I just can’t grasp it.

You tell me he’s alive,
that you’ve seen him,
but that’s not working
for me.

I saw him die,
I know he’s dead.
Your experience says different,
but I’m just not getting it.

I need to know,
I need to see,
to touch
and be touched.

I know that makes me weak,
my faith dependent on seeing
not believing,
but that’s what I need.

~~~

Oh how you know me Lord,
you know what I need
and you supply.

You allow me to see,
to touch,
to know.

How I wish I had the faith
to just believe,
but now
in reaching out
and touching
I know.

I believe.

You are alive

and you come to me in my need.

You invite me to reach out
to you.

I come now.

Thank you Lord,
for your presence,
your risen presence.

Thank you for not
writing me off,
but coming to me.

Thank you
that you are there,
whether I feel
I can reach you
or not,
ever present,
in my life,
in your world.

John 20:19-31 (CEV)

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

¹⁹ The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them ²⁰ and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.

²¹ After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” ²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don’t forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”

Jesus and Thomas

²⁴ Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t with the others when Jesus appeared to them. ²⁵ So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won’t believe unless I do this!”

²⁶ A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples ²⁷ and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”

²⁸ Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”

Why John Wrote His Book

³⁰ Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.