Contact Me it would be my extreme pleasure to talk to you more about that!!!