Blessed are those who have believed without seeing
The lecture asserts that faith is trust in what is hoped for and certainty in things not seen. The speaker begins by recalling Thomas’s incident and Christ’s phrase: “Blessed are those who believed without seeing,” and explains that many matters of faith and divine graces are not seen by the eye, but must be accepted by revelation and reliance on God’s word.
Biblical and patriarchal examples
The speaker cites events from the Bible: Noah who built the ark believing God’s promise, Abraham who left not knowing where he went yet certain of God’s promises, Elijah who believed in the descent of fire and the rain, and Joseph in the role of dream interpretation and seeing what is not seen. All these examples show that fathers and prophets and church fathers believed what did not appear to them temporally.
Sacraments and rites
It is pointed out that the holy sacraments (baptism, chrismation, the Eucharist) all require faith in what is not seen of the work of the Spirit and the new birth and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The sacraments are called “mysteries” because they contain graces not seen through rites, and the person experiences their results by faith.
The Coptic Orthodox spiritual dimension
From the Coptic Orthodox faith perspective, faith does not depend only on the senses but on revelation and holding fast to God’s promises. Saints, martyrs, ascetics, and hermits endured sufferings and undertook sacrifices because they saw, in spiritual measures, the heavenly crowns and invisible grace prepared for them. The Church calls believers to persevere in this faith even in trials.
Practical and homiletic application
The exhortation is directed to every believer to train himself to believe what is not seen: trust in God’s promises (the Lord’s protection, opening and shutting of doors, being with Christ), and reliance on the Holy Scriptures, prayers, and psalms that reassure the heart. Whoever fails in faith can be strengthened by grace, but reliance on doubt may lead to painful outcomes as in the biblical examples.
Spiritual conclusion
Faith is defined as certainty and surrender to divine duties and hope in the blessings God has prepared. Accepting divine graces and true Christian living require holding fast to what the eye has not seen but God has promised, taking the lives of the prophets and saints as a model and assurance of true Christian living.
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