INTRO: Years ago, there were two friends who went for a drive in the country. Walter was sharing a dream with his friend, Art, as they drove off the main road thru a grove of trees into a large expanse of land. Walter said he had a dream for what he could do with this land and that he planned develop a family attraction there - but that the venture would use all of HIS money. He told Art that the land on which they were standing bordered the proposed building site and asked Art if he would consider buying up all of the adjacent land to build restaurants and hotels because the land values would soar in just a matter of time. Art’s only response was doubt and disbelief. He told Walter he was crazy! Why would anybody drive for miles from the city to the middle of “nowhere?” There was no way he was going to spend money on a crazy dream like that. And that was how, Art Linkletter (a prominent TV personality of the day) turned down Walt Disney when he was offered the opportunity to buy up all the land surrounded… what later became Disneyland. Doubt cost Art Linkletter a fortune.
And the Bible warns US that we have to be careful, because DOUBT can cost us a great deal as well.
James 1:5-8 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, WITH NO DOUBTING, for the one who DOUBTS is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
You see, DOUBT can be a dangerous thing. And that brings us to the Disciple we’re talking about today - the disciple that everyone knows as “Doubting Thomas.” I’m not sure when they starting calling him “doubting Thomas”, but one source noted that it was as early as the 6th century that artwork began to portray what had become known as the “Incredulity (or doubting) of Thomas.”
Now, of late, there’s been those who’ve thought this labeling of doubt has been unfair to Thomas. One person said “In the end, the nickname ‘Doubting Thomas’ is a rather unfortunate one. It’s true that Thomas demanded evidence of the miracle of Christ’s resurrection before he accepted the truth. Doubt factored into his response to his friends, but it was not the defining quality of his life. Thomas should be better known for his loyalty, his obedience to the gospel, and his faith. (https://www.gotquestions.org/Thomas-in-the-Bible.html)
In other words - cut Thomas some slack. He actually DID accept the truth of the resurrection after doubting for a bit. And he wasn’t really ALL that bad a guy.
Now others have rightly pointed out that Thomas wasn’t the only one who doubted Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. When the women reported to the Disciples that Jesus had risen “Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” Luke 24:10-11
And later we’re told “Jesus himself stood among (the disciples), and said to them, "Peace to you!" But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.” Luke 24:36-40
Really? I thought ONLY Thomas had to see the hands and feet of Jesus to be convinced! But here in Luke, ALL the disciples needed to see the nail prints to help with their doubts. Thomas was NOT the only one who doubted! They ALL did.
So, why did Thomas get so much attention about this? Well I think it was because he deserved the attention. And I don’t think it was because of his doubt as much as HOW he expressed his doubt. I believe it was because of how he expressed his doubt he deserved the LABEL “doubting Thomas.”
But, before we get to that, we need to realize that Thomas (and the rest of the disciples) should have known that Jesus was going to rise from the dead.
Matthew 16:21-22 (After Peter made the good confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God) Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you."
Mark 9:31-32 “He was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise."
Luke 18:31-34 And taking the twelve, he said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise."
Time, after time, after time, Jesus drove home the fact that He would DIE… but after 3 days He’d rise from the dead. But what is interesting about all 3 of the passages we just looked at - the disciples are described as struggling to understand what Jesus had said. In Matthew 16 Jesus told them He’d be killed and rise from the dead, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you."
Peter caught the part where Jesus would die, but not the part where He said He’d rise from the dead. In Mark 9 & Luke 18, Jesus tells the disciples he would be killed and rise from the dead. And then we’re told: “But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.”
It was like they heard what He said… but couldn’t connect the dots. They heard that He was going to die, but not that He’d rise from the dead.
I mean, THAT’S what Thomas heard. When Jesus told His disciples that He was going to Lazarus’ home (after Lazarus had been dead and buried) Thomas sensed the danger of going so close to Jerusalem where the leaders wanted to kill Jesus. And so Thomas said: "Let us also go, that we may die with him." John 11:16
He understood that Jesus would die, but not that He’d rise from the dead. But NONE of the disciples believed Jesus would rise from the dead either. It wasn’t just Thomas that doubted Jesus would rise from the dead - they all doubted that. So, why did Thomas receive the label “DOUBTER?” In my mind it wasn’t because of his DOUBT, it was because of what he SAID. In John 20:25 Thomas said "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."
None of the other Disciples said anything like that. They all doubted, but none of them was so brazen as to say “I WILL NEVER BELIEVE!” But Thomas did. I will NEVER believe!
As I was preparing for the sermon I came across the story of Peter walking on the water. It was a tremendous act of faith on his part, but we’re told that he began to sink because he saw the wind and waves. And as Jesus reached His hand to Peter to pull him up from the water, He asks "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31
When I read that I wondered “WHY DO PEOPLE DOUBT?” And I came to the conclusion that there are at least TWO reasons why folks doubt.
