March 27, 2023

Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

Thomas had surely had a long, brooding stretch of days… You will recall that he had not been with the other disciples the first time the risen Jesus appeared to them through closed doors, where the disciples had hidden themselves for fear of the Jews (20:19). But eight days later He, Jesus!, came back to that room, and this time Thomas was there with the other disciples. Jesus invited him to touch His wounds, honoring the very words that Thomas had expressed earlier in the week: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger…I will not believe.” (v.25)

Later, Paul would write: After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:6)

The testimonies of those who saw Jesus after His resurrection are powerful, influential testimonies, are they not? But even some of these eyewitnesses struggled to believe their own eyes. Yet, it would seem that they have a great advantage over the billions and billions who had yet to be born who would never have such an eyewitness experience. You and I are among those billions and billions.

Many historians, even some secular ones, agree that the New Testament is a reliable account of historical events. It is not even remotely controversial that the Romans crucified people, including Jesus of Nazareth. This ‘reliable account of historical events’ includes the empty tomb, the resurrection of Jesus, and multiple sightings of Him afterwards. How do these supernatural events fare in a purely historical record?

“For those who automatically rule out the supernatural, then regardless of whatever the New Testament says, regardless of whether the resurrected Jesus appeared to them even now, they will not believe. On the other hand, for those who might not necessarily believe in the Resurrection but are open to the possibility, the claim is that the New Testament accounts provide powerfully rational and logical reasons for the Resurrection. So logical and rational that the resurrection of Jesus becomes the only logical explanation for what historians agree on: that, after the death of Jesus, many people claimed to have seen Him risen from the dead.” Clifford Goldstein

“…the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” Acts 3:15