Archives For resurrection

Some Thoughts on Why We Can Take the Bible Seriously (Part 2)

samuel kee —  May 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

bible with headphones3. What is the purpose of the Bible?

It’s crucial that we ask and answer the third question, “What is the purpose of the Bible?”  By understanding the purpose of something, we are better able to use it and enjoy it.  If I don’t understand the purpose of an iPhone, then it’s more of a hindrance than a benefit.  It just takes up space in my pocket, costs me a lot of money every month, and consumes my time and resources when I charge its batteries, take care of it, etc.  But if I understand what an iPhone is, how it functions, how it works, how to use it, its benefits, and so forth, then I may find that the pros outweigh the cons.  It’s no longer a burden, but a blessing.

How does the Bible function?  Have you ever thought about that?  Up to now, maybe you felt that it only took up space on your shelf, was a burden to carry around, had little to do with your life, was archaic, took too long to read, wasn’t practical, was condemning, etc.  But remember, once you understand the purpose of something, it opens up to you and you’re able to enjoy it—and it could become more of a blessing than a burden.

Scripture functions in three ways.  Over and over again, it constantly does the same three things.  First, it shows us the human problem.  We learn why the world is the way it is.  We understand what our deepest need is, where we fall short, and what is at stake.  Second, we learn about God’s solution to the human problem.  We read about God’s mighty acts on behalf of humans; we read again and again about how God rescues his people.  The greater our need, the greater his loving and powerful acts are on our behalf.  Third, we learn about how humans are to respond, once they see the mighty, saving acts of God.

The Bible, therefore, is a book of hope.  The overall purpose of the Bible is to show us how sinful humans can be in a personal relationship with a holy God, through the means that he has provided.  The warp and woof of the Bible is the same: our problem, God’s solution, our response.  This pattern repeats over and over, climaxing at the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is God’s ultimate solution, given for our deepest problem of sin, to which we are called to respond in faith.

The purpose of the Bible is not to give us scientific explanations.  It’s not to comfort us.  It’s not to confirm our thoughts and feelings.  It’s not meant to be easy.  Though it may contain each of these things.  The purpose of the Bible is to reveal to us God’s mighty acts on our behalf in the person of Jesus Christ.

The entry point of this is the resurrection of Jesus.  If you’re struggling to believe the Bible or are not sure of its claims, this is where you and I need to begin.  Perhaps you don’t like the Bible’s position on certain ethical matters, such as abortion, sexuality, generosity, etc.  Please don’t get hung up on these, for they are not the main thing of the Bible, the purpose.  In a sense, they don’t matter—at least not at first.

The thing that most matters is the resurrection of Jesus.  The resurrection is the hinges on which the door of the Bible swings.  Without it, nothing else matters.  The first followers of Jesus knew this; that is why they first proclaimed his resurrection, starting with this pivotal event.  After all, if the resurrection didn’t happen, then the rest of the Bible’s claims don’t matter.  If the resurrection didn’t happen, then the whole thing is a hoax and you don’t have to place yourself under the authority of the Bible’s moral commands.  Why should you?  Suppose a mad man decided to call himself king one day?  He issues a bunch of commands for your city.  People must not use electricity on even-numbered days; they must give 40 percent of their income to the king; all children must be regularly spanked, and on it goes.  Nobody in their right mind would ever consider obeying these commands if the king is a false king, if he has no power, etc.  They only way they would obey is if he actually is who he said he is: the authority over their lives.

So why get all bent out of shape about the Bible’s standards if you don’t accept Jesus as King?  In other words, stop worrying about what the Bible says about lesser things, until you come to grips with what it says about the major thing: Jesus Christ.  Was Jesus really the Son of God?  Did he really rise from the dead?  If he did rise from the dead, then all of his claims are vindicated.  And if he is who he said he is, and his claims are backed up by the resurrection, then we can begin to wrestle with his teachings.

Here’s what I’m trying to say.  First, the Bible is a book of hope, pointing us to Jesus Christ.  Second, the event that supports our claim (that Jesus is the Son of God) is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  Third, come to grips with the resurrection before the Bible’s other claims.  The resurrection is the gateway to the Bible, the on ramp, where we merge into the rest of its teachings.

