SEE. BELIEVE. UNDERSTAND
No long intro this time.
John Chapter 20 gave an account of the Resurrection Morning. Mary Magdalene had gone to the tomb of Jesus first thing in the morning while it was still dark. She found that the tomb door had been removed and the tomb empty. She ran back to Peter and the other disciple to inform them of her discovery. ‘They have taken the Lord and we don’t know where they have put Him!’ she cried.
At once, Peter and that other disciple ran to the tomb. Peter went in first, and he saw the strips of linen lying on the tomb floor, the burial cloth folded up by itself. This is evidence that the body of Jesus came out of those clothes without unfolding them. But Peter merely saw. John came in after him and saw too. The Scripture said in Joh 20:8 ‘He saw and believed’. That was enough evidence for John. At least, he believed what Peter merely saw. But the next verse recorded that neither of them understood. These are the three levels of realities in the Kingdom of God. Let me add quickly that Peter and John- sorry, the other disciple- returned. One saw, another saw and believed. But Mary wanted more. She wanted to understand. How did I know? Take note of how she modified the statement of the problem (compare Jn 20:2 and Jn 20:13). '... Because they have taken away MY Lord and I do not know where they have put Him'.
Jesus said ‘Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’. (John 3:3). Take being born again like the natural birth of a child. The child sees, but does not understand what he is seeing. Then there comes a time when you help the child define what he is seeing and whatever you tell him he accepts. That is faith. ‘my daddy says...’ ‘my aunty says...’. And gradually he grows to begin to understand more of what he sees and have believed. Let me warn here, be careful what your child sees now, he will later understand. And be careful who teaches your child, that is what he will believe and may never understand. Faith stronger than Understanding. It second only to Love in the Divine Nature.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. That is found in Hebrews 11:6. In verse 3 of same Chapter, you find ‘By faith we understand...’ To understand is the goal of having faith. But many believers stop at believing. Which is okay. Faith is all you need to be righteous. Understanding only makes you appreciate it. Solomon said though wisdom is supreme, we should get understanding at every point (Prov 4:7). Do you understand what you see? Do you understand what you believe? Jesus told us in the Parable of the Sower that our fruitfulness in the Kingdom is a function of our understanding. The ‘good soil is the man who hears the words and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown’ Matt 13:23 (NIV).
Hear this and see if you understand it. ‘We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true - even in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life’. 1 John 5:20 (NIV). You need to understand your reality as a child of the kingdom.
‘Do you really understand all these ?’ Jesus would often ask His disciples.
Indeed, do you?
- Adeolu Olumodeji
No long intro this time.
John Chapter 20 gave an account of the Resurrection Morning. Mary Magdalene had gone to the tomb of Jesus first thing in the morning while it was still dark. She found that the tomb door had been removed and the tomb empty. She ran back to Peter and the other disciple to inform them of her discovery. ‘They have taken the Lord and we don’t know where they have put Him!’ she cried.
At once, Peter and that other disciple ran to the tomb. Peter went in first, and he saw the strips of linen lying on the tomb floor, the burial cloth folded up by itself. This is evidence that the body of Jesus came out of those clothes without unfolding them. But Peter merely saw. John came in after him and saw too. The Scripture said in Joh 20:8 ‘He saw and believed’. That was enough evidence for John. At least, he believed what Peter merely saw. But the next verse recorded that neither of them understood. These are the three levels of realities in the Kingdom of God. Let me add quickly that Peter and John- sorry, the other disciple- returned. One saw, another saw and believed. But Mary wanted more. She wanted to understand. How did I know? Take note of how she modified the statement of the problem (compare Jn 20:2 and Jn 20:13). '... Because they have taken away MY Lord and I do not know where they have put Him'.
Jesus said ‘Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’. (John 3:3). Take being born again like the natural birth of a child. The child sees, but does not understand what he is seeing. Then there comes a time when you help the child define what he is seeing and whatever you tell him he accepts. That is faith. ‘my daddy says...’ ‘my aunty says...’. And gradually he grows to begin to understand more of what he sees and have believed. Let me warn here, be careful what your child sees now, he will later understand. And be careful who teaches your child, that is what he will believe and may never understand. Faith stronger than Understanding. It second only to Love in the Divine Nature.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. That is found in Hebrews 11:6. In verse 3 of same Chapter, you find ‘By faith we understand...’ To understand is the goal of having faith. But many believers stop at believing. Which is okay. Faith is all you need to be righteous. Understanding only makes you appreciate it. Solomon said though wisdom is supreme, we should get understanding at every point (Prov 4:7). Do you understand what you see? Do you understand what you believe? Jesus told us in the Parable of the Sower that our fruitfulness in the Kingdom is a function of our understanding. The ‘good soil is the man who hears the words and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown’ Matt 13:23 (NIV).
Hear this and see if you understand it. ‘We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true - even in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life’. 1 John 5:20 (NIV). You need to understand your reality as a child of the kingdom.
‘Do you really understand all these ?’ Jesus would often ask His disciples.
Indeed, do you?
- Adeolu Olumodeji
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