(Read John 20 First)
29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (v.29)
Faith is difficult. Honestly, the narrative of the Christ is hard to swallow at times. It is easy for us to envy the experience of the disciples, thinking it would be better for our faith to switch places. Yet, in our humanity, we are blinded to the truth that faith is, at best, a dive off an inmeasurable cliff to even the most pious of us. How quickly we forget the provisions and miracles of God when we are faced with turmoil. None of us have a presupposition to faith. As creator, Jesus understood this. He is the one who is author and perfector of our faith. We can offer very little in terms of coming to terms with the ridiculously massive nature of God who is, like Barth said, “wholly other”.
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (v.31)
We are granted not only faith in Jesus, but also life. While he never gives us a map for our calling, he does provide a compass. His Spirit calls us with a persistent whisper back to the person of Christ. It all depends on him. John reiterates here that the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is whole-heartedly about Jesus. Our faith and life rests solely on the divinity of Christ.
He grants us life by his name, and now we live through his name.
Pray: Jesus thank you for calling us to something different than we would settle for ourselves. Faith is extremely foreign to us. Help us today to put our unwavering trust in you. Strengthen us to move past our doubts and fears, and rest in the life you so graciously provide. You are the center of everything, may you be the center of our lives. We love you. Thank you for lavishing you love on us even when we don’t deserve it. Amen
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