Don’t get caught up on matters that are not crucial to being a Christian, in other words.  This takes us back to the purpose of the Bible and the importance of understanding how to use it.  To be a Christian, does not mean you need to be a certain political party, have a certain sexual orientation, hold to certain moral standards, don’t have tattoos, don’t smoke, don’t swear, don’t believe in evolution, etc., etc.  These are not the core of our faith.  Please don’t let them keep you from Jesus.  To be a Christian means that we embrace the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, believing that Jesus died for our sins out of love, and rose for our justification.  That’s it.  To be a Christian is to receive free grace from God, allowing him to provide the solution to our greatest problem, and then responding to him in faith and submission.  Our problem, God’s solution, our response.

To see if you should take the Bible seriously, start with the resurrection of Jesus.  Read the Bible’s accounts of the life and death of Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Wrestle with the facts for yourself.  Don’t get caught up in the peripheral issues before you consider the central issue.

Take the resurrection seriously first, to see if you should take the rest of the Bible seriously afterward.

Once you read the Bible’s accounts of the resurrection, let me recommend three other books, which will also help you think through it.  First, I recommend Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright.  Second, I recommend chapter 8 of Reason to Believe by William Lane Craig.  Third, I recommend (very humbly!) my book, Hope Stands.

Thank you for reading and in future posts I will answer the last two questions in our series about the Bible (“Are you sure you’re interpreting it correctly?” and “Are you sure you know how to evaluate the reliability of ancient books?”).

© Samuel Kee, 2013

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H.O.P.E. (Hold On, Pain Ends)

samuel kee —  December 14, 2012 — 3 Comments

hold on pain endsOne of the Hope Stands readers, Hailey, just sent me this powerful acronym for H.O.P.E.: “Hold On, Pain Ends.”  We at Hope Stands couldn’t agree more.  That’s our passion and God’s promise to you.  We want you to know that the pain does not last forever; it is only something that you’re passing through.  You won’t remain in it; and it won’t remain.  I promise.

Look at the moon and remember this promise, “Hold On, Pain Ends.”  The presence of the moon proves that the sun still exists, though you can’t see it in your present darkness.  The moon shows us that the sun is still out there, on its way, and we just need to hold on a little longer.  This night will pass.

Or look to Jesus, who came back as living proof of hope.  He stood before aching people with the promise of H.O.P.E.  When his friend Mary was plunged into sorrow, Jesus stood before her and said, “Hold on, pain ends.”  When the disciples were paralyzed by fear, Jesus broke into the place where they locked themselves and announced, “Hold on, pain ends.”  When Thomas was plagued with doubt, Jesus entered into his hurt and spoke, “Hold on, pain ends.”  Jesus wants to enter into every crisis, with arms waving and voice raised, shouting, “Hold on, pain ends!”

Motioning to his resurrected body, he smiles.  This is what happens to pain: it all ends in life and victory.  Nothing or no one has the last laugh but Jesus.

Hold on, pain ends.

© Samuel Kee, 2012

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Can’t I do whatever I want with my body?

samuel kee —  September 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

God has something to say about this in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; in fact, he has a lot to say.  The Apostle Paul quotes one of the local slogans, “All things are lawful for me,” in order to interact with the culture of his day.  The people of Corinth felt that they could do whatever they wanted to do with their bodies; after all, according to the philosophy of the time, the body was evil.  So why take care of it or make a big deal out of what I do to it?  Paul is quick to add a clarifying thought to their slogan: “But not all things are helpful.”  It’s as if he says, “Sure, I’ll grant it, you can do whatever you want with your body.”  But he doesn’t stop there, “Not all things are good for you, though.”  Sure, you’re allowed to dip yourself in honey and then wrestle a grizzly bear, but doing this will not be good for you.  Paul’s is culturally savvy.  Just because you can do whatever you want with your body, does not mean that you should.

But he’s not done with their slogan.  He quotes it again, adding, “But I will not be enslaved by anything.”  Do you see what he’s saying?  Whenever you’re free to do something, look out!  The chains of slavery are lurking close by.  When you’re free to do whatever you want, you’ll go back to the rut.  Much like a tractor falls into the ruts of a dirt road on its way to the field, so do people fall into the well-worn paths of their sin.  We’re not really free, after all.  Given a choice, we’ll obey our sin nature, doing its wishes.  This is especially true when we have down time.  We’re going to be a slave of something, so we might as well decide whom we want to be enslaved to: our sin nature or God.  Paul makes it clear who our master should be, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13).  The Lord is to be our master.

