Blessed Are the Believers

May 23rd, 2025
by Lance Waldie

John 20:29b-31 “Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” 30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Whereas those who walked with Christ and saw Him risen from the dead were clearly privileged people, those who believe in Christ without having seen Him are blessed people. True blessings, like the ones in the beatitudes (cf. Matt. 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-23) result only when certain conditions are met. For instance, the readers of John’s apocalypse, the Revelation, are blessed if they read the book (Rev. 1:3). Peter said as much, saying that those who have not seen Christ, yet love Him in spite of this, “greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8). Thus, God’s blessings are the result of the condition of man’s faith which is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).

John writes in 20:30 that he could have included many other signs that Jesus performed, but he was certain that he had provided all that was needed for any reader to trust in Jesus as the Christ. He spoke of Him as Creator (1:2), the Word who became flesh (1:14), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (1:29, 36), the Christ (1:41; 4:25-26), the Son of God (1:48), the King of Israel (1:48), the true Temple (2:19-21), a teacher sent from God (3:2), the substance of the shadow depicted by Moses (3:14), the loving gift of God (3:16), the Savior of the world (4:42), equal with God (5:18), the authority in judgment (5:27), the mediator of God (5:30), the fulfillment of Scripture (5:39), the Prophet (6:14), the “I am” (6:35 et. al.), the living water (4:10, 13; 7:38), the one from God (9:31-33), the Son of Man (9:35), the holy one (10:36), the lifted up one (4:14; 12:32-34), the glorified one (13:31), the one who prepares eternal dwelling places (14:2), the one who never abandons (14:18), the generator of power and spiritual fruit (15:5-7), the sender of the Spirit (15:26; 20:22), the possessor of Truth (18:37), the crucified King (19:15), and the risen Lord and God (20:20, 26, 28). And because there is only one God (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:17-18), Jesus cannot be anything except the Sovereign God of all Creation.

John was very aware of the other three Gospels, and although he only includes a portion of the signs, works, and miracles that the Synoptics do, what he selected to include in his Gospel was selected for the purpose of bringing a life-transformation to his readers. His purpose was both evangelistic (announcing good news) and instructional. But it is vital for readers to understand that John’s purpose was not simply to bring readers to accept some creedal formula. Note that John never used nouns for “faith” (Gr. pistis) or “knowledge” (Gr. gnōsis); rather, John used the verbal forms of these words. For John, faith and knowledge were not things but actions. John’s account is historical and calls for one to know and believe. Of course knowing and believing were accomplished by many who saw Christ’s signs and saw Him alive from the dead. Putting one’s knowledge forward as active faith was what John sought in penning Christ’s story.

If one truly believes in the account of Jesus given by John, that He is the Christ—the Anointed One—they will have “life in His name.” Clearly John was not promoting that anyone beyond the apostles need to see Christ in order to believe, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17; cf. 1 John 5:9-13). The “life” that this produces is eternal life. John loved the word “life,” for he used it over 30 times in his Gospel. Life is what he sought for believers, and the only avenue to it is through Jesus who grants it. No wonder, for sinners are dead in their sins, and faith grants them life (5:24)—resurrection, not resuscitation. Sinners are dead in their trespasses and sins; they are not sick. To believe in Christ is to make peace with God (Rom. 5:1) and to avert the wrath of God which abides on all sinners (3:36).