148. Blessed
John 20:29 Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Blessedness is promised throughout the Bible for various reasons. Here it is faith that blesses: those people are blessed who have believed without seeing. Many are the blessings of faith; it is faith that is defined in Jesus reply to Thomas; faith by definition is different from seeing; it is above and beyond physically seeing. Faith “sees” the invisible spiritual world where God lives, and therefore, faith sees all the wonderful spiritual blessings from God for Christ’s sake and enjoys them.
The unseen things are the things that are eternal. They are perceived by faith. The Bible was written to unveil the spiritual world and its life and blessing to our view. Faith, of course, is necessary to see the things that the Bible reveals, and the Bible itself gives the faith to see. These are the people that Jesus calls blessed. Faith sees and receives the truth without empirical evidence or scientific proof. Faith is the evidence; faith is the proof.
The Bible, the Word itself, says that the wounds of Jesus’ crucifixion were present as scars in Jesus hands and feet and side. By faith we see them; and by faith we see the meaning of the wounds; by faith we see the inexpressible love of God expressed. Believing without seeing does not cause the blessing; it simply receives them. When we concentrate on the things that cause faith we are blessed.