Then in the middle of this passage about sexual immorality, Paul suddenly talks about the resurrection.  “And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power” (6:14).  If you’re like me, you’re thinking, “What in the world does Easter have to do with sexual sin?”  It has much do with it.  Some people engage in sexual sin because they don’t care about themselves.  They think they are worthless, just like an old bag, to be used and thrown away.  If you feel like you’ll just be thrown away some day, then you’ll do some pretty damaging things with your body.  But God wants us to know that we’re not just going to be thrown away.  We’re going to be raised from the dead.  Our bodies are not worthless to him; he goes dumpster diving in order to get us.  His power will raise us up and make us pure again.

Then he gives us a helpful prescription.  “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?  Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?” (1 Corinthians 6:15).  If you’re a Christian, then your body is God’s temple, where he dwells by the Person of his Spirit (6:19).  You are a temple of God and a body part of Christ.  Just as no one would join Christ to a prostitute, neither should we join ourselves to a prostitute.  In other words, whatever we do to our bodies, we do to Jesus.

If you think that’s shocking, wait until your hear his outrageous remedy.  Paul goes on to say, “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him” (6:17).  Notice the same verb is used for both the prostitute and Jesus.  Paul says, “Don’t join to a prostitute, but join to Jesus.”  He uses the word “join” for both encounters.  It’s a Greek word that portrays a deep commingling, like the way that dust coats a person’s bare feet after walking around all day, caked between the toes and glued to the skin.  This shows us not just the profound intimacy of our relationship with Jesus, but also a solution for sexual sin.  Instead of joining to things that are immoral, join to Someone that is righteous.  Put another way, we are not to lust after a prostitute, but we are to lust after Jesus Christ.  We’re to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Jesus is to be our deepest desire.

Finally, Paul challenges the notion that our bodies belong to us.  He says to us, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Again, think about the context of this verse.  Paul is talking about prostitution.  In case you don’t know, prostitution is when you pay for a sexual relationship.  Now read the verse again, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.”  It seems that God is speaking our language, into our situation.  God’s people love to go after other gods and other lovers; the Bible is loaded with stories of our spiritual prostitution (see Ezekiel 16 and Hosea).  We place ourselves on the street corner, waiting for someone to come by and take us home.  We cheat on God.  But in this instance, Paul has envisioned the day when God came by.  He stopped by your corner and made a bid on your life.  “You were bought with a price.”  And now he wants to take you home with him, so that you can join together as one spirit with him.  “But he who is joined to the Lord, becomes one spirit with him” (6:17).

God loves you and paid the price to bring you home.  The price he paid was the life of his Son on the cross.  There is no part of us that doesn’t belong to him.  Even your sin belongs to him.

© Samuel Kee, 2012

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God’s ways are surprising

samuel kee —  May 1, 2012 — Leave a comment
Image

He doesn’t always act how we would like him to.

In the Old Testament, God’s chosen people were from Israel.  The Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyriain 722 B.C.  But the Southern Kingdom persevered.  In 586 B.C., Israel’s hope to regain all twelve tribes and be free of their oppressors came to an end: Babylon swept in and destroyed Jerusalem.  Almost a century later, now under Persian rule, a few of the Jewish people were able to return to Jerusalem.  For a time, there was hope for Jewish revival of their nation.

Then the Greeks came and conquered them.  Though there were some great Jewish men and women who fought against the Greek rule and influence, it was not enough.  After the Greeks, in 63 B.C., the Romans took over.  Rome was the empire to reckon with at the time of Jesus and the early church.  There were about 3.5 million Jews alive at the time.

The typical Jew would keep the Sabbath, attend synagogue, keep the food laws and festivals, pray, circumcise their boys, and fast.  The Jews dreamed for the restoration of all twelve tribes of Israel and the overthrow of Rome, the suppressing superpower.  The Jews hoped that the gentiles (all those who were not Jewish), would either be converted, enslaved, or destroyed (see Isaiah 49:6 and 60:12).  They wanted pure worship and a renewed temple.  Most of all, they longed for God to send his messiah.  The messiah would be someone like Moses, who would deliver God’s people from their oppressors.  He would also be a military leader like King David, who would drive out Rome from the land.

In walked Jesus, who would eventually be executed by Rome, the nation that he was supposed to destroy.  You can see why some of the Jews didn’t believe.  In Acts 25-26, Paul is face-to-face with Roman officials, trying to reason with them about the Jewish messiah, the one who was supposed to destroy Rome.  Again, Paul describes his unity with his fellow Jews and their expectations (Acts 26:1-5).  So what was different about Paul?  It all boils down to the resurrection.  Because of the resurrection, Paul believes with all his heart that Jesus was the expected Jewish messiah.  Paul knew that Jesus did not just destroy Rome, a mere superpower.  Jesus destroyed the greatest power of all, death itself.

