That said, we are given glimpses of our awesome, omnipotent and sovereign Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. In John 14:9-11 Jesus answers Philip’s request – “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” – by saying “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you for such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.   How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words that I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

So, Philip wasn’t focusing his spiritual eyes! This reminded me of Thomas one of the Twelve disciples, sometimes referred to as ‘Doubting Thomas’. In John 20: 24-31 we read that while other disciples told him “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side,  I will not believe it.” Then a week later the disciples were together again in a house when Jesus entered albeit the doors were locked. His first words were “peace be with you!” (and He says the same words to us today). His second words were directed to Thomas “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” I imagine Thomas was somewhat humbled because he said “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus declared these striking words “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” While Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples these words were recorded so that we may believe that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in his name. Here we see that Thomas came under the category of ‘Seeing is Believing’ but I know for many of us we come under the category of  ‘Believing is Seeing’ and in that we can rejoice because now we see and understand so much more as we focus our eyes on Jesus. Through Jesus we have a panoramic view and every time we read His Word our horizons are widened; our focus is sharpened and hence our vision becomes clearer.

It always amazes me that the vast majority of people do not believe in the Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, despite having some appreciation of the vastness of the universe which is still challenging scientists and astronomers and the complexity of the human body. Both of which were created by God and yet many remain blind to such emphatic evidence and think it just came about by some means or another. Sometimes the very obvious which is staring us right in our face eludes us.

As I was preparing this reflection the expression “There are none so blind as those who cannot see” kept hovering in my mind. In essence it translates that the most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know. Now this expression may sound like a Biblical expression and very pertinent to this reflection, but of course it is not and you will not find it in the Bible. It was in fact, a proverb that can be traced back to 1546 and was written by John Heywood an English writer who was known for his plays, poems and collection of proverbs. That said, it is thought that his thought process may well have stemmed from the following scriptures: –

Jeremiah 5:21 – “Hear this, you foolish people and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:”

Matthew 13:13 – This is why I speak to them in parables: “though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”

Isaiah 6:9 – He said, “Go and tell people: Be ever hearing, but not understanding be ever seeing, but not perceiving.”