Doubting Thomas
John 20:24-31
"Doubting Thomas." refers to one of the disciples of Jesus who is often associated with one word: doubting. He is seen as a natural pessimist, a man very liable to take the despondent hopeless view of the future and see the darker side of everything. . "Lord we don't know where you are going and how can we know the way?" We have no doubt that he loved Jesus even enough to be willing to go to Jerusalem and die with him. Upon hearing that Lazarus was sick Jesus told his disciples they were going to Judea. Thomas said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
If he were that gloomy before the death of Jesus , what would he be like upon Christ's death? After the crucifixion of Jesus, Thomas was probably a brokenhearted man who wanted to be left alone to suffer alone. Every time we see Thomas it is a day of appalling gloom. We have no picture of Thomas, or account of anything he did or said in the day of sun-shine. Perhaps this helps us to understand his responses to Jesus and what is happening about him. He has a lot of "relatives" in our day. But we will observe the method Jesus used with Tho-mas is not unusual in his dealings with us. He patiently brought Thomas to a mature faith.
Thomas helps us to understand what Jesus was teaching His disciples during his post resurrection appearances. Those who loved him on the earth had to learn to live without the physical appearance of Christ, the actual seeing, touching, and hearing him. There would be no more sitting at the table with him and filling the mind with His words, but now they would learn to walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, he would walk with them, sit with them, eat with them, but in a more profound manner not limited by space and time. Here is a tremendous lesson for us to learn.
All four of the Gospels have Thomas in the list of the apostles of Jesus. Matthew and Mark mention him only once (Matt. 10:3; Mk. 3:18). Luke lists him once in his Gospel and in Acts (Lk. 6:15; Acts 1:13). John gives us eight references to Thomas as a disciple of Jesus. He was chosen and appointed by the Lord Jesus to be one of His followers. Jesus said, "No longer do I call you servants . . . but I have called you friends."
After Jesus healed the blind man in the Temple He left Jerusalem and word reached him that his friend Lazarus of Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem, was near death (John 11).
Thomas was with the disciples when Jesus told them that Lazarus was already dead (11:13-15). Upon hearing the news that Jesus will go to Bethany Thomas responded to his fellow disciples, "Let us go too, so that we may die with him" (v. 16 NET).
Thomas was concerned about dying for Jesus. He knew perfectly well the attitude of the religious leaders at this time. There was every possibility that they would arrest Jesus and put him to death.
However, Jesus was concerned that Thomas will "believe" in him (v. 15). Thomas would no doubt have heard the encounter with Martha in vv. 23-27 regarding his resurrection.
Thomas was standing there when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (vv. 38-45). Men re-moved the stone from the mouth of the grave at the command of Jesus. Jesus prayed to the Father and when he had finished he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." John tells us, "The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, 'Unwrap him and let him go'" (John 11:44 NET). Jesus would later be buried in this similar manner.
Thomas was with Jesus as He sought to prepare them for his crucifixion. From the time Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead the religious leaders sought an opportunity to kill him (11:53; 13:1). And so Jesus prepared His disciples for His own death
They celebrated the Passover meal together, and Jesus spent time preparing them for his death the very next day. That night in the upper room Thomas listened to the encouraging words of Jesus about heaven (14:1-3).
Indeed, Thomas' response to these words is vivid. Thomas said, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?" (14:5 NET). Jesus replied, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him" (vv. 6-7 NET).
Before the end of the day Jesus will be crucified, and three days later will be raised from the dead.
We are not given the reason for Thomas not being with the disciples when Jesus first appeared to them on the day of His resurrection from the dead (John 20:24). But he was to blame for refusing to accept the testimony of his friends when they assured him they had seen the risen Jesus. We do have Thomas' reaction to the testimony of the other disciples. "Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord!' But he replied, 'Unless I see the wounds from the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the wounds from the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe it!'" (vv. 24-25 NET). His words ring with a little obstinate tone in his unbelief.
Imagine the excitement when the other disciples met him (v. 25). I don't think they were calmly trying to persuade Thomas that Christ was alive. They were excited and full of assurance. They wanted their friend to experience that same sense of emotional relief and peace knowing that his Savior was alive. Thomas was not impressed with their excitement, not convinced by their testimony. He would not be taken in, even by faithful companions.
Perhaps it was Thomas' emotional reaction to the outcome of his appalling agony and disappointment.
He had been filled with the horror at the sight of the bleeding wounds of Jesus. Thomas declared he would not believe any rumors until those very wounds demonstrated the identity of Jesus.
How tragic when in our unbelief we take pride in demanding more evidence than that given by a group of credible men. The other ten were convinced of the evidence that Jesus showed them - John 20:20.
