I just met Superman!
Flying saucers were flying over my house last night.
I just ate a whole large pizza with anchovies in three minutes.
We saw Jesus …and He’s alive!
We’ve often heard declarations that seem outrageous, unbelievable, incredible, impossible. Our response is usually something like: “I don’t believe it. Really? Prove it to me.” We feel obliged to challenge such absurdities. We may even say they are hallucinating or imagining things and need professional help.
If someone told you that a man had just risen from the dead, what would your first reaction be? Rising from the dead is not an every day occurrence. It just doesn’t happen, right? That’s impossible! When you’re dead, you’re dead. That’s it. There’s no rewind and re-play on that reality. It’s beyond our comprehension. It’s impossible.
When the apostles told Thomas, “we saw Jesus,” he responded incredulously, and said he would not believe unless he put his finger into Christ’s wounds.
Shouldn’t Thomas have believed the exclamations of the apostles? After all, he had journeyed with them and Jesus for three years. He knew that Jesus was extraordinary. He even saw Jesus perform miracles. So why did he doubt?
- Why do we doubt?
- What do we need in order to believe?