You believe because of what I said? – You will see greater things.“Now Phillip … findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph …and saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.” John 1:44-51 (Condensed) Jesus was impressed with the simple and ready faith of Nathanael. There are those who are ready to believe, and there are those, like Thomas, who need to see the “holes in His hands” before they can believe. We should feel sorrow for those who need such confirmation, for their skepticism is misdirected. Almost without exception, upon interview we will find that those who have no faith in what they cannot see (where spiritual things are concerned) seem to place all faith in what others claim to see (where the natural and temporal is concerned). It is as if they trust other’s vision more than their own in science and psychology, but trust only their own sight, feel, reason and understanding in religion and theology. It seems that we place our trust first in the world’s philosophy and science. That misplaced priority is exposed when we say things like, “We’ve done all we can do. All we can do now is pray.” Faith in God’s provision and love could only do us good, but it is with doubt and with demand of proof that we reluctantly carry out His plan, place faith in His way, or trust Him with our lives. Jesus was amazed that Nathanael was so willing to do this. The response He was expecting was more like Thomas’ reaction to the news of His resurrection.“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) It makes me sad to read this story. Think of the sorrow and hurt the Lord must have felt when He held out His hands and said, “Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side.” The point to note here is that Jesus did accommodate Thomas – even in his unbelief. Though we may not arbitrarily apply this promise of meeting a person halfway to every searcher lacking in faith, it is cause for great hope, and shows the heart of Christ was with this disciple. He then said, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”(This story can be found in John 20.) That blessing Jesus mentioned is directed toward us – we who believe, having not seen. We hold the entire Gospel story by faith. There are great measures afoot to “prove” the Gospel is true and there are equal strides to “prove” that it is adulterated, exaggerated, or false. These measures simply do not apply to us of unfeigned faith. What scientists, preachers, or mystics say does not move us. No matter what life itself tells us, we are men and women of faith in Christ. We do not believe because “the facts” line up...

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