These witnesses believed what they had seen with their eyes and heard with their ears. They had touched him with their own hands. How could his five senses be more trusted than the combined testimony of ten men who all saw him at the same time? How could he reject the testimony of ten witnesses thinking their senses had deceived them or that his five senses could be better trusted than theirs?
The ultimate test for Thomas was the very same evidence that others ten had. . How arrogant can you become?
A true skeptic will openly, honestly seek the truth regardless of the outcome. An honest doubt is one thing, but a stubborn heart of unbelief is another.
Jesus method was to let Thomas reflect on what the disciples had testified to him for eight days. I seriously doubt if he could get away from those haunting words of eyewitnesses.
So far as we can tell it was solely to remove Thomas' doubts that our Lord appeared to the assembled disciples the following Sunday. The apostle John brings his Gospel to a climax with what happens next. "Eight days later the disciples were again together in the house, and Tho-mas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you!'" (v. 26)
We don't know if the disciples expected a fresh appearance of their Lord on this day. But it is not without significance that after an uneventful week that Jesus appeared the next Sunday. The situation before us is an exact duplicate of the one sketched in verse 19. Silently and suddenly as before, without warning, without opening of doors, Jesus appears exactly as he did a week ago. He is suddenly standing in the midst of his disciples and he greets them exactly the same, "Peace to you!"
Surprise, surprise, unutterable surprise! Then sudden shame as Thomas unexpectedly realized his Lord had heard his obstinate ultimatum and sullen unbelief. Jesus simply repeated almost in the same words the hard, rude, bare, crude test Thomas had proposed to the other disciples.
Jesus turned to Thomas, who is the last of the disciples to believe that Christ had risen from the dead. Jesus did not scold him. His words breathe forgiveness and encouragement to Thomas' faith. He brings Thomas to assurance, just as He did the other disciples. Thomas' faith is deepened with the appearance of his risen Lord.
He said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and examine my hands. Extend your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe.' Thomas replied to him, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people who have not seen and yet have believed'" (20:26-29 NET).
Jesus agreed exactly to Thomas' demands for evidence. Jesus answered Thomas as though he himself had been listening to every word Thomas had uttered when making his demands to the disciples in verse 25! Jesus hasn't been seen for a week. I never read this verse without asking myself, who told Jesus what Thomas had said? The fact is Jesus was there all the time! Jesus has heard every word Thomas had uttered when making his demands. Jesus met every one of the outrageous demands of this disciple to the letter. He let Thomas set up the demands and Jesus knocked them down.
Jesus held his hands out for Thomas' inspection. Then with shame, humble and joyful confession, he declared, "My Lord and my God." Thomas is satisfied with precisely the same proof as the other disciples. Thomas is carried entirely out of preoccupation with himself and sees nothing but his Lord. His soul rests in the person before him.
This is a powerful and clear confession by Thomas. Moreover, our Lord accepted the declaration of His deity as the true expression of faith.
The beautiful thing about the method of Jesus with Thomas is he is offering to all eleven of the disciples "many infallible proofs" or "demonstrative evidence" of his resurrection. Acts 1:3 reads, "To the same apostles also, after his suffering, he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God" (NET).
Jesus not only answered Thomas' doubt, but every "Thomas " in the future. All eleven disciples were "witnesses" of his resurrection (Acts 2:32; 3:15). Their testimony would stand as being unassailable in all future ages. Many years after the resurrection of Jesus the apostle John wrote: "This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life – and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us). What we have seen and heard we announce to you too, so that you may have fellowship with us (and indeed our fellow-ship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ)" (1 John 1:1-3 NET). Thomas saw and experienced the same "demonstrative evidence" as each of the other apostles. The early church did not have just two or three authentic witnesses, but a multitude who saw the risen Lord alive. Thomas was one of the twelve.
Jesus has given a decisive blow to all doubt and unbelief in his resurrection. There would be many more "Thomases" down through history who would wrestle with the same question of the resurrection. Jesus answered satisfactorily every doubter by the way he answered Thomas' doubt. We should be thankful that Thomas expressed his doubt about the resurrection of Jesus because in answering his questions Jesus answered ours, too. If one of the twelve had remained a doubter it would have cast disbelief on the integrity of the others and the ripple effect would have passed down through history.
Thomas gave Jesus Christ "full acceptance of His deity and of the fact of His resurrection." Re-member these words are those of a Jewish man. The two possessives "my" makes the two affirmations stand out independently. This is the strong climax to the whole gospel of John.
"My Lord" includes the full deity as fully as "my God." This is an emphatic declaration of Tho-mas' conviction as to who Jesus Christ is. It is a natural expression of his faith in Christ. The word "Lord" (kurios), is used by the Greek translators of the Old Testament to translate Yahweh, the LORD God of the Jews. Jesus is both "LORD" (Yahweh) and God (Elohim).
