THE DOUBTING THOMAS IN US (Easter season)
Text: John 20:19-31
John 20:19-31 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." (20) After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. (21) Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." (22) When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. (23) If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (24) But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. (25) So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." (26) A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." (27) Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." (28) Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" (29) Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." (30) Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. (31) But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name (NRSV).
Doubt sees the obstacles;
Faith sees the way.
Doubt sees the darkest night;
Faith sees the day.
Doubt dreads to take a step;
Faith soars on high.
Doubt questions, "Who believes?"
Faith answers, "I!"
https://www.quotes.net/quote/18223
Have you ever had doubt? There is not a person alive who hasn’t seen doubt in his or her life. In his book The Thomas Factor, Winkie Pratney says that "One of the major reasons that God will allow doubt in our lives is because we have not grown." (Winkie Pratney. The Thomas Factor. Old Tappan. Chosen Books, 1989, p. 103). He says that "Doubt comes when we take our eyes off God" (p. 94). In this passage of scripture (John 20:19-31) we see that Thomas is struggling with his “growing pains”. He is struggling with his lack of faith. It is as if he is on the border between believing and doubting.
Who is the object of our faith God or ourselves? This is a question that all of us must confront at times when our faith is being tested. It was true for Thomas and it is also true for us.
This morning I want you to think about the ways that you see that Thomas’s doubt is mirrored in your own lives. I want you to think about how the Gospel of John mentions Thomas in three different ways, Thomas the courageous believer, Thomas the inquisitive and Thomas the doubter.
THOMAS THE COURAGEOUS
How would you define courage?
1) An athlete’s definition: Would it be as the late Tennis Star Arthur Ashe described it? “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever the cost”. Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.
2) An actor’s definition: Or, Would it be as the late actor John Wayne said “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway”. [ ] Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.
3) A disciple’s definition: Or would it be one of Jesus’s own disciples Thomas defined it, “a faithfulness unto death” (John 11:16).
Why was Thomas speaking about a faithfulness unto death?
1) Assassination wishes: There was a movement to stop Jesus by killing Him. Those who opposed Jesus had already tried to stone Him twice before (John 8:59, John 10:31).
2) Emergency: Both Mary and Martha had summoned Jesus to come to help Lazarus who was ill. The disciples reminded Jesus that He would be returning to a dangerous zone in going back to help Lazarus because the Jewish opposition were seeking to stone Him as they had twice before (John 11:8).
3) Courageous : It was in Jerusalem where Jesus would be killed. When Thomas made his courageous statement, "Let us go that we might die with Him" (John 11:16), he was ready to die with Jesus. But, when they arrested Jesus, Thomas was not so courageous.
4) Prophecy: Jesus even told His disciples that they would all run at the time of His arrest in Mark 14:27: "You will all fall away, Jesus told them, "for it is written: "`I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered'" (Zechariah 13:7). If you would have asked Thomas what happened to his courage, what would his answer have been after Jesus was arrested?
Can you imagine a modern day press conference where journalists might try to question Thomas with a gotcha question? Imagine their piercing questions. The interview is going fine and Thomas is calm until they ask this question: “You once said that you would follow Jesus. Your exact words were, “Let us go that we might die with Him” (John 11:16). What happened?” All of a sudden the interviewee, Thomas, begins to appear intimidated and angry that they put him on the spot. Take it a step further, imagine that you are Thomas in this interview. How would you have responded?
THOMAS THE INQUISITIVE
Remember Thomas’s question to Jesus about where it is that He is going in John 14:6?
1) A hope graph: If you could picture Thomas’s hope on a scale, then what would it look like between when Thomas had a faithfulness unto death up to this moment where wanted to know the way?
2) A silent minority? Already, you can see the character of Thomas shifting toward doubt in this very question as compared to the courageous statement that he made in John 11:16. Notice how Thomas says "we" when he really seems to be speaking for himself, at least for the time being.
3) Is seeing always believing?: But, then we get to Philip's request to see the Father (John 14:8) and it becomes apparent that maybe there is a "we" after all. It seems that he might have a little bit in common with Thomas’s need to see in order to believe.
A) Thomas: Thomas was later called Doubting Thomas as a result of his doubt as revealed later in John 20:25. B) Philip: But, if we look at Philip's request in John 14:8 beside Thomas's response in John 20:25, we can see that he was not alone in his doubt.
C) Peter: What about Peter when he tried to walk on water as Jesus was walking on water (Matthew 14:22-32)? John Bunyan once said, “Hope is never ill when faith is well”. Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed., p. 448). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Remember how Peter doubted, got scared and sank? He sank because his faith was lacking.
Jesus clarified not only His direction, but also His identity.
1) Jesus’s answer: In answering Thomas's question, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
2) Our future: Not only was Jesus telling them that He was soon going to die (John 13:33), but He was also telling them about where He was going. He also spoke of the rooms that He was preparing in the Father's house when He would come and receive each of them (John 14:2-4). That promise is true for all of His believers.
3) Never alone: Not only did Jesus tell them that He was going away, He promised them that they would not be left alone. One of the most beautiful passages of scripture is John 14:18: "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (NIV). In John 16:7, Jesus tells them unless He goes away, He cannot send them the Counselor who is none other than the Holy Spirit (see also John 14:16-17).
THOMAS THE DOUBTER
The other disciples had already seen Jesus, but Thomas was not there when they saw Him. We have to remember that by this time, there were only 11 other disciples because Judas had hung himself as the result of his anguish. Ten of those 11 had seen the resurrected Jesus.
1) Jesus appearance behind locked doors: Those 10 disciples were present in the room with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish authorities when the resurrected Jesus appeared among them, saying, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).
