Except…I Will Not Believe

Except…I Will Not Believe

Bobby K. Thompson

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 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.” (John 20:24-25). After his resurrection, Jesus appeared unto the disciples and showed them His hands and His side as evidence that He had been nailed to the cross and had risen from the dead. (John 20:19-20). On this occasion, Thomas was not present and did not behold what the others saw. Later, they related to him that they had seen the Lord. They told Thomas the truth, but he would not accept their testimony. He declared that he would not believe except he saw “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”. Thomas wanted more than their word. The other apostles said that Jesus lived and that they had seen Him. They had no reason to deceive Thomas and tell him something that was not true; yet, Thomas proceeded to set a condition upon which he would believe. If it were fulfilled, then he would believe; however, if he did not see Christ in the body that hung on the cross, he would not believe. He was stating conditions upon which he would believe. “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). This was not sufficient for Thomas! He had heard what the other apostles told him, but he would not accept their testimony. Thomas did something that can become quite tragic, and that is to set conditions to be fulfilled before believing the truth. We have God’s word that we are privileged to believe, but we have no right to set conditions before God that must be met before we believe. What right do we have to set conditions for God to meet before we believe His word? God knows what we need to believe and this is revealed in His word that we can believe it. When the word of God is preached today, there are those who reject it and state conditions to be met before they will believe it. They will not believe except…
They see a sign. Certain of the scribes and the Pharisees wanted a sign. “Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” They evidently were asking for a miraculous sign that would appeal to their personal vanity. The resurrection of Christ as compared to Jonah’s survival and deliverance from the whale’s belly would be the only sign given to them. This truth is conveyed in the preaching of the gospel that all have the privilege to obey. Though miraculous signs are not to be given to men today, we must not forget that we have signs and evidences that are available to us in God’s word. “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 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.” (John 20:30-31). All the signs that we need are revealed in God’s word. We have infallible evidence upon which to believe “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Paul wrote: “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness:” (1 Corinthians 1:22-23). All the signs needed are made available in the preaching of the gospel and this is God’s medium of making them known to all of us.
They have more than the Bible. Some say they believe the Bible, but they will not believe except they have some personal revelation from God. They are not ready to accept that God speaks through the scriptures, and that is the only way that He speaks to men in this age. When the rich man was told that there would be no relief from his torment, he asked Abraham to send Lazarus to testify to his five brethren lest they come to this place of torment. “Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” (Luke 16:29-31). They had God’s word and this passage teaches how sufficient it was. They could hear Moses and the prophets and have God’s directions to lead them to repentance. We have the words of Christ who speaks from heaven. (Hebrews 12:23). Yes, the Bible reveals all the evidence we need to believe and that is all the evidence we will receive from God. (Jude 3).