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| A Study of John 20:24-29 | |
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| Introduction As far as apostles go, Thomas has always had a tough reputation. When I was a child, we learned the song which went, "Don't be a doubting Thomas, rest fully on his promise." Over the years I have heard pastors pick on poor Thomas and castigate him for his lack of faith. Well, this is a sympathetic look at the Apostle Thomas. It is true he had doubts, but haven’t most of us? After spending a year at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960’s, I came home with many intellectual doubts and a faltering faith. When I came forward to re-commit my life to the Lord, I prayed, "Lord, I want to serve you, but you will have to remove all these doubts in my mind." Just as Jesus was gracious to Thomas when he doubted, he was also gracious to me. Over the years, not only has God removed those doubts, but he has replaced them with intellectual as well as spiritual understanding of the proofs of God. Do you have doubts? Maybe you can learn something from Thomas — the doubting apostle. Who was Thomas? In the three lists of the twelve disciples given in the gospels Thomas is listed eighth out of the twelve, although Matthew modestly places Thomas’ name in front of his own. It is interesting in Acts 1:13 he is elevated to sixth place in the list of disciples. Fausset thinks this is due to his increased faith after doubting Jesus. He wrote, "Thomas, after his doubts were removed, having attained eminent faith (for sometimes faith that has overcome doubt is hardier than that of those who never doubt), is promoted above Bartholomew and Matthew in Acts." Nothing is recorded concerning Thomas after Acts 1:13. But according to church tradition Thomas spread the gospel in Parthia and Persia before being martyred. In John 20 we have the famous story of Thomas’ doubts. Everything in the Bible is recorded for our learning. Thomas did not choose Jesus, Jesus chose Thomas. Jesus called Thomas to be one of his disciples. Now Thomas would be forced to face perhaps the greatest trial of his faith. Verse 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. A lot of the commentators start bashing Thomas right here, saying he shouldn’t have missed this meeting. They invent all kinds of terrible reasons why he might have missed. Well, it is true we shouldn’t miss church. When we miss going to God’s house, we might miss something special the Lord has for us that day. But there is no indication that Thomas’ missing was unusual or out of the ordinary. Neither John, who wrote the gospel, the disciples or Jesus himself indicate there was anything wrong with Thomas being absent when the Lord first appeared. I believed the Lord planned it that way. Thomas had doubts that needed to be faced head-on. If he were there, he might not have faced those doubts until years later. Now he was going to be forced to face himself. Verse 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." It seems the picture of Jesus’ crucified body is still in
Thomas’ mind. The apparent reality of Jesus’ death dashed all faith in his
heart. Is there something that you are going through that is causing you to lose faith?
This was not the first time Thomas had questions. We can see that Thomas was not afraid to voice his doubts when he wasn’t sure of something. In verse 6 Jesus gave one of the most powerful statements of his ministry here on earth in response to Thomas’ question, "Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.’ " Here in these verses Jesus does not condemn Thomas for having questions. Jesus simply answers his questions. Thomas may have had questions, but he was not a cynic. On another occasion recorded in John 11:8-16 we see how Jesus tells his disciples that he will return to Jerusalem for the sake of Lazarus. In verse 8 it is the other disciples this time who question him, "Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" But when it is apparent that Jesus is going, it is Thomas who speaks up in verse 16, "Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’ " Such was his commitment to his Lord, that Thomas was willing to die with Jesus. Kerr comments, "Although little is recorded of Thomas in the Gospels, he is yet one of the most fascinating of the apostles. ... Thomas was yet a man of indomitable courage and entire unselfishness. Thus with a perplexed faith in the teaching of Jesus was mingled a sincere love for Jesus the teacher. In the incident of Christ's departure for Bethany, his devotion to his Master proved stronger than his fear of death. Thus far, in a situation demanding immediate action, the faith of Thomas triumphed; but when it came into conflict with his standards of belief it was put to a harder test. It was his sincerity which made him to stand aloof from the rest of the disciples till he had attained to personal conviction regarding the resurrection; but his sincerity also drew from him the testimony to that conviction, ‘My Lord and my God,’ the greatest and fullest in all Christianity." Verse 26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." Notice, the next time Jesus appears, Thomas