Why Still Talk About Jesus in a World of Images?

Introduction: believing without seeing, speaking anyway

"I'm like doubting Thomas: I believe what I see." You've probably heard that line before. People say it at dinner tables, at the office, among friends, often with a slightly condescending smile: faith, they imply, is for the naive, for people who don't ask for proof. We, on the other hand, are supposedly more advanced, more rational, better informed than every generation before us.

Except that line, in John 20, doesn't belong to a twenty-first century man. It belongs to a first century man. One of the twelve apostles. Someone close to Jesus who watched him live, perform miracles, and die on the cross. The struggle to believe without seeing isn't a modern invention: it's woven into human nature. We watch a video longer than we listen to a radio program. We're moved more by what we see than by what we hear. Thomas is like us. We are like Thomas.

So a question arises. If humanity runs on sight, why keep talking about Jesus, a Jesus no one today can see? Why not simply believe the gospel and live the gospel, quietly? John 20 answers that question. In a humanity that cannot see God, the Father offers his life not to those who see Jesus, but to those who believe in him. And for that, words remain essential.

The outline of John 20: three steps to believe, speak, and be blessed

1. Believe in Jesus without seeing him (John 20:1-10)

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene runs to the tomb while it is still dark. She sees the stone rolled away, and runs to find Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved, that is, John himself. The two disciples run together. John, likely younger, arrives first. He stoops down, sees the linen cloths lying there, but doesn't go in. Peter arrives next, goes in, and sees the linen cloths and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, folded up by itself. Then John also goes in.

And there, one simple statement: "he saw and believed" (John 20:8).

What strikes you is what he doesn't see: Jesus. He sees an empty tomb, some linen cloths, a folded cloth in the corner. Nothing spectacular. And yet he believes. The next verse explains why this is remarkable: the disciples still didn't understand the Scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. They should have believed based on what the Old Testament had already said. Isaiah 53 spoke of it 850 years in advance: "When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD will prosper in his hand" (Isaiah 53:10). Not the pleasure of a dead man, but of a man who had passed from death into life.

What you need to take away here matters greatly for you: in the Scriptures, written over about 1500 years by roughly forty authors across 66 books, there is everything needed to believe in Jesus without seeing him and to receive from him the life that God gives through forgiveness. If John, who was right there, believed based on the word before he even saw Jesus alive, that means the word is enough. You can believe today, two thousand years later, without ever having seen Jesus. That's not faith on the cheap: it's the faith God expects.

2. Speak of Jesus: he is our Comfort (John 20:11-18)

While Peter and John go back home, Mary Magdalene stays outside, near the tomb, weeping. She stoops down and sees two angels in white. They ask her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" Her answer is heartbreaking: "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they have laid him" (John 20:13).

Mary hadn't only watched her master die. Now she is even denied the body to grieve over. You may know this feeling, standing at the grave of someone you loved, quietly telling them how the kids are doing, how things stand. Mary doesn't even have that. She is in absolute distress, feeling that God isn't there, doesn't answer, doesn't show himself.

And here comes the first word of the risen Jesus to her. Just one word: "Mary" (John 20:16). He calls her by name. She turns and recognizes his voice, and says, "Rabboni! (that is to say, Teacher)." This is the first comfort God offers you. Whatever your tears, your weariness, your doubts, the Lord knows you by name. You belong to him. He hasn't forgotten what you're called.

And the comfort goes further. Jesus tells her, "Go to my brothers, and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'" (John 20:17). The eternal Son calls "brothers" those who place their trust in him. Because of his death on the cross, you can call God your Father, no longer the distant judge, but your Father and your God. There is no greater comfort on earth. And even that is little compared to the day we will see him face to face.

3. Speak of Jesus: he is our Peace (John 20:19-23)

On the evening of that same day, the disciples are locked in a room, doors shut, for fear of the Jewish leaders. Jesus comes and stands among them, saying, "Peace be to you" (John 20:19). He shows them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoice. And he repeats: "Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you" (John 20:21).

"Peace be to you." This isn't just a greeting, isn't just "shalom." It's peace itself. This world is in chaos because it has no peace: not between nations, not between coworkers, not in marriages, not in families. It's hard to hold on to peace, because we are not at peace with God. And if Jesus Christ died, it was to offer you God's forgiveness, so that you could be reconciled with God, so that you would receive not judgment, but peace.

