In short, Thomas’s demand that he first poke his fingers in Jesus’ wounds before believing was a bit much. His friends’ report should have been adequate evidence, ergo the scold. Our insight clears up another confusion regarding “seeing” and faith. Paul tells the Corinthians, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Once again, Paul is not using “seeing” as a metaphor to downplay evidence. He’s speaking literally.

I’ve warned before about the habit of reducing biblical accounts to mere spiritual metaphors—a popular sermon practice nowadays, unfortunately.

David slaying Goliath is not a lesson about facing the “giants” in our lives. Jesus silencing the stormy sea is not an invitation to consider the storms he could hush in our own lives. Those are not the reasons those accounts are in the Bible.

Of course, biblical writers do use metaphors, and all figurative speech is meant to communicate some literal truth. Occasionally, though, readers search for a literal truth behind a metaphor that isn’t actually a metaphor at all.

Consider Jesus’ dressing down of doubting Thomas after the resurrection: “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed” (John 20:29). To many readers, Jesus’ reference to “seeing” is obviously a figurative reference to evidence—e.g., “Blessed are those who trust in Christ without demanding proof.”

I cringe every time I hear this take on that text coming from the pulpit, and I’ve heard it too often. According to that view, Jesus was faulting Thomas for seeking evidence to buttress his belief instead of taking the “blessed” path of blind faith.

There are two problems with reading Jesus this way. The first one is obvious if you follow the STR dictum “Never read a Bible verse” and read the entire context. The second problem, though, is not so apparent. It occurred to me only recently as a possibility, and then a Gospel cross-reference confirmed my thinking.

First, the blessed-are-those-of-blind-faith interpretation completely contradicts something John writes in the very next verse. In John 20:30–31—the verses immediately following Jesus’ reprimand of Thomas—John reveals his precise reason for writing a Gospel filled with reports of Jesus’ miracles.

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