Early on the morning of December 7, 1941, as depicted in the movie TORA,TORA, and other historical documents, two airmen who had just taken their post at a radar lookout station several miles north of Pearl Harbor, saw on the radar screen a large mass moving in from the sea toward the Hawaiian Islands.
The first airman was immediately startled by what he saw on the screen and prepared to follow procedures and phone in a warning to his superiors. He believed a very large force of what could be enemy planes was now headed their way. He believed the evidence on the radar screen was unmistakeable. And something bad was about to happen.
While the second airman remained skeptical, thinking that what he saw was an optical illusion of some kind, the first airman phoned in the alarm.
The officer who took the call at Pearl Harbor dismissed the report and chose not to believe what he had just heard, and abruptly hung up the phone and went back to other business.
That same morning, a Captain patrolling the waters on his ship outside the harbor spotted what he believed to be an enemy submarine. He had been alerted for some time about the possibility of enemy vessels breaching harbor security, and he too followed established procedures and wired a warning that the enemy had been sighted where it didn’t belong.
Again, the message was disbelieved, this time by a base Commander, suggesting that the submarine sighting needed "more confirmation" before any defensive action would be taken.
At this point we can say, the rest is history!
Many lives were unnecessarily lost, all because several people either refused to believe what they saw, just couldn’t believe what they heard, or weren’t about to be moved into action until more evidence was forthcoming.
The 20th chapter of John describes the very same responses to resurrection evidence, truly the most shocking event in history.
I. There was one who believed without seeing.
II. There was one who believed upon hearing.
III. There were those who believed upon seeing.
IV. There was one who would not believe unless seeing.
I. In the opening lines of John’s remembrances we read that "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, two women found the tomb that Jesus had been buried in, empty, and ran to tell Peter and John what they had found."
Peter runs to the sight and is stunned by what he sees, an empty tomb with strips of linen and a burial cloth lying where Jesus had been placed.
Finally, the other disciple, John himself, "also went inside. He saw and believed." (John 20:8)
The empty tomb and linen cloths were enough for John to declare his belief in the risen Christ. No other evidence was required.
There are people who are able to take a stand without requiring more than what is presented. John then, is one of those who believes without having to see the risen Christ.
II. Second, there are those who believe upon hearing.
Mary of Magdela stands outside the tomb crying. As she weeps she notices angels in white seated where Jesus’s body had been. "They have taken my Lord away," she laments, and at this she turns around and saw Jesus standing there, "but she did not realize that it was Jesus," John notes.
When Jesus simply says "Mary," she turns toward him and cries out, "Rabboni!"
There are people who believe upon hearing.
Mary of Magdala had spent so much time with Jesus that she knew his voice. It was all the proof she needed.
ILLUS:
In the movie titled "Phone Booth," you never see the main antagonist in the movie (until the very end), but you do hear his voice throughout the suspense thriller.
I leaned over to my wife very early in the film and said... "That voice, it’s Keifer Southerland!" My wife was not ready to accept my declaration, but I was ultimately proved right. Southerland appears as the film reaches it’s climax.
You see, I have this gift. If I have known you for any amount of time, you can call me on the phone and I will likely know who you are after only a few words are spoken to me. Truth is, for most of us, the more practised we are at listening to a particular voice, the more quickly we will recognize that voice upon hearing just a very few words.
Truth be told, I still struggle to hear God’s voice clearly. I’m often either too busy, or too stubborn to focus. But, Mary knows immediately and responds to the voice of her Lord, and seeks to embrace the risen Christ.
III. Then there were those who believed upon seeing.
On the evening of the first day, John writes that when the disciples were together with the doors locked (John 20:19) Jesus appears. When he shows them his hands and side, "The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord." They are those who believed, but only when confirmed the truth with their own eyes.
ILLUS:
It’s still hard to watch the images of the 9/11 Twin Towers tragedy. Each time the images are flashed on television, people continue to say "I just don’t believe it!"
I’ve read that hundreds of people have traveled to the actual site in New York City to confirm the reality of the horrific event. People who need to see the crater where once two buildings stood before they internalize its reality.
Some believe without seeing.
Others believe upon hearing.
Still others believe only what their own eyes tell them
And then there’s Thomas.
IV. Thomas was not present when Jesus appeared that first night. And he’s not about to believe the resurrection unless he sees with his own eyes and touches with his own hands the wounds that were inflicted upon Jesus at the cross.
What I find assuring is that Jesus "doubles back" to give Thomas exactly what he needs. And when Thomas gets what he requires, he erupts with "My Lord and my God!" John 20:28)
There are those who will NOT believe unless seeing.
Interesting, is it not, that Mary Magdalene is not allowed to touch the risen Christ (John 20:17) but Thomas is afforded the opportunity.
In fact, it doesn’t make any difference to Jesus which one of these four reactions is yours. It’s pretty obvious that you can have Jesus on your terms!
He cares that much about those yet to believe, the He goes the extra mile to meet people at their need level.
The point here is not HOW you get there, but that you DO get there, and declare that Jesus is Lord!.
ILLUS:
Ted Koppel of ABC’s "Nightline" offered this sentiment to his viewing audience (quoted in Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no.8), "What is largely missing in American life today is a sense of context, of saying or doing anything that is intended or even expected to live beyond the moment. There is no culture in the world that is so obsessed as ours with immediacy. In our journalism, the trivial displaces the momentous becasue we tend to measure the importance of events by how recently they happened. We have become so obsessed with facts that we have lost all touch with truth."
Far too many get lost in debating the "facts" of the recurrection that they miss the impact of an amazing story.
John concludes this narrative with reminding his readers that "Jesus did many other miracuclous signs in the presence of his disciples... But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:30-31)
Following Thomas’ statement of belief, Jesus says, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29)
ILLUS:
Its been told that Mensa, an organization whose members have an IQ of 140 or higher, gathered for a Mensa convention in San Francisco. While several members lunched at a local cafe, it was discovered that their salkshaker contained pepper and their peppershaker was full of salt. A debate ensued as to how they could exchange the contents of each shaker without spilling, using only the implements at hand.
Following a lively problem-solving conversation, the group landed on what they believed a brillant solution that would utilize a saucer,a napkin and a straw.
Now they called the waitress over to impress her with ther solution to the mind bender.
"Ma’am," they said, "We couldn’t help but notice that the peppershaker contains salt and the saltshaker..."
"Oh," the waitress interrupted. "Sorry about that!" And she proceeded to unscrew the caps of both bottles and switched them.
The resurection isn’t magic, it’s miracle.
It’s a simple and straighforward truth. Jesus was dead and then brought back to life.
If it’s hard to get your mind around it, then ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you on your terms. He’s done it many times before. He wants us to believe and experience an abundant life in His name.
Blessed are those who believe without seeing, but surely blessed are those who believe no matter how they arrive at faith.
