Maybe It Wouldn't Have Been So Great

How many of us have thought, if only I had been able to walk with Jesus to see his risen body, then I wouldn't have to trust in anything but my own eyes.  Dr. Leithart effectively counters this argument in his commentary on I John. 

"We often think fondly of how wonderful it would have been to be alive in Palestine when Jesus was around.  We would not have to believe on the testimony of anyone else. We could have seen all those miracles with our own eyes.  We would not have to hear about people handling Jesus; we could have touched him with our own hands.  We could have sat with him at a meal.  But being there was not a guarantee of being a disciple.  Many saw the miracles and either denied them, or found some alternative explanation for them, or hated Jesus for stirring the pot. Many people touched Jesus only to lay hands on him to arrest and kill him.  Had we been there,we might well have been in the crowd clamoring to lynch him." (Peter Leithart, Behind the Veil, p. 42)