Seeing is Believing

Seeing is believing  – Trinity Sunday

June 15, 2025

INI

When it comes to spiritual things—especially the Trinity—people rarely say, “seeing is believing.” Because we can’t see God’s essence. We can’t measure Him or chart His substance. The scientific method won’t get you to the mystery of the Triune God.

And yet, Jesus says that to see the Kingdom of God, you must be born from above. Only then do your eyes open to the truth that God is not vague or generic—but holy, loving, and Triune.

So when someone asks you, “What kind of God do you believe in?”—how do you answer?

Throughout Scripture, God makes Himself visible to His people in all kinds of ways: burning bush, pillar of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night, a large hand writing on King Belshazzar’s wall, through dreams, and visions. He even became a man and lived among us!  God has appeared in all these different ways, leaving us to ask, ‘Since God appears in all these different ways, He certainly isn’t just a burning bush, or just a pillar of cloud and fire, and He’s certainly not just human.’ Nailing down what God is, is tough – but we can say that anytime God has come to us, it was always for a purpose. It was always to reveal Himself to sinners, seeking to restore us to His heavenly family.

In the Gospel for today, Nicodemus has trouble seeing Jesus for who He is. He has seen Jesus do miracles – making lame folks walk, making blind folks see, and even making the dead alive. But Nicodemus doesn’t know what to make of Jesus. He sees him as a great teacher, a Rabbi, maybe even a miracle worker. But is that all there is?

Jesus is happy to share His secret with Nicodemus and the secret is this: Nicodemus will be able to see spiritual things when he’s reborn. Nicodemus will only be able to see spiritual things – like the kingdom of God – when he’s born from above. Our physical eyes can see many things – the sky is blue, the grass is green. But these same eyes can’t see spiritual things all by themselves.  They must be born from above. They need a baptismal washing. So, Jesus gives us this new birth to see things better – to see all things more deeply, realistically, clearly, purely, lovingly, communally.

This new, heavenly birth, which lets us see Jesus for who He really is, is Holy Baptism. When God’s Divine, Triune name – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is placed upon our foreheads and hearts, He gives us new new eyes to behold Him in faith, new hearts that are inhabited by the Holy Spirit, and a new life that’s lived to the glory of the Father. With these new tools, we begin to see Jesus as more than just a moralistic teacher or miracle worker – but we see Him as the crucified and risen Son of God, our Savior.

Eventually, Nicodemus begins to catch on when Jesus brings up snakes and poles. He recalls how the Israelites were healed from venomous snake bites simply by looking at a bronze serpent lifted high on a pole. Now, Jesus tells him, healing will come by looking at another lifted figure—Jesus Himself, lifted up on the cross. Just look, see, believe… and be healed.

Later that night when Nicodemus went home, he was still confused. But soon enough, he sawJesus dying on the cross. And seeing him there must’ve worked because guess who was carrying Jesus body to the tomb? Nicodemus was! Along with Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus was bringing myrrh and aloe to bury His King. Seeing Jesus on the cross opened His eyes. Now, He sees Jesus for more than just some Rabbi or miracle worker. For Nicodemus, seeing the Crucified Christ leads to believing.

And today, we too see Jesus as our crucified King and Savior.

Now, you may be thinking, ‘Well Pastor, I’ve never seen Jesus on the cross like Nicodemus did, so what are you talking about?’

He’s right there [point to the cross] and he’s right there [point to the altar]. And because of water and the Divine, Triune Name, you’re connected to Jesus on the cross and on the altar, who gives Himself to you in His body and blood. Only eyes that are opened by the Spirit can see him there.  His death and resurrection are no longer distant events – they become God’s acts of salvation FOR YOU. It’s like Luther says, “Christ is fixed and cemented to me.” That’s far better than anything your physical eyes can do. So, God gives you new eyes to see Jesus for who He really is.

This connection with Jesus gives you His death and resurrection, and it also gives you a new heavenly Father – a Father who treats you with love and mercy. When He looks at you, He doesn’t see disobedience, but He sees Jesus. He even gives you His Spirit, who makes an abstract God appear clearly to you – teaching you who God is. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and He’s constantlypouring out His love on you and all those around you. And He never lets you forget that.

Because of your baptism, God becomes yours. And you’re given new eyes to see God’s love diefor you.

So what does this mean for your life today? It means the mystery of the Trinity isn’t justsomething to confess—it’s something to live in. You don’t have to understand God in His essence to trust Him in His work. The Father who created you still provides for you. The Son who died and rose for you still forgives you. The Spirit who gave you new eyes at the font still speaks through the Word and guides you in truth. You were baptized into this Name—not a formula, but a living fellowship with the Triune God. Which means your whole life is now caught up in the eternal life of God Himself. You don’t just believe in the Trinity. You live from the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, loving you, forgiving you, and keeping you forever.

So, seeing is believing. But only when you’ve been born again at the font, and your eyes have been fixed on Christ crucified for you.

INI

Pastor Joshua Ralston