LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabi
 
Saturday 11th April 2026

THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN

Scripture Reading: John 20

> _Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” *John 20:29*_
 
Thomas arrived at an accurate knowledge of who Christ was through physical validation of the resurrection. His proclamation of Christ was true. However, the Lord Jesus rebuked Thomas for waiting to physically prove the resurrection before believing. Thomas’ way of arriving at faith is not the preferred way.
 
The Lord Jesus knew the harm that Thomas's way of believing would do to later believers. Like Thomas, all of us who acknowledge Christ as our Lord and Saviour today, were not physically present when He was alive. We were not around to hear Isaiah’s prophecies about the Messiah; nor were we present to see and hear the angel Gabriel announce the virgin birth to Mary. We did not see any of the miracles of Jesus nor were we present at His death and resurrection. If we went by the logic of Thomas, none of us would be Christians.
 
The Lord called those who come to faith without physically seeing Him as blessed. We are the blessed ones that Jesus spoke about. We believe in the Lord because we believe the witness of those who saw Christ in life, death, and resurrection. We believe in their witness because of the credibility of their story. Most of them sealed their witness with their blood. At the point of death, they maintained the veracity of their witness.
 
They travelled far and wide preaching this unlikely message of a risen Saviour with such conviction that they changed the world. The Roman Empire which sanctioned the crucifixion of Jesus came to accept Him as Lord and God. Only a credible and compelling faith can change a world empire without the force of arms.
 
We are the blessed ones who did not see; but believe. It is now our turn to take the message of Christ to our generation. We must convince a sceptical and agnostic generation that Jesus is Lord and God. Like the early witnesses, we must be ready to take this message far and near with full conviction. We must proclaim, ‘Jesus is my Lord and my God’.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for calling me to be a witness for Christ. I commit to spreading the Gospel to the world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.