Behind the Scenes Miracles (#334 of 365+)

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29)

Jesus sightings abounded after the resurrection but Thomas rejected all the
testimonies of his fellow disciples and other Christ-followers. Why did he doubt? He had lived with those men for almost three years. They were his best friends. Didn’t he trust them? Hadn’t he noticed the light dancing in their eyes as they shared the exciting news that Jesus was back? He’d seen Jesus perform hundreds of outrageous and impossible miracles. He’d watched him raise Lazarus, heal all sorts of diseases and disabilities, provide food for thousands, and walk on water. Was it really too much of a stretch to believe that Jesus was alive and walking around? So what exactly was Thomas’s big hang-up anyway?

Earlier in John’s account, before Jesus made another personal appearance for Thomas’s sake, the doubting disciple made a bold yet very stupid statement. He said, “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 it.”

Unless I see him and touch him, I won’t believe…

Then Jesus made his sudden re-appearance by entering the locked room where everyone had gathered. He made sure Thomas examined his nail-scarred hands and spear-pierced side. His primary concern was for Thomas to believe but, after that was taken care of, the Master Instructor set about to teach him a very important lesson. In the Amplified Bible, Jesus described people who believed in spite of never seeing him with their own eyes as, “blessed and happy and to be envied.”

The words “blessed” and “envied” working together in a positive way really surprised me. I had to think about that for a little bit. Everyone desperately wants to be blessed, to receive a miracle or a personal touch from God. We often measure blessings in terms of bank account balance, social status, business success, physical and mental health, number of children, etc. and interestingly enough we want to compare our blessedness with the blessedness of our neighbors. When we are found lacking in one area of blessings, we’ll focus on that perceived emptiness and develop a sort of blessing envy. When someone else brags about their three perfect kids (or cars) and I have only one (with problems): Then I have blessing envy. When someone else has awesome stories about his or her recent tour of the Holy Land and I can’t even scrape together the finances to take my son to Six Flags: Then I have blessing envy, again.

When Thomas found out that he was the only one to miss out on seeing the risen Christ he developed his own unique brand of blessing envy. He became jealous of all those eyewitness testimonies of the resurrection and refused to share in the exuberance. He threw a wet blanket of unbelief on the campfire. He rained on their “Welcome Back Jesus” parade. (Lord, will you show me if I’ve done something similar to a brother or a sister lately?) Jesus later told Thomas that he had robbed himself of an even better blessing than everyone else had received. He’d been given the opportunity to trust God and believe in his behind-the-scene miracle without having to first see it for himself. If Thomas had responded differently he could have blessed (instead of dismissed) so many by being an example of walking by faith not by sight. He would have honored the Lord and been the one “to be envied.”

“Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing” (John 20:29 MSG)

“Even angels long to look into these things” (1 Peter 1:12)

Lord, I’m so thankful for the material blessings you’ve poured on my family. We have a good quality of life and rarely want for anything! Teach me how to work and strive without becoming overly competitive or hurting people. Help me to be a blessing to others and have a healthy envy for good things. Show me the way you want me to go. May my heart’s desire be to draw closer to you every day. Amen.