It’s Ok if You Weren’t There

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:27-29

“You had to be there.” We say that when words can’t do justice to the experience. When it can’t quite be captured unless you lived it yourself.

I’ve had friends describe to me what it’s like to go skydiving. The rush, the feeling of flying, the view. They can pile up all the right adjectives, but in the end they’ll have to add, “There’s nothing like being there yourself.”

So what about the resurrection of Jesus? Did you need to be there?

Jesus lived, died, and rose again at a specific moment in history. Only a limited number of people saw him alive in person. That was God’s plan. Those eyewitnesses didn’t keep it to themselves. Hundreds testified for years and decades after that. The message spread. And in his wisdom, God preserved it all in the reliable and unbroken Scriptures. The proof is there.

Still, we understand Thomas. He wasn’t present the first time Jesus appeared, and doubt crept in. When Jesus returned, he gave Thomas the visible proof he asked for. But then Jesus spoke to every believer who would come after: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

That’s us. We weren’t in the upper room. We didn’t see the risen Lord with your own eyes. But we have something just as certain, the witness of Scripture and the gift of faith through the Holy Spirit.

Take comfort in God’s promises! You didn’t miss out. You weren’t with Jesus during the days after his resurrection but through faith you will be with him in glory. The resurrection is for you, too.