I was reading in John this morning and thought I’d share my thoughts with you all:
John 20:19-28 tells us a familiar story. “Doubting Thomas” was given his nickname by the events that unfold in this section of Scripture:
John 20:19-28 (NLT):
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
Picture yourself here. You’re with your friends. All of you are scared of the Jewish leaders and fear for your lives. You just watched your Master be killed less than a week prior and you know if they could take Him down they would surely have no trouble taking you down too. It’s getting dark out, and you are locked in a room with your friends so as to hide from public view. A fire is lit to give some comfort and safety/familiarity in this house. The room smells of dust from the arid day and smoke seeping from the embers into the room… apart from the sound of the wood cracking in the fire you just listen for footsteps of men coming to find you. You double check that the door is indeed locked and then you glance at it again to make sure the shadows thrown from the fire aren’t lying to you.
Sitting against the wall, you dip your head into your knees thinking the same question you’ve been thinking for the past four days, “What are we going to do now?” Suddenly you hear your friends gasp and you shoot your head up sure you’ll find the moon casting shadows of feet under the door. Surely they’ve found you! But instead you find your vision blocked by a shadowed figure already in the room, standing by the doorway… then the familiar voice comforts, “Peace be with you.” He steps into the fire-light and now you are sure of it. This is indeed your Master, your friend, the living God.
Can you imagine the relief? The fear that would shed instantly in such a moment? You at once know you’ve just been rescued. What can man possibly do to you when you have Jesus who has beaten the worst possible outcome standing as your leader again? Then the bomb drops… “Oh, by the way… I’m not staying. In fact, you’ll have to go out on your own now. Stop hiding and go do the Father’s work as I have done.”
The Bible doesn’t say how this meeting ended, but we can be sure it was too soon for the disciples. They were likely begging Jesus, “Stay a little longer Jesus! Thomas isn’t even here yet… just wait for him to return. He’s got to see you! Jesus, have some wine. Are you hungry? What was death like? Are we going to be safe? Jesus don’t leave us again!” And as quick as he came, he left.
… silence. How long did it take them to unlock the door? How long to open it?
Like something out of a comedy movie, Thomas comes by the next day… “Hey guys, what’d I miss?” No, I’m sure he barely had time to step foot in the room before the others pummeled him with the news. Can you imagine how excited they were? The Bible tells us Thomas hears all this and yet doubts.
What do you think the extent of Thomas’s doubts were? Do you think he really denied it happened or that he wasn’t fully sure? Do you think he thought all of his friends were crazy? Group hallucination? Maybe too much carbon monoxide built up from the fire and they all were seeing things…Maybe this was just some plan they came up with to try to act confident and make a break for it… Maybe this was them setting him up to be captured since he wasn’t there with them that night… Maybe… Maybe it was real?
Thomas had eight days. Eight days to mull it over. Eight days to think out courses of action. If this were true, then this is true. If this were false, then this must happen next. Eight days of influence from his friends by whom he is now surely impressed with their level of commitment to the belief that they saw Jesus.
Do you think he was 100% set against their accounts of what happened? No, that’d be denial. He didn’t deny, he doubted. Doubt is different than denial. Denial says, “No, you’re wrong,” whereas doubt says, “Really? I want to believe this, but I can’t be sure. I can’t risk ___ on this idea unless I know for certain it is as you say it is.”
Eight days after his first appearance, they are all huddled in the same room. Just as before Jesus appears to them. The Bible only records the words Jesus says to Thomas here. Jesus tells him to feel the wounds for himself and then, “Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe.”
It was all true. “My Lord and My God!” Thomas was stunned.
Did Thomas doubt Jesus here, or his friends? Was Thomas wrong for doubting? I think he doubted his friends’ account of what happened more than he doubted what Jesus was capable of… but maybe not. Maybe he doubted Jesus’ power more than he doubted his friends’ account of what happened.
Jesus never chastised Thomas for his doubt. He just corrected it. “Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe.” Is it wrong to doubt others? Is it wrong to doubt God?
The Bible spells out the promises God gives us. I would contest that while we shouldn’t doubt them, it is natural to do so. We are insecure creatures. God, I don’t know if that job opening will really work out. God I don’t know if she really likes me. God I don’t know if he really is right for me. God I’m not sure if my sickness can be beaten. All the while God is there saying, “Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe” God told us he has a plan for us. A plan to prosper us and to give us a future…
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV):
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.Romans 12:2 (NIV):
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
So things may NOT work out the way WE want them to. Relationships and jobs may NOT be the right fit for us, but God has a plan. It is normal for us to doubt… but we are called to have faith. To believe in the promises of God.
“Doubting Thomas” was forever given that nickname for his eight days of doubt. Was that fair? How long have you doubted something God already has control over? What are your thoughts on doubt? Have you seen God come through your doubts with answers?
