Come and See - Easter

I’ve heard some people refer to Christianity as a matter of blind faith. I would like to suggest that true believers enter with their eyes wide open. They want to have faith in something that satisfies both their head and heart. They wrestle the assertions of Christ to the ground until  satisfied. Jesus never asked anyone to follow Him in blind faith. His offer has always been to come and see. He calls for you to decide, based on the evidence, whether or not He is who He claimed to be.

His words are not bedtime stories to comfort the weak-minded, but truth that has stood over time. From the first disciples to the present day, true believers are willing to face death rather than deny Jesus is Lord.

Easter fast approaches. Come and see angelic messengers, Jesus’ resurrected body, and personal testimonies of the first to examine the evidence.

Jesus invites seekers for a closer look:

John the Baptist sent his disciples to see Jesus, but Jesus didn’t expect them to follow Him until they’d thought it through. He welcomed their questions and scrutiny. They went to see where He was staying, “‘Come,’ he replied, ‘and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him” (John 1:39). They saw God in the flesh and never left.

Believers invite others:

Once you know Jesus, it’s only natural to bring others. “Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph…Come and see,’ ” (John 1:45-46).

When Jesus was crucified, His disciples were crushed. They thought they’d gotten it wrong; He wasn’t the Son of God after all. He was dead, buried, their hopes destroyed. They huddled in fear of being the next ones to die…until they found angels in His empty tomb.

Angelic proof:

^“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you” (Matt. 28:5-7).

Eye-witnesses:

After the resurrection, Jesus’ followers no longer hid in fear. They told everybody they met that Jesus is alive. John, the only disciple who stayed at the cross said, “The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled ” (John 19:34-36).

Later, John pointed out that they all based their faith not on what they believed, but on what they experienced: "That…which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1).

Jesus invites a doubter in:

When Thomas refused to believe He was truly alive, Jesus made a special appearance. “He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe’ ” (John 20:27).

Some Easter movies depict only the spirit or claim of a risen Lord; they do not show Him in the flesh. But Jesus, knowing they would need hard evidence to hold steady through persecution and doubt, walked and talked, ate with and instructed His followers for forty days before He ascended into heaven (Acts 1:1-3).

 If we could see Jesus like that and touch Him, our choice would be easy. He said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Where’s the proof? In changed lives – from despair to hope. In unexplainable courage in tragedy, torture, and death. In miracles and wonders all over the world. In the fulfillment of biblical prophecies that cannot be explained away.

If you don’t know Jesus, I invite you to come and see if He is the way, the truth, and the life. He promises that those who seek, will find Him. 

#evidenceofresurrection #seeingisbelieving #isJesuswhoheclaimedtobe #prooffordoubters