believe, they believe simply because God has said it: so that their
Man neither understands nor likes this way. He says, Had I seen Christ and his cross, I should certainly have believed. He glories in his proverb, "Seeing's believing," in opposition to God's, "Believing's seeing;" thus denying that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," and forgetting how the Lord spoke at Bethany,—not, "If thou shouldst see thou shouldst believe," but, "If thou shouldst believe, thou shouldst see." There is, no doubt, blessedness in seeing (John 20:20); and there is blessedness in believing; and there is blessedness in believing after seeing; but that of which the Lord here speaks is a blessedness different from these, and truer than all of them,—the blessedness of believing without seeing. Others may be blessed; for any kind of true connection with the Lord must make us blessed; but they are the most blessed who have not seen, and yet have believed. The actual sight of Christ contributed much less to the blessedness of those who saw him, than we generally suppose. Tens of thousands saw him, yet remained unbelieving and unblest; and in the case of multitudes of others, the sight of him only led to further unbelief, and hatred, and rejection. Even in the case of those who saw and believed, the seeing was not such a special advantage and blessing as we sometimes think. Thomas saw and believed; yet the Lord will not allow him or us to suppose that this is best. He tells us that, far better than this, is the blessedness which flows from simple faith, in the absence of all visible or sensible helps; simple faith, that counts God's testimony sufficient, and owns a risen Lord, though, in doing this, it is unassisted by eye, or ear, or hand.
But how and why are these believing ones so specially "blessed?"
1. They throw themselves upon the bare word of God.—All that they believe, they believe simply because God has said it: so that their faith rests on no divided evidence; and the foundation they build on is not partly strong and partly weak, partly iron and partly clay, partly rock and partly sand, but wholly rock, wholly iron, wholly strong. They take God's testimony as their sole authority for everything. This makes their faith sure; far surer than if it had