God’s ways are surprising and he doesn’t always act how we would like him to.  Listen to Paul and let go of your stereotypes of what God should be like, in order to embrace what he is like.  “And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day.  And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king!  Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?” (Acts 26:6-8).

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How To Help a Suffering Friend

samuel kee —  January 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

Resurrectionless words just make the gaps wider.

As WWII began, some of the students of Dietrich Bonhoeffer were called up to fight for the Germans.  Over half of these future pastors and students would be killed in battle, including Theodor Maass.  In a letter to Maass’ family, Bonhoeffer wrote:

“He was a good brother, a quiet, faithful pastor of the Confessing Church, a man who lived from word and sacrament, whom God has also thought worthy to suffer for the Gospel.  I am sure that he was prepared to go.  Where God tears great gaps we should not try to fill them with human words.  They should remain open.  Our only comfort is the God of the resurrection, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”

Great gaps were being torn into the fabric of families.  Great gaps were being torn in the human heart, as the brutal war ensued.

As one who depends on words, I find Bonhoeffer’s prescription for suffering both staggering and exact.  Bonhoeffer himself was a lover of words, as an academic, professor, pastor, and writer.  Yet not even he would dare presume his words on this hour of anguish.  His words would never due; never would he minimize the size of the gap by throwing mere human words at it.

When those we love are suffering, let them suffer, in other words.  Let the wound bleed itself to where it needs to bleed.  Mere human words are offensive at the point of great affliction.  Wounds should remain open in order that the pure ointment of God might be applied.

The prescription is the resurrection.  That is our only comfort and solution.  Words that fail to point to the God of the resurrection fail to point to any sufficient help at all.  Resurrectionless words just make the gaps wider and longer.

Because of the resurrection, death just makes us better.  In the shadow of the resurrection, death is forced to bow and worship.  Like a seed thrown down to death in the soil, so will the burial of God’s child lead to better life.  Death gives us life.

We learn two things from this.  First, don’t rush upon a wounded soul with your words.  Let the wound remain open.  Acknowledge the pain of the suffering one, hear their story and allow their wound to open a gap in your heart, as well.  Second, with a few cautious and confident words, tell them about the life that stands at the end of every trial.

I know what you may be thinking: I’m being way too reductionistic, for humans and suffering are incredibly complex.  Nonetheless, I also don’t want to reduce healing down to mere mortal solutions.  Humans are so complex, that nothing short of divine power will ultimately be effective.

© Samuel Kee, 2012

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The Issue

samuel kee —  August 27, 2011 — Leave a comment

To me, it’s a social justice issue; that’s why I’m so passionate about hope.  In America we’re realizing that we must care for those in need.  The church today is especially sensitive about caring for the physical and emotional needs of others.  We join or create campaigns to fight against hunger, famine, or sickness, for instance.  It is good that we are doing these things.

As I write this, many are attempting to end their lives.  Many feel that they are worthless, nobody cares, and nothing can go right.  So they make the choice; rather, the choice makes them.

All the while, we have an answer.

One person is standing up for us.  Even though death tried to take him away from us, he came back.  At the end of his battle with death, only Jesus was left standing.  And he remains standing for us.  Nothing can cause him to sit, quit, or die on us; he remains standing for us.

That’s why the resurrection of Jesus (that moment when he beat death on death’s own terms) is the strongest source of hope that we could ever have.  We can never say that nothing is going right in our lives, so long as Jesus has beaten death.  We can never say that nobody believes in us, so long as Jesus is standing up for us.  We can never say that life will not turn out well, so long as Jesus stands, showing us that it all ends in life and glory, rather than death and condemnation.

One million people will commit suicide this year.  That’s one million people that probably do not know that one man is standing up for them.  And for every suicide there are 15 more attempts; that’s about 15 million people who are searching for one good reason to go on.  September is Suicide Awareness month.

Here’s my video:

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Why Do We Have to Die?

samuel kee —  July 21, 2011 — Leave a comment

Our DNA is set to die.

“Daddy, if Jesus died for us, then why do we still have to die?”  My son, who was four at the time, was still trying to make sense of his grandpa’s recent passing.  He was looking to me for answers.  I was struck by the depth of his question, born from experience, no less.  At this point, dads, don’t rely on mom to answer the tough questions.  When we’re asked to step up to the plate, we must do so with courage.  If you don’t know the answer to your child’s tough questions, then do what ever it takes to figure it out.

