Blessed Are Those Who Believe
Month 12: Risen & Sending · Memory Verse
Today's Scripture
Read together: John 20:29-31
29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.
Memory Verse
“Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.””— John 20:29 (BSB)memorize this week
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: 1 Timothy 6; 2 Timothy 1-2
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Paul urges Timothy to guard the good deposit of faith and be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.)The Heart of It
Right after blessing those who believe without seeing, John tells us why he wrote his whole Gospel. "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" (). That is the purpose of the book. And it is the purpose of this verse we are memorizing this week. Jesus is looking past Thomas. Past the room. Down the long hallway of history to a boy or girl who would one day hear the story and believe. He calls them blessed. You don't have to have been there. You don't have to touch the scars. The blessing is for the heart that hears the witness and says yes.
That is the difference between seeing-faith and trusting-faith. Thomas believed because he saw. We believe because we trust the One who is faithful and the witnesses He left for us. And notice the goal. It isn't just believing facts about Jesus. It is having life in His name. Faith is not signing off on a list of true statements. It is a living trust that takes hold of Jesus Himself and receives the new life He gives. When your family says this verse together this week, you are saying out loud what kind of people you want to be. People who haven't seen with their eyes, but who believe with their hearts. And people who are blessed.
Around the Table
We didn't get to see Jesus with our eyes like Thomas did. But we can still believe He's alive. And Jesus says that makes us blessed. Blessed means very, very happy in God!
Let's do it: Cover your eyes with your hands and say, "I can't see Jesus, but I believe He's alive!"
John wrote his whole book so that we would believe and "have life" in Jesus. Believing isn't just knowing facts. It is trusting Jesus with your heart.
Let's talk: Try saying the memory verse from memory. What does it mean to believe without seeing?
Verse 31 gives the purpose of John's Gospel. It is that we would believe Jesus is the Christ and have life in His name. Saving faith trusts the trustworthy testimony, not personal sightings.
Let's go deeper: The blessing in v. 29 is aimed at people like us, who came along 2,000 years later. Why is that good news?
💬 Conversation Starter
What's something you've never seen with your own eyes but you're completely sure is real?— We trust lots of things on good evidence. And Jesus' resurrection has great evidence.
🛡️ Defending the Faith
"Believing without seeing" doesn't mean believing without reasons. We trust the resurrection on the testimony of eyewitnesses who wrote it down and died for it. It is the same way a jury trusts believable witnesses it never personally watched.
For Dad · Go Deeper
Memory work can feel like dull drill, but you are actually putting living ammunition into your children's hearts. "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (). A verse memorized at eight is ready at eighteen, when faith gets tested and you are not in the room. This week's verse is especially worth burying deep. It directly answers an objection your kids will absolutely meet. "How can you believe in someone you've never seen?" Jesus Himself saw that question coming, and He called the answer blessed. So don't just have them recite it. Talk about what it means until they own it. And let them see that you, too, are a man who has never seen Jesus' face and yet stakes his whole life on Him.
Draws on: Andrew M. Davis, An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that we don't have to see Jesus to know He is alive. Thank You that we belong to Him. Help us keep Your Word deep in our hearts. Help us truly believe, and give us real life in Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen."
I haven't seen Jesus with my eyes. But I trust Him with my heart, and He calls that blessed.