Seeing Really Is Believing

(John 20:8)

Pastor Dirk Willner, Living Grace Church

The resurrection of Christ has been debated for centuries: did it really happen? According to the eye-witness accounts given by the disciples who knew Jesus: yes, it really did happen. A few recent movies had this question in mind. I’m thinking of ‘The Case for Christ’ based on the true-life story of Lee Strobel and the movie ‘Risen’ with the actor Joseph Fiennes who portrays a Roman Centurion investigating those same claims.

In John’s Gospel (chapter 20) we read something interesting about the perception of those early believers of the resurrection. In the original Greek text, it uses three different words for the one and same English word: ‘seeing.’ Firstly, it can be seen for what it is (the facts); secondly, it is what we understand by it (our opinion); and thirdly, what it means to us. We even have the saying, ‘Oh, I see now what you’re getting at!’ So, did it happen? The relevant conversation to have is what that event means to us. Is there the promise of life beyond the grave? Millions of Christians say ‘I believe that, yes, there is, thanks to Christ!’