5 Believing Is Seeing
Key References: John 20:24-31; The Desire of Ages, chap. 84, pp. 806-808; The Bible Story (1994), vol. 9,
pp. 165-169; Our Beliefs, nos. 10, 9, 7.
DO Do the activity
Sabbath
powertext on page 46.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’ ” er poin
ow
(John 20:29).
t
Remember Cleopas and his friend who met Jesus on the Our faith in Jesus
road to Emmaus? Remember how excited they were to is a witness to
hear Him explain all the Old Testament prophecies about those around us.
the Messiah?
A s Cleopas and his friend entered the room that night in Jerusalem,
they were so excited! They had much to share! Not only had they
seen and spoken with their risen Lord Jesus, but He had helped them
understand the entire Old Testament during one visit!
The other disciples were excited to share that “the Lord is risen
indeed, and has appeared to Simon [Peter]!” (Luke 24:34). As they
shared their experiences with amazement, suddenly they saw
another Person standing before them.
They recognized their Master’s voice as He said to them, “Peace
to you” (Luke 24:36). He showed them His hands and side, the clear
marks of His crucifixion. Then He asked for food.
The followers of Jesus watched Him eat; they listened to Him
speak. Gradually their faith was restored and great joy took the place
of doubting. With indescribable joy they welcomed their risen Savior.
As Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples, He brought back to
their memory all that He had made known to them before His death.
They finally understood that all things that were written in the books
by Moses, in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning the prom-
ised Messiah had to be fulfilled. What a wonderful Bible study that
must have been! Learning how the prophecies about the Messiah
found fulfillment in Jesus.
Yet one disciple was not in the room with the others when Jesus
first met with them in the upper chamber. Thomas heard the reports
of the others, and he received plenty of proof that Jesus had risen
and met with his fellow disciples. As he heard the disciples share
their experiences, he did not share their joy and excitement. He
complained that Jesus had appeared to others, but not to him; Jesus
had spoken to others, he murmured, but not to him. Thomas failed to
believe that Jesus had risen from the dead, and, as a result, he missed
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5
Sunday
READ Read John 20:24-31 and this week’s story, out on the blessing of recognizing Jesus
as the Redeemer and Savior whose mis-
“Believing Is Seeing.”
sion was to save everyone who would
LEARN Begin to learn the power text. accept His sacrifice and believe in Him.
THINK What Bible promises helped you overcome your As Thomas brooded over his feelings
fears or doubts? What experiences built your faith in of self-pity, he allowed doubt to control
Jesus and helped you to trust Him always? his mind. He repeatedly said, “Unless I
see in His hands the print of the nails,
PRAY Ask God to help you experience His love.
and put my finger into the print of the
nails, and put my hand into His side, I will
not believe” (John 20:25). His attitude
Read Psalm 32:8.
Monday
READ
stood in stark contrast with the faith and
THINK How have you experienced God instructing you joy exhibited by the rest of the disciples.
and guiding you in the way you should go? Then one evening, as Thomas met
LEARN Find and read Bible verses that could help build with the other disciples, Jesus came and
your faith in God. Share the Bible promises you found stood among them. He said, “Peace to
with someone who is struggling with doubts. you,” then turned to Thomas. “Reach your
finger here, and look at My hands; and
REVIEW Review the power text.
reach your hand here, and put it into My
PRAY Ask God to help you strengthen someone’s faith. side. Do not be unbelieving, but believ-
ing” (John 20:26, 27).
Read Psalm 78:52 and John 16:13.
Tuesday
READ
ASK Ask someone to share experiences of God’s
leading. With an adult, discuss the role of the Holy Spirit
in teaching and instructing us?
REVIEW Review the power text.
PRAY Ask God to help you see His leading in your life.
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Thomas, bowing, answered, “My Lord
and my God!” (verse 28).
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because
you have seen Me, you have believed.
Blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have believed” (verse 29).
Would you like to be one of those
who are blessed even though you have
not seen?
As with Thomas, Jesus wants you and
me to believe in Him. That means we
need to keep our focus on Him. We need
to rest our faith on His Word. His prom-
ises will strengthen our faith and remove
our doubts. Jesus will fill us with hope
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5
Wednesday
READ Read Matthew 7:7-11. and joy through the Holy Spirit! We are
not to complain and murmur; we are not
WRITE Write in your Bible study journal something to feel sorry for ourselves when things
good that God has done for you. What does this tell you seem to go wrong. We are to hang on to
about how much God wants to help you? faith and hope that Jesus is with us at all
SHARE Share with a friend one of the evidences that times.
God cares for you. As we grow in faith and we anchor
REVIEW Review the power text.
our hope in Jesus, we will want to tell
others the good news about the
PRAY Thank God for being involved in your life. resurrection of Jesus! In Him we find
Read Matthew 14:25-31.
Thursday
READ
THINK Think of stories from the Old Testament or New
Testament about people who had doubts. Did they
overcome their doubts? How?
REVIEW Review the power text.
PRAISE Sing a praise song about God’s love and grace.
Read Proverbs 3:5, 6 at family worship.
Friday
READ
DISCUSS Talk with your family about ways that God has
helped your family experience His guidance.
FIND Ask each family member to find something
around the house that reminds them of God’s love. Have
each share their item and their reasons for choosing it.
REPEAT Say the power text aloud from memory.
PRAY Thank God that He gives each one meaningful
evidences of His love that we may trust Him always.
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the promise of eternal life as it is written:
“This is eternal life, that they may know
You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom You have sent” (John 17:3). This
is the greatest message of hope ever
given. Therefore, we have the respon-
sibility and great privilege to share
this life-changing message with
everyone we meet.
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PUZZLE
1
5 THE CALL
TRUST JESUS
Imagine each strip on the right is placed on top of one
of the strips of letters on the left in such a way that
the letters would show through the light squares, or
“windows,” and spell a word. Words one to seven form a
Bible verse about trusting Jesus. The example “JEOSUS”
spells out “JESUS” when matched with the correct set of windows.
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