By: Obed Pineda
“Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
The subject of faith has been scrutinized and misunderstood throughout several generations. As the world continues to make advancements in science and technology, the reaction that Thomas had when his co-disciples notified him of Jesus’ resurrection, becomes more prevalent in our society (John 20:25). Expressions such as “I have to see it to believe it,” or “There has to be a natural, logical explanation in order for me to accept it as true” illumines just how little humanity understands faith. Due to the shortage of knowledge about true faith, an unfortunate war between science and religion has raged for several centuries, coined by some as the battle between reason and fantasy. The irony of this travesty is that this spark was ignited by those proclaiming to defend faith, in an age ushered in by the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The period of the Middle Ages (also known as the “Dark Ages”) was tumultuous in great part because literacy and sound education were nonexistent in civilization. This ignorance was bred by the greedy religious leaders of that time by cunningly outlawing anyone from learning how to read, unless they were a “member of the clergy.” This conniving vice stagnated the intellectual development of society, aimed at preventing the people from questioning these false prophet’s abuse of power. The void left by the absence of education, was quickly filled by intimidating mysticism, superstition, and fanaticism regrettably presented by these wicked rulers as faith. This warped version of “faith,” taught for the sake of holding on to power, was already being practiced during the first century. The inspired Peter penned concerning the difficulty of Paul’s epistles, “untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures” (2nd Peter 3:15-16, emphasis added). This horrid portrayal of faith by the “untaught and unstable” during this period of history, sadly was a repetition of the vicious cycle exposed by the Master concerning the corrupt religious leaders of His time. The Lord revealed that, “they are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14, emphasis added). Ergo, this misrepresentation of faith by fanaticism is one of the reasons why still today, many cannot see the unseen. Additionally, Paul elaborates, “if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2nd Corinthians 4:3-4, emphasis added). Observe that the inspired apostle equates their spiritual blindness with unbelief; not ignorance. This pericope describes a man who rejects God’s inspired Word (incredulous), and not a man who is oblivious of Scripture (ignorant). This concurs with the Lord’s exposure of the Pharisees and points the proverbial spotlight on the evil of their leadership. Let us recall that when the Lord Jesus discovered the Pharisee’s malice to His disciples, He had reprimanded the Pharisees for voluntarily violating God’s commandment of honoring father and mother by falsely teaching that a man-made tradition could supersede Divine law. These self-proclaimed “doctors of the Law” were respected by the people and sought daily for spiritual guidance because of their knowledge of the Law and Scripture. Therefore, they knowingly perverted Holy Writ for their selfish gain by teaching error to those who did not know. Hence how the blind (those who shut their eyes to the truth) were guiding the blind (those who were uneducated about the truth). A grotesque error passed down from their fathers during Malachi’s time (Malachi 2:7-9) and one that is still avidly practiced today (2nd Timothy 4:3-4, 2nd Peter 2:1-3, and 1st John 2:18-19). Because this is so, the following query must be pondered: How can I learn to see the unseen? The road that leads to spiritual vision begins by correctly understanding what faith is. The Hebrew scribe assists in this endeavor with the following definition: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, emphasis added). It is imperative to begin by removing certain erroneous applications that have sadly been applied to this Scripture. First, the passage is not saying that faith is invisible, rather it is stating that faith is both “the substance” and “the evidence” for the invisible. What this Scripture is establishing is that faith can (must!) be seen because it verifies that which is spiritual in nature. In the previous passage (the immediate context) of the Scripture being examined (Hebrews 11:1), the inspired scribe is exhorting Christians who were contemplating a return to Judaism not to “cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:35-36, emphasis added). The great reward and the promise is the same as the “things hoped for” mentioned afterward. However, observe that their confidence goes hand in hand with their faith. The Greek word utilized by the inspired penmen for substance is hupostasis and is interpreted by the lexicon as “a thing put under, substructure, foundation” (Thayer, G5287). Thus, their faith that “He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23b, emphasis added) was the foundation that their confidence was built upon. The Hebrew writer continues to expand by then declaring that faith is “the evidence” for the spiritual as well. The term implemented here is elegchos and it is “a proof, that by which a thing is proved or tested; conviction” (Thayer, G1650). The truth of this declaration is made manifest in the Scriptures that follow, where the mighty “Heroes of Faith” are presented by the amanuensis (Hebrews 11:2-40). Observe that what decorates the majestic “Hall of Faith” is not names of godly servants, but their actions preceded by the inscription “by faith.” This is solidified when one reads that there are many unnamed heroes exalted by the Holy Spirit, because of what they did by faith. Therefore, the purpose of this great celestial hall is to display the triumph of an obedient faith, for “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26b, emphasis added). For this reason, the Lord compared those who obeyed His instructions from the Sermon on the Mount “to a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24, emphasis added). Notice that the sturdy house that withstood nature’s wrath, displays the wisdom of the builder in trusting the foundation he chose to build upon. Thus, we must hear the Word that produces true faith, examine it carefully, and put it into practice for an obedient faith to God reveals a complete trust in God. Following God’s commandments to prepare for life outside of this world is the only way we, will see “Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).