is with them. Thomas had sincere doubts. Jesus made a point of answering those doubts. He didn’t come again when Thomas wasn’t there. If we have doubts, Jesus will come and dispel them for us. Jesus doesn’t leave us alone in the dark struggling with our doubts or questions. He cares about us and wants to help us understand. Many times in scripture we find people expressing doubts. Abraham in Genesis 17:17 doubted God’s promise, "Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, ‘Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’ " In Numbers 11:21, Moses questions God, "But Moses said, ‘The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot; and thou hast said, "I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!" ’ " Gideon expresses his doubts in Judges 6:13, "And Gideon said to him, ‘Pray, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, "Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?" But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Mid'ian.’ " Job laments in Job 24:1, "Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?" In Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 Solomon expresses his philosophical doubts, "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?" In each one of these cases God used these doubts to reveal himself to the person in a mighty way to help strengthen their faith. In fact, those who came to God in scripture with their doubts are known today as great men of faith. God is willing to listen to your doubts, and he is ready to answer your questions. But he can’t do that if you don't come to him. Verse 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." Jesus starts off by repeating Thomas’ own words to him. He cared about Thomas’ doubts. He wanted to give Thomas the answer to his questions. If you have doubts or questions about God, Jesus will meet you too. He is just as willing to answer your questions as he was for Thomas. In fact two of the greatest statements in the whole Bible concerning the deity of Jesus are recorded as a result of Thomas’ questions. Don’t be afraid to ask God questions. If you go to him sincerely with an honest heart, he will help you understand his answer. I have known Christians who for years have had questions about why God did something the way he did it, but have been too afraid to ask him. Perhaps they think he will zap them with a lightening bolt from heaven for lack of faith or for doubting him. But the fact is there will be things about God that we will not understand. After all, he is infinite, we are limited; he knows everything, we know very little; he sees how everything is working together throughout the ages, we’re lucky if we can figure things out a few weeks down the road. When you have questions, it’s all right to go to God with your doubts. He will answer you. Verse 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Thomas didn’t have to feel the wounds; he instantly believed and then made one of the great declarations of faith in the whole Bible. Matthew Henry comments, "[Thomas] made an open profession of this, before those that had been the witnesses of his unbelieving doubts. ... Thomas speaks with an ardency of affection, as one that took hold of Christ with all his might, My Lord and my God." Thomas made these two great declarations that we would do well to make in our own life. First, he said Jesus is our Lord. To be Lord means to be master. Have you turned over your life to God enough to be just his servant, or do you still hang onto certain areas? Do you let Jesus have his way in your life, or do you fight for your own way? When God’s word conflicts with your opinion, do you submit to God’s teaching, or do you fight him? We all need to ask ourselves, is Jesus really our Lord? Next, Thomas declared Jesus is our God. Jesus was not only a great prophet, or a great teacher performing an important ministry here on earth. He was God. He was God in the form of man so we could know that God understands everything that we have to go through here on this earth — all our struggles, our frustrations, our temptations. When we make him Lord of our life, Jesus becomes more than just God, he becomes "my God." Concerning this wonderful declaration by Thomas, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown comments, "He is overpowered, and the glory of Christ now breaks upon him in a flood. His exclamation surpasses all that had been yet uttered, nor can it be surpassed by anything that ever will be uttered in earth or heaven." Verse 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." Some look at Jesus’ words as a condemnation of Thomas. But if it is, then it’s a condemnation of all the disciples because none of them believed until they saw Jesus. I believe Jesus said these words for us. Blessed are we who have not seen, but believed. But we have something Thomas didn’t have — we have the testimony of a known doubter. Because of Thomas’ doubts, we can understand our own doubts. And just as Jesus revealed himself to Thomas, we know that he will reveal himself to us. Footnotes: This study on John 20:24-29 © 1997 by David
Humpal. All rights reserved. |
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