Seeing and believing in Christ

For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (Jn 6:40)

What does it mean to see and believe in Jesus?

The word for “see” is θεωρέω (theōreō) which means to view, consider or contemplate.

The word for “believe” is πιστεύω (pisteuō) which means to have faith or confidence in or to place one’s trust in.

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When I read this, I am reminded of when Jesus walks on the Sea of Galilee and Peter follows, but soon Peter becomes afraid and begins to sink. In ancient times, the sea represented chaos, darkness and evil. I believe the imagery of Jesus and Peter walking on the sea sums up for us what it means to “see” and “believe” in Jesus, especially during rough times, and also what can happen if we stop seeing and believing.

We must contemplate (see) Christ constantly and put our trust (believe) in him to do the things he has planned for us.

Contemplation means prayer, reading the Scriptures, devotions and other practices that keep our mind, heart and soul focused on Jesus.

Trusting Jesus means believing what he teaches us, not just with our minds, but also with our actions. How do we believe with our actions? Well, we need to do something to express our internal belief because, though we are spiritual beings, we are made of flesh and we exist in the material world. Therefore, to truly believe in Jesus, we must express our invisible beliefs through our visible actions (see the Beatitudes, Mt 5:1-12).

If we lose our focus on Christ, then we may sink into the depths of the sea, that is, into chaos, darkness and evil.

Sources:

Aguilar Chiu, Jose Enrique, Richard J. Clifford, Carol J. Dempsey, Eileen M. Schuller, Thomas D. Stegman, Ronald D. Witherup, eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018.

Casciaro, Jose Maria., ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008.