Resurrection: They All Saw Him

“. . . and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:5-6)

He’d been burned too badly to believe in Jesus any more. He was done. He’d put all his hope — willingly risked his own life — to follow Christ. And then Jesus just died up there on that cross. Thomas was scared and angry because a dead Messiah wasn’t what he’d signed up for.

clouds350Paul tells his readers in Corinth that the Gospel is not complete without Easter. The story could not end with the cross and still have any meaning. The resurrection is so important, he said, that if they wanted evidence — as Thomas demanded when the other disciples came and told him they’d seen Jesus alive — they could go and ask some of the other firsthand witnesses. Paul wanted them to know that believing in Easter was reasonable.

We don’t have even that option available, beyond reading the 2,000-year-old testimony of a few of those men. Thomas got his proof, but we must take it on faith that Jesus walked out of that tomb. It’s still a reasonable faith, but it’s also an act of trust, one for which God blesses us with the promise of an escape from our own tombs.

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

Think: Can you blame Thomas for wanting proof? Can you explain to someone why you believe in the resurrection without firsthand evidence of your own?

Pray: Thank God for giving you the faith to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Ask him to help your everyday choices to reflect your belief that Jesus is alive-again Son of God.

Do: Read Thomas’s exchange with Jesus in John 29:24-31.