What does the rich man — in the story of Lazarus and the rich man — have in common with the apostle Thomas? What do both of these figures have in common with those gathered around the manger holding the Christ child 2,000 years ago?
And what do all of these characters have to do with you and me?
Luke 16 describes the sumptuous lifestyle of the rich man who was so self-absorbed he did not even see the beggar Lazarus lying at his gate. Both died. Lazarus was taken into “Abraham’s bosom.” The rich man found himself in Hades — a place Jesus described as flame and torment.
The rich man first asked for relief from his pain — relief in the form of a drop of cooling water. Learning that such was impossible, the rich man asked that Lazarus be sent to warn his five brothers lest they also end up in torment.
If someone arose from the dead and warned against the torments of Hades, the rich man reasoned, the brothers would repent. In other words, “seeing is believing.” Without “seeing” — first hand experience — the brothers would not believe.
John 20 describes three appearances of Jesus. The first was to Mary Magdalene on the first resurrection morning. That evening, Jesus appeared to the disciples who had fearfully huddled behind locked doors. All but Thomas were present. When Thomas heard of Jesus’ appearance, he refused to believe.
Verse 26 begins the story of the third appearance. It is eight days later and Thomas is present. Suddenly Jesus appears in the room even though the doors are locked. After greeting the disciples, Jesus invites Thomas to touch His wounds and “be not unbelieving but believing.”
Thomas confesses, “My Lord and my God.”
Jesus sums up the situation. He says, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you believe.”
Like the rich man, Thomas tied belief to proof. Without proof, he would not believe. For him, in this moment, “seeing was believing.”
In the first story, Abraham countered the reasoning of the rich man by declaring that, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.”
After Jesus made the observation about Thomas’ faith, He added “blessed are they who did not see and yet believed.” Both voices make the same point. Belief is not based on “seeing.” Belief comes from accepting the testimony of God’s Word.
Mary, Joseph and the shepherds who gathered in that Bethlehem stable had to accept the testimony of God’s word as they beheld the newborn infant. They had to accept the testimony of God’s word to know this Child was different from all others. He was God’s only begotten Son. He was the Messiah, the Savior.
For Mary, the testimony had come through the words of the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26 ff). For Joseph, it was the words of an unidentified angel (Matt. 1:18ff). Both angelic messengers testified that the child to be born was the Messiah, that He “would save His people from their sins;” that “He would reign over the house of Jacob forever and His kingdom will have no end.”
For the shepherds, the testimony had been an angelic choir. The soloist declared, “Today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Then the whole choir filled the night sky with praises to God.
It must have been a special moment, a life changing moment, when each focused his eyes on baby Jesus for the first time. Here was what the word of God delivered by the angels had promised. But would these witnesses believe in the years that followed?
Would the shepherds believe that this child was their Deliverer when they learned the family had sneaked out of town during the night, probably headed to Egypt? Would they believe in the intervening decades when no word of the child dripped expectantly from the tongues of passersby? Would the experience of the angelic choir be explained away as imagination, an overly emotional moment? Would the shepherds fall back into the ways of the world, the way that says “seeing is believing?”
The Bible does not indicate that Joseph ever saw his Son perform a single miracle. Joseph likely died before Jesus began His public ministry. Through however many years of parenthood Joseph had, would he hold on to the testimony of the word of God? Would he see the child committed to his care as the One “who would save His people from their sins?”
Was Joseph tempted to say “seeing is believing” and demand a sign from God that this little boy, with all the characteristics of every little boy, really was the Christ?
Mary had been promised that her Son would reign forever. Yet she saw Him growing more unpopular, polarizing the people and alienating the leadership. She did not understand what Jesus did or how He acted. She wanted to take Him home, back to Nazareth, where He could regain His balance. Could Mary hold on to the word of God delivered by the angel Gabriel? Or, would she, too, demand some kind of sign to prove the message true. Would she say “seeing is believing?”
The Bible does not speak of the shepherds after that night of the first Christmas concert by the angelic choir. Little is said about Joseph and his actions as Jesus’ earthly father. Mary, Jesus’ mother, was there at the foot of the cross as He died between two thieves. There is no reason to doubt that any ever lost confidence in the testimony of the word of God.
What does all of this have to do with you and me? Again the words of Jesus: “Blessed are those who did not see and yet believed.” That is where we are. We did not see the angels nor hear the choir. We did not witness the heavenly star nor see the child in a manger. We did not witness any of the miracles. We did not cry at the crucifixion nor stand in awe amid the celebration of resurrection. We did not “see” any of this.
But we do have “Moses and the prophets,” a reference to the Word of God. After the writer of John finished telling the story of Thomas, he added, “These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, you may have life in His name” (v. 31).
If one will not believe the testimony of the Bible about the birth of Jesus, that person would not believe had he or she witnessed the miracle firsthand. But those who believe the Bible and trust its testimony are called “blessed” because they “did not see and yet believed.”
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