Every Friday I join a community of bloggers for Five Minute Friday. One word prompt, five minutes. Unedited. The prompt this week is …Â Witness.
Witness … “to see, hear, or know by personal presence and perception” (dictionary.com).
In order for one to be a witness, one must be present.
The word brings to mind the day, after the resurrection, when all the disciples were gathered in a room with the door closed and suddenly Jesus appeared to them. Jesus spoke to them as He showed them His hands and His side. They were eyewitnesses to this encounter.
All but Thomas.
When the disciples told him what had happened, he doubted, saying, “Unless I see for myself, touch the scars in His hands and touch His sides, I will not believe.”
Days later, when they were again gathered in a closed room, Thomas included, Jesus appeared to them all. In His grace and mercy, He spoke directly to Thomas, and Thomas believed.
But it is the next words of Jesus which always moves amazes and humbles me:
“Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” (John 20:29, NASB)
Those words include each one of us who did not witness that day and believe –
We are blessed because we did not see and yet believe.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Today I may be joining …
Come and see, come and behold
the miracle that came this day,
and if you can’t, trust what you’re told,
and join us on.the happy way…
wait, what, you can’t hold to our words?
You have to see it for yourself?
Bubba, know you’re heading towards
a home upon the Sale Price shelf!
But the Man (or God, whatever)
stays our hard judgemental hand,
knowing that ol’ Tom will never
quite begin to understand,
and so, with sandal to the a**
gives the Doubter a free pass.
I’m so very grateful for the grace and compassion extended to Thomas as it is the same grace and compassion He offers to me.
This brings such encouragement, Joanne, that even though we were not eyewitnesses, “We are blessed because we did not see and yet believe.”
Lisa, every time I read this portion I find myself encouraged.
oh, I like your reminder to me of that. Belief matters, especially I guess if you don’t see in person eh? FMF10
Great reminder! We are truly blessed! Visiting from FMF#7
We are so blessed – even if we didn’t see Jesus in person like Thomas did, we have seen his work in our lives and we have something wonderful to share!
Thank you. We are blessed indeed. We do not see as they did, but we witness His presence no less.
Christmas blessings to you. Love from Dawn #11
That passage is such a great encouragement, especially when we feel like our faith is so weak at times.
Loved your thoughts again today Ms. Joanne. “To be a witness, you must be present.” When I read this, I thought of a court of law. To be a credible witness, one must have been present to see and accurately report on that which was seen. In the same way, to be a witness to God’s glory, to His transformative power to change lives, we must have been present. I thought of the coming Judgment Seat of Christ (the Bema Seat) for those who are truly saved and will stand before their Savior. We will be a great witness to all His glory, power, and majesty because we spent time in His presence. We were present during His sanctification of us. We were willing participants. I also thought of those who will stand before Him at The Great White Throne Judgment. The Holy Spirit will serve as witness against them, saying, “Yes, I came to them. Yes, I convicted them of their sin. Yes, I offered them that small amount of faith to receive Us. No, they refused time and again.” Oh, how my heart breaks for those who refused to be present at God’s calling. God’s blessings my friend. Thank you for awakening my soul on this morn.
J.D., you have brought very powerful thoughts to this word, “witness.” May we keep praying for people to have their hearts softened as the Holy Spirit comes to them, time and time again. It is you who have awakened my soul this morning!