Then he breathes on his disciples and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whoever's sins you forgive, they are forgiven them. Whoever's sins you retain, they have been retained" (John 20:22-23). The authority given to the apostles, and to the church after them, is to announce God's peace and his forgiveness across the whole world. Not our own: his. We are spokespeople, not the source.

4. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:24-31)

Thomas wasn't there. When the others tell him, "We have seen the Lord," he replies, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" (John 20:25). This isn't pure unbelief. It's a desire to believe, to build his faith on something solid.

Eight days later, Jesus comes back. He approaches Thomas with remarkable gentleness, without judgment: "Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don't be unbelieving, but believing" (John 20:27). Thomas simply answers, "My Lord and my God!" And Jesus then speaks a line that concerns you directly: "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed" (John 20:29).

That's you. That's us. This blessing is spoken over everyone who, two thousand years later, believes without having touched the wounds of Jesus. Faith isn't handed to you at a discount because you haven't seen. It is full and complete, it is blessed, it is happy.

And John closes his gospel by giving the key to everything he has written: "Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:30-31). The whole gospel of John is written so that you would believe, and that by believing you would have life.

Key takeaways

• The struggle to believe without seeing isn't modern, it's human. Thomas in the first century and you today share the same resistance. It isn't a flaw of our era, it's a reality of the heart.
• Faith is born not from sight, but from the word. John sees an empty tomb and believes, because Scripture had already spoken of the resurrection. Faith is born by hearing the word, not by seeing more things.
• Jesus calls you by name. Just as he said "Mary," he knows your name and your story. That is your first comfort when everything feels empty.
• The peace Jesus gives is peace with God. It comes from the cross, it comes through forgiveness, and it produces peace around you.
• Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Your faith, without having seen Jesus, isn't lesser. It is blessed by Jesus himself.

Personal application

These questions are here to help you let this passage from John 20 work in your life this week.

• What's your own version of "I only believe what I see"? What sign are you waiting for from God before you fully trust him?
• Where are you at with your reading of Scripture? Are you giving it enough room for faith to grow in you through what you hear?
• What tear, disappointment, or absence makes you say, like Mary, "they have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they have laid him"? Are you ready to hear Jesus call you by name in the middle of that distress?
• With whom do you not yet truly have peace? How could the peace you've received from Jesus begin to change that relationship?
• Who could you simply talk to about Jesus this week, without trying to impress, without needing a spectacular sign, just sharing what you've received?

Verses cited

• John 20:1-31 · The empty tomb, Mary Magdalene, the appearance to the disciples and to Thomas
• John 20:8 · "He saw and believed"
• John 20:16 · "Mary!", Jesus calls her by name
• John 20:17 · "My Father and your Father, my God and your God"
• John 20:19-23 · "Peace be to you"
• John 20:29 · "Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed"
• John 20:30-31 · The purpose of John's gospel
• Isaiah 53:10 · The resurrection foretold 850 years in advance

FAQ

Why did Jesus choose not to appear to his disciples immediately after his resurrection?

The text of John 20 shows Jesus deliberately arranging a presence-and-absence: he doesn't show himself right away, he lets Peter and John discover an empty tomb and folded linen cloths, then he appears to Mary, then to the disciples, then to Thomas. This is intentional. Jesus wants to lead the first witnesses to build their faith not only on sight, but on the word. It's a pattern for everyone who, like you, will not see him physically before his return.

Is my faith worth less because I haven't seen Jesus with my own eyes?

No. Jesus himself tells Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed" (John 20:29). That blessing is spoken over you. Faith resting on the testimony of Scripture is full faith, blessed faith, receiving God's life just as much as the first disciples did.

How can I talk about Jesus with someone who says "I only believe what I see"?

Remember that Thomas said the exact same thing. The struggle to believe without seeing isn't a modern flaw, it's a human one. God's answer to that resistance isn't to give more to see, but to let his voice be heard through the word. Simply talk about what you've received: a comfort that calls you by name, a peace that comes from the cross, a forgiveness that's offered. Let the word do its work.