In the first days of my faith, I envied the original disciples. As I read the Gospels, I wished I could have walked with Jesus and listened to His teaching as they did. I would have liked to know what His voice sounded like or see how He smiled. I thought it would be easier to believe if I had seen the risen Christ. Yet Jesus pronounced a blessing on all those who have not seen, yet believe (v. 29).

His appearance to the disciples a week after Thomas set the conditions under which he would believe is proof of Christ’s patience with those who struggle with faith. It does not mean that we can make similar demands. The faith that Jesus demands is empirical in the sense that it is grounded in actual experience that was repeated. But it is not controllable. Indeed, Jesus’ promise indicates that the empirical order of the Christian faith is the opposite of what Thomas demanded. In the Christian life, faith comes first. Experience flows from faith, not the other way around.

Jesus’ promise of blessing to those who believe without seeing is a gentle rebuke to Thomas (vv. 27–28). Does this mean that what Jesus demands from the rest of us is blind faith? Not at all! In verse 31, John says these things were written so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Our experience of Christ flows from faith, and that faith is based on the reliable record of God’s written Word. We have an empirical faith, too. Those who believe find that their experience confirms what Scripture promises. However, faith is always primary, and faith depends upon what God has said.

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