Blind Faith

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.    —John 20:29b

Seeing is believing. Many of us won’t believe anything unless we see it. This might be why many of us believe, “It must be true; I read it on the internet.” In thinking about blind faith, believing without seeing, I thought of Missouri as the show-me state. Missouri designated the Missouri mule as the official state animal in 1995. I am quite certain of this because I read it on the internet. Mules are known as durable, hardworking animals, but with only one speed, their own. The show-me label for Missourians showing them as conservative, hard-working, and down-to-earth might be interpreted by some as stubborn and mule-headed.

I heard a joke describing how determined Missourians can be. A farmer from Missouri bought a mule for $100 from his neighbor, but it died before he picked it up. “Load it up,” he told the seller. “What are you going to do with a dead mule?” asks the first guy. “Raffle it off,” says the buyer. “You can’t raffle off a dead mule.” “Sure I can. I just won’t tell anyone it’s dead.” They meet a week later and the first farmer says, “What happened with the dead mule?” “Raffled him off and sold 500 tickets at $2 each.” “Didn’t anyone complain?” asks the first farmer. “Only the guy who won and I gave him his money back.”

The Gospel of John records seven miracle signs performed by Jesus so His Disciples and true followers might believe. The first miracle sign is turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana. “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11).

In the second miracle sign, Jesus returned to Cana, the site of His first miracle. A certain royal official, whose son lay sick in a nearby town, went to Jesus and begged Him to come and heal his dying son. Jesus, either to test his faith or to rebuke the sign-seeking crowd, replied, “Unless you people see signs and wonders … you will never believe” (vs. 48). Jesus then told the man, “Go; your son lives” (4:50). The man believed and headed home. His servants greeted him on the way with news that his son was made well at the exact moment Jesus said, “Your son lives.”

At the end of His ministry on earth, Jesus greeted Thomas for the first time after the resurrection. Thomas had vowed he would not believe unless he saw and touched Jesus for himself. Jesus told him, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29b). God does not expect everyone to believe with blind faith. The Lord is at work in each of our lives everyday if we will only open our eyes to see and believe.

John describes the purpose of his Gospel in the last two verses of chapter 20, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20:30-31).

The very final verse of the last chapter in the Gospel of John concludes this theme, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (21:25). Open your eyes and see God’s wondrous works around and in your lives. Don’t be stubborn like the mule. See and believe. How blessed you will be if you believe without seeing.