I told him the story of Ulysses and the Cyclops in Homer’s Odyssey.  The Cyclops was a savage beast with one eye and as tall as a tree.  He managed to lure Ulysses and his men into his cave and then roll a stone in front of the entrance, so that they were trapped and could not escape.  But one night, the men managed to blind the Cyclops while he was sleeping.  Then, they were able to escape!

Before we can escape from the cave, the Cyclops must be defeated.  Applying this to my son’s question, the cave represents death and the Cyclops represents sin.  The assumption behind my son’s question is that humans are alive.  Though this is hard to explain to a four-year-old, we must realize that we are not alive.  Though our bodies are alive physically, our souls are dead spiritually.  Scripture affirms this: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.” (Ephesians 2:1-2).

This means that we are already dead; we start off in the cave.  The question is virtually unanswerable if we are alive; as my son said, then it makes no sense that we have to die if Christ already died for us.  But what if Scripture is right in saying that we are not alive, but dead?  Then it’s not a matter of figuring out why we still have to die, but how we can escape from the cave.

The real question is: “How can I escape from the cave of death?”  You see, we were born into the cave and have never lived outside of the cave.  Worse still, we’re being guarded by a monstrous Cyclops who keeps his eye on us at all times.  The only way for us to escape from the cave is if someone deals with the Cyclops.

The Cyclops, remember, is sin.  Someone has to deal with our sin, which is the power inside of the cave (“the sting of death is sin” according to 1 Corinthians 15:56 ), before we can escape from the death-cave.

Whether we like it or not, we are born inside of the cave; there’s nothing we can do about that.  Our DNA is set to die, following the course our souls have already blazed.

By understanding this, we can now see what Jesus’ death does for us.  His death on the cross destroys the Cyclops in the cave.  Though Ulysses and his men merely blind the Cyclops and manage to escape through trickery, Jesus finishes the job.  Jesus utterly destroys death, leaving it limp and powerless.  Having destroyed death, we are free to leave the cave.

This means that we do not have to stay in death any longer.  Did I say that we no longer have to die?  No, I did not.  I said that we no longer have to stay in death.  Remember, we were born inside of the cave; we all will die eventually (excluding the miraculous return of Christ).  But Jesus’ death on the cross means that we do not have to stay in death.  Since Jesus defeated sin, we are free to rise to life.  Or, as the Apostle Paul puts it, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ.” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Because God loves us so much, he defeated sin so that we could escape from death.  Because God loves us so much, he made dead people come alive.  Jesus died for us, not to spare us from death, but to save us from death.  Had Jesus not done that, then we would remain forever in death, a torturous existence apart from God.

Now that Jesus has defeated sin, grab hold of him and let him pull you out of death.  The part about the resurrection of Jesus that thrills me the most is the fact that I can hold onto Jesus and let him pull me to life.  Feel the force of the resurrection pulling you back to life, out of the cave, out of the grave.

Jesus died for us so that we could finally live.  Every fiber in your being should ache at the prospect of coming alive at last.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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Freedom

samuel kee —  June 15, 2011 — Leave a comment

There are no more debts to be paid.

Every criminal who was executed by crucifixion in Ancient Rome had a “notice of charges” posted on the cross above the head.  The notice of charges was handwritten by those overseeing the execution, giving a public report of why the criminal was being put to death.  It told you why the person was being executed and what debt he owed.  His execution was the method for paying the outstanding debt written above his head; the notice of charges was “paid in full” upon the last breath of the criminal.

Put like that, each person who has ever lived has a notice of charges, a handwritten statement of wrongs he or she has committed, hanging above his or her head.  Our notice of charges is our “Admit One” ticket to destruction.  It’s the debt we owe and eventually we’ll have to pay for it.

This means that now we’re as good as dead: the charges have been written out already, whether we realize it or not.  We each owe a debt to God, which must be paid in order to uphold goodness and justice.  My notice of charges includes all of the wrongs I have committed in the past and all the wrongs I will commit in the future.  It’s a long and painful record of wrongs, proof of my rebellion against God my King.  God is not dead; I am dead to God.

Now I can understand what is meant in Colossians 2:13-15:

13You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15In this way, he disarmedthe spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

I was dead, but then God made me alive.  Notice first that only God can make us alive.  No matter how hard we try to “feel alive” by the things we do or consume, we will fail.  Only God can make us alive.  He does it by forgiving our sins, which have kept a stranglehold on our existence, squeezing the life right out of us.

