A common phrase - Seeing is Believing – but is it always? - The apostle Thomas seemed to think so – he wanted to see Jesus in order to believe that he was alive – All the other disciples were testifying about the resurrection, but that was not enough - Thomas was missing when Jesus came to the disciples - and Doubting Thomas does not believe the other disciples – after all Seeing is Believing – he must see for himself.
And who can blame him? – He seems logical here – people do not just walk into a room after being crucified – he wants some proof – more than just testimony from the other disciples – resurrection seemed beyond reason – how does someone rise from the dead?
Resurrection is not entirely out of the question – Thomas was present when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead – so there is some precedent for Jesus rising from the dead – but it is true – people do not regularly come back from the grave.
Thomas wants to see before believing – and Jesus has mercy upon him. He does not just say that the disciples’ testimony should be enough - in His mercy, He comes to Thomas and shows him His wounds. - and Thomas’ answer is “My Lord and my God!” – one of the strongest statements of belief found in scripture
“My Lord and my God!” – that does not follow logically from seeing Jesus alive – it is a statement far more than just belief in the resurrection – Logical questions would be things like “How are you alive?” “What power raised you from the dead” – but these are not Thomas’ questions
Further, Lazarus was raised from the dead – but no one thought that Lazarus was God. – He was just a man that was alive again and would one day still die – the question then was how did Jesus do it? How did he raise Lazarus – but Thomas does not ask “How?” – instead, he gives a statement - “My Lord and my God!” –– not just a claim that Jesus is alive – but that Jesus is God.
Perhaps seeing is not believing – What Thomas confessed goes far beyond what he could see. He saw a human being – he confessed that Jesus was God - No one can see divinity – but he believed. - That Jesus was alive spoke to the fact there is a power over death – but does not show he is God – Lazarus, raised from the dead, is not God,
Thomas’s faith is not based on sight but on what Jesus testified about himself – it is an act of faith beyond anything he has seen. Christ, in His mercy, gave him the chance to see, such that he might believe, and Jesus’ resurrection shows he is worth listening to –– it is reasonable to listen to him – to put one’s faith in Him – but his divinity is not seen, even by the apostles – it is believed based on Jesus’ testimony about himself –he tells us he is God – because the reality goes beyond what can be seen.
Believing goes far beyond what can be seen –. The apostle Thomas recognized that in his confession of faith – Seeing might show that something is happening – it might make some belief reasonable –it is still true today – It is through the testimony of the disciples, such as Thomas, that we know that Jesus rose from the dead, but it is still through Christ’s testimony about himself that we know that Jesus is God.
Reality being beyond what is seen is still true in the everyday actions of our faith. In the sacraments, we may see that something is happening – Christ is merciful and has given us something that we can see, we see a sign – but the reality is far beyond it. In baptism, what is seen is washing with water with a short formula “I baptize you in the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” – what happens Is that all one’s sins – including original sin – is wiped away and one becomes a child of God. The reality of what happens is far beyond what can be seen.
In the confessional, we hear the words – “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” and our sins are absolved – and we know that they are in faith – but we can not see the sins removed – we know that they are forgiven based on Christ’s promise to his apostles – “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.”
And here, in the Eucharist – what starts as bread and wine becomes something far greater – they become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ – but they still look like bread and wine – it is only by faith in Christ and trust in his promise that we know that it truly becomes, as Jesus said, “this is my Body” and “this is my blood.” It is not by sight that we know these things but by faith in Christ and his words.
Seeing may be helpful –Thomas could see Jesus alive – in the sacraments, we see the sign – sight can show that the faith is reasonable - but seeing is not belief – for the reality, the faith, is far more than can be seen – Following the apostle Thomas’ confession to Jesus - “My Lord and my God!” - do we move beyond what can be seen, to the whole reality of the faith that Christ’s resurrection invites us to?