Years have passes since yesterday's scene. You're now in the port city of Ephesus. A lot has happened.
Peter was executed in Rome 40 years ago.
The Beloved Disciple, who was the heart of this community, had lived to be a very old man, but died a short while ago. They had thought he would live until the end of time. Jesus, they claimed, had said that the Beloved Disciple would stay "until I come." Well, the Beloved Disciple died, and Jesus hadn't come.
You are visiting that community and you hear all the talk. You have the advantage of having lived 20 centuries later, and you know that the return of Jesus won't be a quick return. But you listen to them wrestle with their faith back in their own time and place.
You realize that fears and doubts about the great truths of our faith are present in every century - the early centuries, and the centuries of the third millennium. Some of the questions are different, but the problem is basically the same. How can all this be true? It's beyond reason and belongs to faith. No one in any century is exempt from having to believe in what we cannot see.
You talk to them about faith. You all believe. You just have a hard time understanding. So you talk about it.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw