“To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.” – Hebrews 11:1
There is no else in all of history like Jesus who would introduce something the world has never known. In His few short years of public ministry, Jesus lived alongside the believers, always looking for those that were growing in faith, to follow Him as His students. They had the rare privilege of physically sitting at His feet and having real face-to-face conversations with Him. However, in the divine unfolding plan the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ would set the stage for a monumental shift in relationship from the early first-century believers living alongside Jesus, to following Him by faith alone.
How can we know the way?
During those early interactions with Jesus in plain view of His followers, this fledgling class of students still had their insecurities and doubts! This is all recorded in Biblical history. Let’s revisit that intimate dinner meeting we talked about earlier. The inner circle, the twelve Apostles were huddled in that upper room. Jesus was laying out what was going to happen next. Remember, they were a little uncertain of the future. After all, they thought, how could they go on without their teacher leading the way? From the previous page, you now know that Peter really struggled. Thomas and others were no less uncertain and they wanted details. Here’s another brief glimpse into that conversation:
Thomas: “Lord…how can we know the way?”
Jesus responded with the most profound declaration ever stated:
“I am the way and the truth and the life.” (taken from John 14:5-6)
Did you catch the significance of the response from Jesus to Thomas’ question? Let’s take note first of what he didn’t say.
He didn’t say “Well, Thomas, you should know the way! You’ve been my disciple for a long time now. It’s time for you to get busy and handle everything on your own.”
No, Jesus didn’t directly respond to Thomas by giving him directions or specific things to do. The Master Teacher responded in a totally unexpected way. Aware of what would soon take place, He was preparing His beloved students – with all their uncertainties – for His physical absence. They needed to be prepared to endure the test of time and scrutiny, especially under impending ridicule and persecution. Thomas and the others needed to grow and mature into a personal, powerful, enduring faith to know that the “way” was Jesus Himself, living in them. Simply the way of Jesus, in His presence or in His absence. Yes, Jesus knew this was a world-changing moment. The only way would be to have The Way, The Truth and The Life living inside their souls, empowered by His Spirit and built upon a maturing faith.
It was about Jesus, and who He was. Jesus steered Thomas away from himself and his uncertainties, and pointed Thomas and the entire inner circle back to Jesus Himself, the source of their faith!
Christ within
At that moment with Jesus, His inner circle had no idea that what was unfolding would reverberate until the end of time. It would be a new kind of relationship like the world had never known. In that discourse, Jesus alluded to His Spirit (aka Holy Spirit) that would be with them after He left. This was the beginning of the single most transformative shift in all of history related to humanity’s relationship with God-in-flesh, Jesus Christ — from sight, to faith. Christ within humanity. This would be the gift of new vision – to see what would be hidden in plain sight to natural eyes – to see with eyes of faith, the gift of spiritual sight. Prophets of old, and even the angels of heaven did not even know this full mystery.
“‘Things which angels desire to look into’ – more literally, ‘things into which the angels have a burning desire to look carefully.’ The angels are watching God’s unfolding plan for His saints with passionate curiosity. And as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:9, ‘we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.’ The words translated ‘made a spectacle’ speaks of our unfolding redemption being displayed before angels as though it were a great theatrical presentation.” – teachingtheword.org
This changes everything
There’s a very important passage of scripture that you need to grasp right here. A few years after the ascension of Jesus (when He ascended to heaven 40 days after his bodily resurrection), the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the believers in Rome. He explained this miraculous transition from the physical presence of Jesus with His followers to His spiritual presence within them that would supernaturally empower them to live the resurrection life, the Hello Life! Here’s what Paul wrote:
“But you are not doing what your sinful old selves want you to do. You are doing what the Holy Spirit tells you to do, if you have God’s Spirit living in you. No one belongs to Christ if he does not have Christ’s Spirit in him. If Christ is in you, your spirit lives because you are right with God, and yet your body is dead because of sin. The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. If the same Holy Spirit lives in you, He will give life to your bodies in the same way.“ – Romans 8:9-11 (The Voice translation)
No longer would the early believers be able to rely on the physical presence of Jesus. But the promised Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the risen Christ, would change everything. The presence and power of the resurrected Christ would be within every believer, empowering those that chose to follow. Jesus would be the way and truth and life, going forward.
Key takeaways:
- The crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus brought His students into a new, transformative kind of relationship with Him that would change the world.
- This transition to following by supernatural faith over temporal sight is monumental to Christianity because it empowers all believers by the Holy Spirit to follow Christ in discipleship, to be released from the grave of self will, into freedom and the newness of resurrection life.
For reflection or discussion:
- A key passage from scripture is Hebrews 11:1. It’s quoted at the top of this article. Reflect on the two assurances in that verse that faith empowers you to have. In what ways have you seen those assurances working in your own life, and to what degree?
- When Jesus was walking among his followers, in what ways would it have been easier for them to believe and trust Jesus by physical presence, than if He were absent? It’s been said that what’s easiest is not always what’s best. Think about why this may apply in a relationship with Jesus.
- Related to question 2, did Jesus reveal how His absence would be a good thing for these insecure followers? In your own words, how did he encourage them?
- Take some time to get in your Bible and read the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John (right after the book of Luke in the New Testament). This chapter includes the interaction between Jesus and Thomas. By reading the entire chapter, you’ll have a better understanding of the context, including what was happening before and after the interaction. This reading may prompt you to further study. Is there anyone else that converses with Jesus in this chapter? Would you agree that there was some uncertainty and even doubt expressed by some of Jesus’ followers? What else do you find noteworthy about the interactions in the chapter?
- The shift to living by faith in a relationship with Jesus was considered the most transformative change for followers of Jesus in the first century. Living by faith today is still the transforming power of the relationship. From everything you’ve read in scripture and this article, why is this shift so profound?
Header photo by Ahmed Hasan
Proudly powered by WordPress