He forgave our sins by cancelling the record of the charges against us!  In other words, he took away our notice of charges and gave it to someone else to pay for it.  On whose cross did it go?  God took away our notice of charges “by nailing it to the cross” of his Son Jesus.  My notice of charges was given to Jesus and he died beneath it, for it.

Jesus paid the debt that I owed.  He died for my crimes so that I could go free.  My debt is forever cancelled.  Forever.  Forever.

I owe nothing more; my debt is paid in full by Jesus.  I know this to be true because of the resurrection.  The resurrection is the reward of a sufficient sacrifice.  When God looked at his Son Jesus on the cross, it’s as if God asked himself, “Has all the debt of all the sinners of all time, been paid in full?  If so, then death can no longer hold Jesus in the grave.”  Death can only keep its grip so long as there’s debt still to be paid.  But if every last cent of every sinner’s debt has been paid, then death no longer has any power to keep Jesus in the grave.

That being the case, since Jesus had exhausted the power of death by exacting every debt, God said to his Son, “Rise!”  There are no more debts to pay; they are paid in full.  The resurrection is proof of our freedom just as the cross is proof of our forgiveness.

There is nothing left for us to do, but give our lives to Jesus and accept the payment that he has made for us.  The only debt that we owe is love for God and to experience lifelong love from God.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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I Love You (Dot, Dot, Dot)

samuel kee —  April 20, 2011 — 1 Comment

This is like hearing our lover tell us, "I love you..."

It’s the week before Easter: we remember Jesus’ death on the cross this Friday and we celebrate his resurrection this Sunday.  Personally, I am very busy right now, as I work at a grocery store, serve as the youth director at my local church, and prepare to preach the Easter message on Sunday.  That’s why my posts are lacking lately.

Nonetheless, there’s something about the account of the resurrection in John’s gospel that I want to share: Jesus gives us the precise medicine that we need.  Jesus does not expect us all to be the same, so neither should we.

Here’s what I’ve found: the apostle John needs only to see the grave clothes and he believes (John 20:8); Mary needs to hear Jesus’ voice before she is able to believe (20:16); the disciples, excluding Thomas, need to see Jesus’ scars in order to believe (20:20); but the disciple Thomas actually had to touch his scars in order to believe (20:25).  Thus the progression goes from seeing clothes, to hearing a voice, to seeing scars, then to touching scars.

Each person needed different evidence before he or she believed.

One thing to note about this is the order: evidence leads to belief and not the reverse.  Faith needs empirical evidence; God does not ask us to believe blindly.  The first followers of Jesus did not “believe hard enough” and then “see” the resurrection.  They actually saw the evidence first and then they believed.  The resurrection is rational, not irrational.

The next thing to note is the personal nature of the miracle.  God wants to meet us where we’re at and not the reverse.  He does not ask us to believe against our beliefs or believe how someone else might believe.  Rather, he gives us the evidence that our hearts require.  If we need to hear his voice, then we get to hear his voice.  If we need to touch his scars, then we get to touch his scars.  God accommodates to us; he does not expect us to accommodate to him or to others.

Of course, since we’re not the disciples, we do not get the same sorts of proof that they got (since they lived during Jesus’ time on Earth, they were privileged with actually experiencing his physical presence).  It would be both irrational and anachronistic for God to reproduce their evidences for us so many years later.  Nonetheless, we can apply the principle of this concept to our lives: our God is a God who meets us where we’re at with the evidence for faith that we need, AND, God doesn’t require us to believe like someone else.

God is a God of extents and levels.  He goes to any extent and down to any level in order to show us his love.  If we press into him, we will find him; he will press back.  God does not leave us hanging, but hangs around even when we are leaving.  He does not require us to trust him blindly, but he asks us to respond to the evidence that he gives to us.  That’s the point.

Here is the evidence that is common to us all: Jesus died and rose again from the grave and offers us God’s forgiveness and love.  Some may believe that more easily than others.  Others may doubt, like Thomas, until you get a little more help.  Still, there comes a point in your faith journey when you have to inventory the evidence and make a decision.  We cannot linger on making a verdict when the evidence is presented to us.  This is like hearing our lover tell us, “I love you (dot, dot, dot)” and then not responding back to him or her.

…especially when that Lover is God.

© Samuel Kee, 2011

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