April 23 2006

Jn 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midstand said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,“Receive the Holy Spirit.Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,was not with them when Jesus came.So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them,“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side,and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name. "Thomas does not believe until he touches and sees. There is a substantial portion of faith that is just that, belief without seeing or touching. It is beyond the evidence and the present alive in what is promised in Scriptures. Belief and faith are gifts from God that with free will can be held and nurtured or let go off and denied. There are a multitude of signs of the love of God and the promise of the risen Christ that are present in daily life when seen through the eyes of love. So much of seeing depends on the heart and mind being open to allow the eye to receive the image and process it and hold it in a cherished way. Faith brings light, hope and love into the soul of the believer. A demand of proof is not needed if patience is observed the bounty of signs of the love of God are opened with faith.