Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. (John 16:7)

Hopefully these words are beginning to take on a new light. God is not playing hard to get—quite the opposite. All of us desire to be intimately known by the ones we love. The same is true of God. When Jesus walked the earth, He was the exact representation of His Father made available and accessible to man (see Hebrews 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-19). But as we know, Jesus now abides at the right hand of the Father in heaven. The Holy Spirit is the Person of the Godhead who dwells with and in God’s people on the earth, so to know the deep things of God, we must know His Spirit—the Spirit of truth.

Doubting Thomas

After Jesus was raised from the dead, ten of the disciples were in a room with the doors locked. Suddenly Jesus appeared; the disciples were completely amazed and in shock. Jesus actually had to convince them that He was not a ghost. The ten rejoiced over the miracle of His resurrection, and they later shared this account with Thomas, who had not been present with them at the time of Jesus’ appearing. Upon hearing the news, Thomas infamously replied, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

Several days later, all eleven disciples were together in a room when Jesus suddenly appeared again. Before doing or saying anything else, He immediately turned to Thomas, as if to say, “Okay, Thomas, let’s take care of this matter of unbelief.” He told him, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (John 20:27). Thomas responded, “My Lord and my God!” Now listen to what Jesus proceeded to say:

Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. (John 20:29)

In essence Jesus was stating, “Thomas, there is a blessed group of people who will believe without seeing.” I used to think, Jesus that is kind of hard. I mean, the guy is already groveling on the floor. He obviously feels terrible. He’s repentant! And yet You looked at him and said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” I couldn’t understand why Jesus was so hard on Thomas. Then one day the Lord spoke to me, “I wasn’t rebuking Thomas; I was simply making a statement of fact. The level of intimacy available to those who know Me by My Spirit is much greater than that of knowing Me in the physical sense.”

Day 4

Three Levels of Relationships