John 20:19-31

A few days later on that same ski trip [Dealing with Questions about Faith ~ Intro], I had another experience.  I went on a trail.  There are the main trails going down the mountain, but many small paths wind through the trees off of these.  They will go for a few yards before exiting back onto the main trail.  Well, I had my lessons and had two full days on skis.  I decided that I was ready to go off-trail.  

I zipped up the little path and navigated everything pretty well until I got to the end and someone had built a little jump into the path.  Looking back, it was really a very small jump, but with only about twelve hours of skiing prowess under my belt, it was a little much for me to handle.  My feet went straight up in the air.  I came down, bottom first landing in bank of soft snow (thank goodness).  But I was folded in half with my feet and my arms sticking straight up in the air above my head.  I was stuck.

My brother, who was a more experienced skier than I, saw me and followed me.  He was able to pull me out and get me going again.  After I was safely on the main slope, I said to my brother “I am so lucky that you decided to take that trail, too.”  Rolling his eyes he replied, “I saw you go up there and figured you would get yourself in trouble.” 

Because he took my lack of experience into account, he was there to get me back on the right path again.  And in a very similar way, Jesus knows that we lack the experience for the challenges of life and faith that come our way.  So he comes to where we are so he can get us on the road of belief again.