What is just as important is the response of Jesus to Thomas' faith. Jesus accepted the exclamation of him as Lord and God. Only God can do that. This fact cannot be overemphasized. Jesus acknowledged and accepted the faith of Thomas. Jesus accepted the worship of this man. Jesus does not modify or demean this acclamation of faith and worship. He accepts it from Thomas. He does not add to it or take away from it. This is a full grand confession of Jesus as God. "Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people who have not seen and yet have believed'" (v. 29 NET).
How strange that Thomas rejected the testimony of others who saw the same evidence in the same manner as he did. He demanded even more that would set him apart from the others. When Jesus offered his hands, his feet and his side, Thomas conceded to the same evidence as the others. And so it is with us, too.
Jesus speaks of us when he says, "Blessed are they who did not see and did believe." Whoever at any time, past, present, or future, believes without seeing is pronounced, "blessed." We walk by faith and not by sight, but our faith has solid credible historical evidence of a risen Savior.
The apostle Peter was writing to persecuted believers when he said, "This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials. Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold – gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away – and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because you are attaining the goal of your faith – the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:6-9 NET).
The last scenes of Thomas in the New Testament were on the shore of Tiberias as a silent listener to Jesus as He dealt with Peter (John 21). Then he passes off the pages of the N. T. at Pentecost where he is with all the apostles worshiping Christ Jesus in the upper room (Acts 1:12-14).
Eyewitnesses saw Jesus alive after his resurrection. What more evidence do we need? That will hold up in any court of law.
As a loyal disciple he was willing to die with Jesus. His intentions were good. However, we also know that when Jesus was crucified Thomas fled with the rest. He was probably ridden with guilt and remorse.
How many of us have tried to go it alone when God has provided others who have made the same difficult journey through hurts, grief and suffering? That is the very time when we should be in the company of fellow believers. Thomas would have been better off spiritually if he had been in the company of the other disciples.
It was a great moment of repentance when Thomas saw the risen Christ and declared, "my Lord and my God."
The apostle Paul prayed, "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph. 3:17 NET). Jesus said, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him" (John 14:23 NET). Jesus is speaking of the individual believer. The Greek translation note in the NET Bible reads, "we will come to him and will make our dwelling place with him."
While not mentioned a lot in the NT, Thomas did do other things but the nickname, "Doubting Thomas " stuck. Doubt is so associated with Thomas and has been used together with his name so much, that Doubting Thomas is used even today to call out someone who has doubts.
All the episodes with the risen Lord in John 20 - the episode with Thomas included- project in a crystal clear manner the notion that the post-resurrection experiences with Christ were real, visible, and accessible through the bodily senses. Not only Thomas, but the other disciples as well, have believed because they have seen the risen Jesus. This is a fundamental truth which makes the resurrection a firm reality, established on plenty of eyewitnesses who were people difficult and slow of heart to believe (Lk. 24:25) , Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, presented in a masterful way the same idea, i.e. the veracity and fact of Christ’s bodily resurrection based on a large number of eyewitnesses. Paul repetitively uses for the risen Lord the verb “of the” (he was seen), namely the basic verb for seeing. The important thing is that Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, considers the visual direct evidence an indispensable component of the Gospel, an essential article of the real Christian faith.
At the same time, the insistence on the visual experience as an undeniable evidence for the veracity and fact of the resurrection, emphasizes the fact that the risen Lord is not a bodyless spirit but a complete human being. Perhaps this is the reason why John proceeds in chapter 21 of his Gospel with the narration of the lengthy story of the meeting between the risen Christ and His disciples by the Sea of Tiberias (Jn. 21:1-22), a meeting involving talking, fishing, eating and walking. Here at the very end of his Gospel, John is eager to maintain what he has declared at its very beginning: "The Logos became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth" (Jn. 1:14). Christ being a full and whole human being, being in the flesh even after his resurrection, is for John a fundamental Christological truth. Thus the inseparable connection between seeing and believing proclaims the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and, at the same time, His true, full, undeniable humanity.
The people of the time of John’s Gospel -if they decide to join the Church and believe in Christ as Lord and God - have to rely on and fully accept the apostolic eyewitness and tradition about Jesus . They have to follow a way very different from the way of Thomas as presented in John 20:24-29. Thomas, because he saw the risen Jesus, believed. The Christians of the time of John’s Gospel, and of the years and centuries to follow, are those who have not seen and (yet) believed (Jn. 20:29). The Evangelist has included the Thomas incident, with its concluding beatitude, in his Gospel, obviously in order to encourage all those people of the present and of the future who had to believe in the Lord without seeing him.
And what would be more encouraging than the confession coming from the mouth of the Doubting Thomas - a really unique, “My Lord and my God.”
