People who question the truth of Christianity usually apply a different set of standards to what they apply in daily life. They say, in effect, 'Unless I see I will not believe'. Yet most of what we do in everyday life is based on the testimony of other people. Jesus' apostle Thomas took the sceptics' approach although he had ample eye-witness testimony from people he normally trusted. He took the reasonable view that 'dead men don't rise', but this prevented him from taking account of evidence that showed a unique event had occurred. Further, the tears that flowed over Jesus' departure clouded his judgement as well as his vision. Another mistake was to absent himself from the disciples' gathering; had he been there he would have had all the evidence he wanted. All this reminds us: 1) we should heed the eye-witness evidence recorded in the New Testament; 2) we should beware of the effects of emotion (though it is God's gift) on our judgement and planning; and 3) our wisdom is to gather with the people of God in worship for that is where Jesus is likely to appear. The story ends with Christ's blessing on all who have believed even though they have not seen him. He values our trust. The blessing consists of Christ and all his benefits. Our 'share' of Christ is unlike any other share - we have the whole of Christ, his redemption, love, wisdom, fellowship, son-ship, and glorious reward. |
