City Life Starter

Written by Heather Yu

The Word

And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house – for I have five brothers – so that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment. But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.

Luke 16:27-31 (ESV)

But I said to you that you have seen me, and yet do not believe.

-John 6:35

Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

-John 6:62-63

Exegesis

Have you ever had any of these thoughts?

“If only I was part of the Israelites when they crossed the Red Sea and got to see the Red Sea parting, then I would believe” (Exodus 15).

“If only I could have been part of the Israelites and got to see the walls of Jericho fall down, then I would believe” (Joshua 6).

“If only I could have been in the room when Jesus appeared ‘in the midst of them’ and got to see Him, then I would believe” (John 20).

This broken world is constantly programming into us its operating system: “seeing is believing.”

But this is not the operating system in Jesus’ Kingdom. In Jesus’ Kingdom, believing is seeing. The eyes of faith changes your eyesight. It’s like receiving a new pair of glasses through which to see the world.

Dear brothers and sisters, please do not forget that the same Israelites who got to see God part the Red Sea built a golden calf shortly after that miraculous event. Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden after seeing and walking daily with the Lord; they sinned in the midst of perfection before sin even existed.

The question is: if believing is seeing, what will it take for us to believe?

The answer is what Jesus said in the parable from Luke above: the Word. You have everything you need to believe in His Word.

The rich man in the story had the same thought we struggle with: “if only my brothers got to see someone raised from the dead, then they would believe. For real!”

But again, seeing is not believing in Jesus’ Kingdom. Jesus addressed this multiple times throughout His earthly ministry. John 6:35 tells us, “..you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.” Jesus was speaking face to face with people physically looking at Him, and who had just been miraculously fed by Him twenty-four hours before (John 6:1-14) and yet they still didn’t believe. Jesus continued to teach them that “..the flesh is of no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:62-63).

Application

Is there something you are holding back from Him? Are you waiting to see more evidence, or a visible sign, or for circumstances to be just so, etc, in order to believe “more strongly” and thus step out in faith? Are you praying for unbelievers in your family or your life to see a “bright-light-from-heaven” or similar miracle to believe?

It is when we hear God’s Word that we’re able to see the truth of the resurrection in the eyes of our heart. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s Word is able to give us a vision of the invisible Christ. Faith is the eyesight of your soul, and it is the Word that has the power to give you that sight. Not your physical eyes.

Will you dig into His Word today and allow Him to open the eyes of your heart?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, our heart’s desire is to see You. We believe, help our unbelief. You are the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Please draw us closer to you, immerse us in Your Word, and give us Your eyes and Your heart to see everyone and everything the way You do. Amen.