Every once in a while I like to take a break from a normal “study-a-book-of-the-Bible-through,” and mix things up a little, in a way that will help me learn life-lessons with new eyes.
So, the last couple of weeks I’ve been doing a character study on Jesus’ disciple, Thomas, because I didn’t want to be like him: A doubter.
You recall Thomas, right?
He’s the one on whom we placed the moniker, Doubting Thomas.
Poor Thomas! After reading more about him, I recognize he didn’t really deserve that nickname.
And, I’d love to know if it makes him chuckle, or embarrassed, or even angry to know how that label has stuck!
There’s not much known about Thomas’ early history, or his actual calling by Jesus to be one of the select 12.
We do know that besides the name Thomas, he is sometimes called Didymus, which means “twin,” so of course we speculate that to be his situation.
However, I’m not as interested in those early years, as what I might learn from him as he walked and came alongside Jesus during His earthly ministry – how can I not end up being a “Doubting Peg,” or worse, fall into the “sin of unbelief (Hebrews 3:10-19).
To be honest, not a whole lot is said about Thomas, but John records three different conversations that give us some insight.
Conversation #1.
The first time Thomas speaks is when Jesus announces to his disciples that His good friend, Lazarus has “gone to sleep.” And, He tells them plainly, “Let us go to him.”
The disciples are dumbstruck! “Lord, we can’t go to Jerusalem again, the Rabbi’s are ready to stone you!”
But, Thomas answers them all, “Let’s all go with Him, so that we may die with Him.”
John 11:5-16
I don’t know what you’re thinking, but does this sound like a skeptic to you?
If this were the only conversation we hear of Thomas I certainly wouldn’t call him a doubter.
Definition of doubt: A state of being unsure/uncertain of truth; to lack confidence in; to waver in opinion of; to be of two minds, to consider as unlikely.
Nope. I wouldn’t call him this at all (perhaps a bit impulsive, but definitely not dubious).
Courageous Thomas, but not a Doubting Thomas.
Trusting Thomas, but not a double-minded Thomas.
I read conviction in those words.
Conversation #2.
Jesus has just said to the 12, “Listen. Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. I’m going to go and prepare a place for you, so that where I am you may be also. You will know where I’m going.”
Thomas: “No, Lord. We don’t know the way. How can we know?”
Jesus responds to him (this is almost how I hear Him saying these words of assurance): “Oh, don’t worry. I AM the way, I AM the truth, I AM the life.”
John 14:1-6
Doubting Thomas or simply curious?
Lacking confidence in Jesus or simply wanting assurance of THE WAY to be with Jesus?
I get the feeling Thomas is a man who deals in assurances.
Once he knows what he believes, he sticks to it come what may (see conversation #1)…he follows hard after his beliefs…he doesn’t doubt, he simply rests in what he knows to be true.
Thomas’ ethics are settled once he KNOWS WHAT HE BELIEVES.
Conversation #3.
The disciples and many of the women who followed Jesus are gathered in an upper room just after the discovery of the empty tomb.
But Thomas was not with them.
Jesus appeared to them, showed them his hands and feet, then commissioned them: “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”
When Thomas arrived, they excitedly shared with him that they had seen the Lord.
But, here’s where Thomas gets his nickname: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
John 20:19-25
Yes, Thomas was an eye-witness to Lazarus’ resurrection.
Yes. He’d heard Jesus say,
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
But for a man who dealt in certainties (see conversation #2), the words of his friends must have felt like wishful thinking.
In order to boldly, with conviction, proclaim that Jesus fulfilled who He said He was (Resurrection and Life), Thomas needed to see for himself.
To live for something he could (& would) possibly die for needed a greater degree of certainty for Thomas than just what his friends told him.
The truth is that Thomas’ doubts are often our doubts.
Sometimes, the Words of Truth cause us to wonder.
Are the declarations and promises of Scripture simply wishful thinking?
Does prayer really make a difference?
Is heaven real?
Will God truly provide what we need?
Will He be with us in times of trouble?
To verbalize our questions doesn’t feel very Christian, does it? So, we stay silent.
And, yet, at times, we will all struggle with doubt.
Eight days after the above conversation, Thomas saw Jesus for himself.
Jesus says to Thomas: “Look at my hands…Look at my side…reach out and touch.”
What does Thomas do?
He doesn’t need to reach out and put his hands in the marks on Jesus’ hands or in his side…
Instead, he falls on his face in worship. (John 20:26-29). Then declares:
“My Lord and My God (v. 28)!”
And, for the rest of Thomas’ life, he never wavered.
Here’s my take away:
Initial doubt is a human response to something that seems too good to be true.
Jesus doesn’t rebuke our initial doubt (he didn’t rebuke Thomas).
But, He doesn’t want us to stay there either.
Instead, we process through to a place where we know for certain what we believe and why we believe it.
Then, we live in its truth without wavering.
We, actually, live like Thomas –
Courageous.
Bold.
Trusting.
Maybe being a Doubting Thomas isn’t all that bad…
(smile)
