By Leandro Bizama
Recently in my Bible class, one of the students sincerely exclaimed that if he had been Thomas, he would have also not believed that Jesus had resurrected after He had appeared to the women who had seen him first and the other 10 disciples.
“How does God expect me to believe if I did not see or touch him?” he asked.
Good point, right?
I said that the answer is in Jesus’ response to Thomas: He did not shun him or excommunicated him from the community of disciples because Thomas refused to believe. No. But Jesus did have an important lesson for him. He understood that the story of redemption is so incredible that humanity would need some kind of evidence. And so, tenderly but clearly, Jesus gave Thomas evidence of the reality of His eternal life and resurrection (see John 20:25-29). Thomas was humbled and believed.
But Jesus went further and said that those who were not there and yet choose to believe the evidence given to them through the years were specially blessed. Did you catch that?
That blessing of Jesus is for you and me. God has given us ample evidence through the testimony of the Bible and His creation. He guides us every day and gives us all the things we need. He allows history to support the claims He had already given long ago. He brings about supernatural circumstances when and how He deems best.
But He never takes away the possibility not to believe. That is why it is important that our children and young people see the evidence for themselves and come to their own conclusion about who Jesus is and whether He can be trusted or not. We should not shy away from their questions and doubts or frown upon them thinking on their own. Instead, we should gently point them to the evidence of God’s existence, His creation, His love, and the incredible story of Redemption.
In the end, we too have a choice to make. Whether we are like Thomas or not, let us not take for granted whatever evidence God gives us that this incredible story of love we know as the Great Controversy is all true. And through that process of discovery, may all our children be able to say, “My Savior and My God!”
—Leandro Bizama is the associate pastor of Worship and Evangelism at the Campion Seventh-day Adventist Church. Photo by Rosie Steggles of Unsplash.
