LECTURE XCV.

THE UNBELIEF

OF THE APOSTLE

THOMAS

LEADS TO A DECLARATION OF THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE BELIEVERS IN CHRIST.

JOHN XX. 24-31.

24. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.

28. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

30. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.

31. But these are written, that ye might believe that

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.

A proof of Christ's resurrection, of his resurrection in the same body which had died, was here given to Thomas, which banished every doubt. But it is a proof which others can never see. And he was allowed to require it, and it was granted him, to confirm the faith and increase the comfort of future Christians. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed.

It was needful that the Lord should be seen in the form of man by those who were to bear witness concerning him. It was needful that some should be able to say, like St. John, "The Word was made flesh, and we beheld his glory." We saw his miracles, and we heard his discourses.

So, again, after his resurrection he was seen not only by the apostles only, but " by above five hundred brethren at once." 1 "They saw, and because they saw, believed.

But he could not possibly be seen by those who were hereafter to become his disciples, and have life through his name. These must believe in him

through their word:" that is, on the report of those who had lived with him in the flesh, and witnessed his death and his ascension.

Looking forward to these, the Lord declares to his incredulous apostle, Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. Like those to

1 1 Cor. xv. 5.

whom St. Peter wrote, and of whom he speaks, after mentioning the name of Christ: "whom not having seen, ye love; and in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

Our Lord has left to these, and such as these, the comfort of knowing that they were in his mind, and graciously thought of, from the moment when the salvation wrought by him was about to be published to the world. He pronounces them BLESSED. Let us consider why.

They are at peace with God. "Being justified by faith they have peace with God through Jesus Christ." And without this there is no peace. The desire of it first led them to the Redeemer. The desire of it first brought them to apply to him, and completed in their own persons the covenant of their baptism. And this they possess and enjoy : it is not a blessing for which they are to wait till some future time: of which they are to have no present sense or knowledge; they are not to linger in hope that the favour of God, his acceptance of their persons, his forgiveness of their sins, will be made over to them at some distant day but it is already theirs; and their privilege is, in the language of the Liturgy, "being cleansed from their sins, to serve God with a quiet mind."

This is the foundation of their blessedness. They are blessed, also, because they are delivered from "the dominion of sin," delivered from this present evil world," and enabled through the Spirit working in them to subdue the lusts of the flesh." They

are blessed, also, because they have secured to themselves, as they pass through this weary wilderness, a shepherd full of kindness, full of care, and full of power. They have the confidence expressed by St. Paul, My God shall supply all your need." They have the assurance which was granted to him, My grace is sufficient for thee."

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In all this there is as much of blessedness, as the present life is capable of receiving.

Still it is our present life and it is life in a fallen world. The sinfulness which adheres to the heart, even after the power of sin is broken, still interrupts and disturbs its peace. And the many wants, the many afflictions which exist, and from which the children of God are not exempted, often make us confess and feel, that here is not our hope that the blessedness promised to the Christian is something which cannot be found below : that he must set his affections on things above, and look there, at God's right hand, for "the fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore.'

And this is the real cause, why the Lord here so solemnly pronounces those blessed who believe: because theirs is the kingdom prepared of God for the righteous; because theirs are the good things which "eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive." We grievously undervalue this our spirits, tied and bound by this present world, are unable to think of it as it deserves. But our Lord knew, well and fully knew, the nature, and the reality,

and the extent of that happiness. He had a complete acquaintance with the things laid up at God's right hand for them that love him: and therefore he says, Blessed are they that have believed, because they shall possess those joys. At the moment, they may not feel themselves blessed. But he to whom the future is present; he to whom what shall be is as if it were, he sees beyond their trials, their labours, and their sorrows, and anticipates the end. He knew, for example, that his apostles should suffer all that makes this life grievous; imprisonment, the scourge, reproach, hunger, cold and nakedness. Yet he said, "Blessed are ye; for great is your reward in heaven." He knew that his followers would often groan heavily in spirit, being burthened with the sense of their inward corruptions and rebellious desires. Yet he said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." He knew that many of those whom God would hereafter give him, would languish in poverty, would be oppressed by sickness and by pain. Yet he said, Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh." The case may be compared to what took place at the death of the first martyr, Stephen. Those who stood by, and saw him stretched along the ground, bleeding, and bruised, and maimed, and gasping for breath, might pity him, as if brought to the lowest state of human wretchedness. But what was his real feeling and condition? "Behold," he exclaims, "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at

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