Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Taken from the 20th Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John, Verse 29.
When we think of Jesus’ time on earth we think in very narrow terms. He spent thirty-three years on earth in His human body. Of those thirty-three years, three were spent in public ministry.
We look at Jesus among us, and we wonder, exactly how many people did Jesus touch? How many saw Him?
We know that He fed over five thousand, as we heard on Corpus Christi:
Now the men there numbered about five thousand.
Today He spoke to the twelve. We also know that He sent out the seventy as recounted in the Gospel according to St. Luke:
After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.
Let’s look at some statistics.
At the time of Jesus the population of Israel was about 550,000 people. Jerusalem had about 70,000 residents.
Jesus went from town to town. People came to him in droves. Remember the commotion when He visited Jericho:
He entered Jericho and was passing through.
And there was a man named Zacchae’us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich.
And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature.
So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.
Remember the difficulty found in reaching Jesus when he was in Caper’na-um.
And when he returned to Caper’na-um after some days, it was reported that he was at home.
And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them.
And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay.
Jesus was seen by many, including His being seen by over five hundred following His resurrection, as St. Paul recounts:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,
and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Jesus was a prominent public figure and He was seen by more than that small band we typically associate with Him. It wasn’t just the twelve and a few women. He touched large portions of Israel. Those who didn’t see Him certainly heard of Him. They heard the message.
The prophet Zechariah tells us:
…when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born.
The inhabitants of Jerusalem saw Him. He taught in the Temple precincts daily. He was put on public trial, and was publicly humiliated and executed. They looked on Him whom they pieced.
Jesus was no secret and Zechariah’s prophecy was not unknown.
Yet, the weeping was muted, and was limited to a small band. When Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost many, but not all, came forward to be baptized.
Jesus knew it. He told the twelve:
The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes
Brothers and sisters,
It is to us. We are to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him. We are to do so for His promise of salvation. We are to be about making Him known. Is there anything we would not sacrifice for our salvation based on Jesus’ promise?
Whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.
It is a joyful promise. It is a hope filled promise. It is a promise for us and for all of humanity.
That is why we must preach and teach Jesus. That is why we must talk about Him, about Him more than we would talk about the latest TV show, the great book we just read, the gossip from Hollywood, or our favorites for President. We must proclaim the good news. Jesus is alive. Follow Him!
We inherit that responsibility in our baptism into Jesus, our baptism into His body. The baptism Paul speaks of which makes us heirs of God. Heirs who will inherit heaven.
Christ’s coming will bring to fulfillment Zechariah’s prophecy:
On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
That day will be brought about by our believing without seeing, by our faithfulness to our call:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.