2) Needing proof: It was not until eight days later that Thomas saw Jesus Christ resurrected (John 20:26). It was not until Thomas saw Jesus a week later that he believed. He said that he would not believe unless he put his hand in Jesus's hands where the nails were and the wound in His side. Jesus told him to do just that. We do not know if Thomas actually touched the nail scared hands and wounded side.
Thomas had to live in doubt for a week. I know a lot of people who say that they do not like to miss church because they do not feel right all week long.
3) Feeling awkward because of absence: There have been rare times in history when we have had to practice social distancing for a great length of time. Going to church is not something that we do for somebody else. Going to church is something that we do for ourselves! We go to church to nurture our faith as well as to encourage one another in the faith. We are not told why Thomas was absent. We are told that his absence made him insecure and doubtful where the others were secure.
4) Needing peace: We all need that blessing of peace that Jesus gives to us (John 20:19). Thomas still seemed to be afraid. Maybe he was still afraid of death. The others were liberated from the prison of that fear whereas Thomas was still one of it’s prisoners.
I read a story about five boys who were out of school for the summer. They found a vacant lot that they played on. They even dug a make shift tunnel that was three feet wide and four feet deep that ran across about halfway across the lot. They camouflaged the entrance and the exit. Now all they needed was a volunteer to test it. It was a tunnel that did not have a ceiling. Finally, one of the five volunteered to test the tunnel. The other four had the kind of anxiety that would have sold Malox until they saw the volunteer emerge from the tunnel’s exit. All that time, the other four were worried about the sides of the tunnel caving in. When Jesus was resurrected from the dead it was as if He came out from the other end of a tunnel so as to show us the victory that He accomplished for us. (Max Lucado. On The Anvil. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1985, pp. 111 – 113 paraphrased). One day soon we will come out of the tunnel of this social distancing. Does our mandatory social distancing mirror how we have been practicing spiritual distancing from both our love of God and neighbor?
Until Thomas saw Jesus resurrected himself, he said that he would not believe. Faith in Jesus is not something that we just talk about. Faith gives a bridge over troubled waters! It is something that we have to walk on whenever we find ourselves facing doubt.
In the nineteenth century there was a famous tight rope walker by the name of Blondin (Jean- Francois Gravlet). His most famous achievement was walking across Niagrara Falls on a tight rope. In fact, he had done it blindfolded, on stilts, in a sack and even sitting down to make and eat an omelet and make and drink a cup of coffee. He ran a wheelbarrow across a tight rope loaded with a sack of cement.
After one of his performances Blondin asked a reporter "Do you believe that I can do anything on a tightrope?" He answered, "Oh, yes Mr. Blondin, I believe that you can do anything." Blondin said that he could wheel a man to the other side in the that tight rope. "I believe it" the reporter said. Blondin told that reporter to hop in the wheel barrow. We are not told what happened to that reporter's courage because he never accepted the challenge.
One day Blondin found a man who did. There were wages on both sides of the success of the performance. He was 160 feet up in the air on a tightrope 1600 feet long when they began. There was a man on the other side who had made a big bet against Blondin's success. So to insure that he would not lose his bet. When no one was looking he slipped away and cut on of the main support ropes which made the tightrope unstable. The wheelbarrow pitched from side to side. Any moment he was going to lose the wheelbarrow. He therefore told its passenger "Stand up!" He said it a second time. He said it a third time: "Let go and stand up! Let go the wheelbarrow! Do it or die!" Then there were two more commands. "Your arms---`round my neck! Now, your legs `round my waist!" The wheelbarrow had fallen by this time. "Hold on," said Blondin. "But don't fight. If we are going to make it alive you must not fight me. You must move when I move, give when I give. You must become one with me. For just this little while you must become Blondin." And he got him safely to the other side (quoted and paraphrased from The Thomas Factor pp. 141-144).
Just as that volunteer did not take his eyes off Blondin because his life depended on him, we must not take our eyes off our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ lest we lose our faith and fall. Hebrews 11:1 gives us the perfect definition of faith: "Faith is the evidence of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen." According to 2 Corinthians 5:7, we must "walk by faith and not by sight" if we are going to have Jesus Christ as the object of our faith.
Satan would love nothing more than to use our doubt to his advantage. He is betting against us. Satan will try to cheat in order to win. He tries to use our doubt for leverage. St. Augustine put it this way: "Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward of faith is to see what you believe." (Herb Miller. Actions Speak Louder Than Verbs. Nashville Abingdon Press, 1989, p. 60). "For what we see now we see dimly as a poor reflection in a mirror, then we shall see face to face" (I Corinthians 13:12). Until we are able to have the reward of faith---to see what we believe, we have to walk by faith.
As we mentioned at the beginning,
Doubt sees the obstacles;
Faith sees the way.
Doubt sees the darkest night;
Faith sees the day.
Doubt dreads to take a step;
Faith soars on high.
Doubt questions, "Who believes?"
Faith answers, "I!"
https://www.quotes.net/quote/18223
If we are honest with ourselves, then we will admit that there are lots of times when we possess doubt as Thomas did. When Jesus came to Thomas and told him put his finger in the holes of his hands and side from His crucifixion scars, Thomas began to believe. In much the same way, God uses our faith to help others to develop the eyes of faith so that they, too, may begin to believe without having to rely on sight. They see us having peace that passes all understanding in spite of the trials of every day life. It is then that our faith becomes a living testimony of trusting and believing in the resurrected Christ so that unbelievers might want to have the faith that also gives us hope in knowing that Christ holds our future just as much as He helps us in the present.
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
