Day 20
It’s difficult in today’s landscape to not be witnesses of a major event. Even if we are thousands of miles away on a different continent, we can all be witnesses of said event – whether celebratory or disastrous – due to cell phones, police body cameras, and social media.
Obviously, that wasn’t the case during Jesus’ time.
Near the end of John’s Gospel, we read the doubts and later confessions of Thomas, one of the Twelve who missed the earlier appearance of the resurrected Christ in the upper room. While his doubts can be difficult to hear, especially considering everything he has witnessed and heard, Thomas is an individual no different from any of us. He is a person for whom faith will only be real when evidence of Jesus’ resurrection is provided to him.
Faith for Thomas seems elusive and impossible. Like us, he has heard the report but hasn’t seen the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection. While Thomas finally receives what he desires and so believes, John’s readers are challenged to believe without the same confirmation. But Jesus calls those of us who have accepted that challenge of faith “blessed” (v. 29).
As author Gary Burge says in his commentary on John, “Jesus is not an idea whose ongoing validity finds a home in our ideas or our ethics. Jesus is a person – he is God incarnate in human history – and in coming into history, he has left marks that we can see and measure and trust” (The NIV Application Commentary: John).
How did today’s devotion impact you?
Scroll to the bottom to enter a comment on today’s session.
Did you enjoy this?
The Abide Bible will change how you interact with God through His Word. See the options available, from Bibles to book-by-book journals you can use to develop a rich experience in Scripture.
4 replies on “Abide Bible – Day 20 in The Gospel of John”
You keep thanking me for coming along this journey in John, but I just wanted to thank you for leading me on this very instructive and insightful journey thru John and all the techniques that lead to much deeper meaning. I had become accustomed to reading the bible trying daily but this is a whole different level of experiencing the scripture. So, thank you Dr
This 21 days devotional has opened my eyes to see Jesus in a deeper, more personal way. I have been so blessed by it.
Thank you
I have been feeling pretty sad for the last few sessions knowing this study is coming to an end. It has been extremely meaningful for me and Dr Collins is such a great presenter for this – so genuine, pleasant and kind in his guidance. I hope there are more like this for other books.
I am ascending to my father and your father and my God and your God – as the father has sent me I also send you. Thomas: was it difficult to believe that it was Jesus? Was it disbelief that such a thing could happen ? An event that went beyond his natural comprehension or reason? Was it the need to have tangible evidence that related to his own life experiences ? So once again Jesus turns the world upside down as His understanding is not our understanding.