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Begin wherever your curiosity leads. The studies will be here when you’re ready. When I shared my first Matthew study on Facebook today, I mentioned that I planned to post daily, though I might not share every post on Facebook. As I continue setting up this blog, I’ve realized that what matters most to me is making my past studies available for anyone who wants to explore them. For now, I’ll be adding posts to my heart’s content as I work through those studies. Some days that may mean one post; other days it may mean several. I’ll continue reading through and preparing each one before sharing it. There is no need to keep up with everything as it appears. This blog is becoming a place you can browse at your own pace—begin with a book, a question, or a study that interests you, and follow from there. The Bible Books page gathers studies by book, while Study Threads helps connect topics that travel through more than one book. The labels on individual posts also bring related material to...
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9. Torn Curtain: Believing Without Seeing

God’s Image • Torn Curtain Study

A covering may conceal what is present. Yet seeing something does not always mean recognizing it. John’s resurrection account brings these details together through people who encounter, hear, recognize, and believe.

Mary Saw Before She Recognized

Mary Magdalene saw Jesus standing near the tomb but did not recognize him. She supposed he was the gardener. When Jesus addressed her by name, she responded by identifying him as Teacher.

Preserve the order: she saw, she misunderstood, he spoke, and she recognized. Visual presence alone had not given her understanding. Read John 20:14–18.

Thomas Heard Before He Saw

Thomas was absent when Jesus appeared to the other disciples. They told him what they had seen, but he required sight and contact with the wounds before he would believe.

John then specifies an interval of eight days before the next encounter. Thomas is now present. Jesus invites him to examine his hands and side; the account records Thomas’s response without stating that he touched them.

Jesus says:

“Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed.”

— John 20:29, LSB, excerpt

The timing, testimony, wounds, and response each belong to the account. So does the blessing upon those whose belief did not require personally seeing him.

Faith Has a Foundation

John immediately explains why these events were written: that readers might believe Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, and have life through believing. Written testimony reaches people who were not present to see those events. Read John 20:30–31.

Peter likewise describes people loving Christ without having seen him. Their faith is tested, and its outcome concerns salvation. Later, he connects their faith and hope in God with God raising Christ from the dead and giving him Glory. Read 1 Peter 1:6–9, 20–21.

Believing without seeing therefore does not require accepting every claim presented to us. These passages direct faith toward the one identified through the testimony.

Appearance and the Heart

Paul writes:

“for we walk by faith, not by sight”

— 2 Corinthians 5:7, LSB, excerpt

Within the same chapter, he distinguishes boasting in appearance from what concerns the heart. He also connects being in Christ with new creation and identifies God as the source of reconciliation through Christ. Read 2 Corinthians 5:12–20.

This returns us to our examination of coverings and claims. An impressive presentation cannot establish what is within. An unfamiliar appearance cannot, by itself, establish that God is absent.

What Are We Requiring Before We Believe?

Our previous post examined the veil over the heart. Here we encounter another question: Have I decided beforehand what recognition must look like?

  • Do I require God’s work to appear in a form I already expect?

  • Am I testing what is spoken, or judging its source by appearance and status?

  • Can I distinguish faith in God from unquestioning confidence in someone’s claim?

  • When understanding corrects my expectations, am I willing to respond?

Threads to Follow

  • Drawing near: Examine Hebrews 10:19–22 for the stated means of approach.

  • Hearing and following: Keep the shepherd’s voice in John 10:1–5 alongside recognition.

  • Receiving rather than claiming: Carry these questions back to the identity and place we may desire in Commandment 10.

The books were opened…

🌿Studies by Maria Emilia ~ 🗺️Continue exploring: Visit Bible Books to find studies organized by book of the Bible, along with related studies and links.

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