First, they REFUSE to believe. They’ve consciously decided NOT to believe. That’s the first reason.
1. For example, there are people who refuse to believe because they have sin in their lives. Years ago there was a married man who was a prominent member in a church I served. One day he told me of doubts he was having about the Bible. He told me of a number of “errors” in Scripture that he’d found. I tried to explain why they weren’t really “errors”… but he wasn’t listening. He was convinced he couldn’t trust Bible… and thus, he doubted God. Eventually he stopped coming to church, he divorced his wife and went off to live with another woman he’d been committing adultery with all during that time.
Suddenly, I realized why he refused to BELIEVE in the trustworthiness of his Bible. If he accepted the Bible as the unquestionable word of God he’d have to change his life. He’d have to repent of his sin; he’d have to leave the woman he was sinning with. So, he chose to refuse to trust God. He refused to believe and he let doubt take over. That way he didn’t have to change his lifestyle.
2. Other people REFUSE to believe because they trust something MORE than God. They doubt because their friends say God can’t do certain things. They doubt because “science” says God can’t do certain things. There is a fairly famous Christian speaker that I like to listen to. He’s very intelligent; easy to understand; I like the guy. But I was shocked to hear him say he refused to believe a certain miracle in Scripture because (he said) it “defied the laws of physics.”
Now there were two problems with his statement: 1st – he was saying that science/physics has a greater authority for him than God and His Word. And 2nd – He ignored the fact that EVERY MIRACLE in the Bible defies the laws of physics, including the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I’m sure that people rising from the dead after days in the grave violates some law of physics. So this man doubted because he trusted science more than God.
3. Other people REFUSE to believe because they personally believe in a small god. Their god in fits in a small box… and they don’t let Him out. They don’t believe He can very much because He has to “fit” in their box. Their god can’t do any miracles; their god can’t protect His Bible; their god doesn’t intervene on behalf of his people. These folks have a little god who lives in a little box. They doubt God because they don’t think He could do anything to begin with. And THAT was Thomas’ problem. His God was too small to raise Jesus from the dead, so Thomas refused to believe. He doubted because he served a little God.
By contrast there are people who have a BIG God. He speaks and it is done; He commands and it happens; He knows how to show Himself strong on behalf of them that fear him. People with a BIG GOD aren’t crippled with doubts because their God is too big for that.
So… some people doubt God because they’ve already decided to REFUSE TO BELIEVE - Either because their sin; Or because they trust something MORE than they trust God & His Word; Or because they believe in a small god who lives in a small box.
And those choices can be dangerous. They can rob folks of blessings they would have had otherwise. As someone said: “Pray, believe and receive – or pray, doubt … and do without.”
But what about the rest of us? What about those of us who would never think of refusing to believe God - but who still struggle with doubts.
Well, consider the story of Peter walking on the water. Jesus rebuked him for his doubt. And WHY did Peter doubt? Not because he refused to believe, but because he took his eyes off of Jesus. It’s when he quit looking at Jesus that he began to look at the wind & the waves. It was THEN that he began to doubt and to fear and - when his faith died within him… he began to sink beneath the waves.
Now, what that tells me is this: there is a way to protect myself against doubt and fear - I need to FOCUS ON Jesus! If I want to have a strong faith that isn’t crippled by doubt/fear, I need to FOCUS ON Jesus! And that’s what changed things for Thomas. His doubt turned to faith… when he looked at Jesus and thus he declared: “MY LORD, MY GOD!”
ILLUS: I recently saw a meme on Facebook that said this: “Here's my list of reasons why I’m not panicking with what’s going on in the world right now
1. Jesus”
CLOSE: I want to close with one of the most comforting stories I’ve ever read about Jesus. A father came to Jesus asking him to heal his son and he says to Jesus “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, "’If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:22-24).
And Jesus healed the man’s son.
But why? Why would Jesus heal this boy? The father had doubts. He admitted it - “Help My Unbelief” he says. In fact, in another part of the Gospels we’re told that in one town Jesus couldn’t do many miracles because of their unbelief in that town. They had unbelief… this father had unbelief - what was different about THIS MAN that Jesus would heal his son?
Well the town that had unbelief REFUSED to believe in Jesus. But this father CAME to Jesus because he knew that his only hope was Jesus. He had his doubts… but he remained focused on Jesus.
It’s only by looking to Jesus that we can overcome our doubts and receive the blessings God wants to give us. In fact, it’s that determination to focus on Jesus that is the first step toward salvation. As an old Gospel hymn puts it:
“If you are tired of the load of your sin, let Jesus come into your heart; If you desire a new life to begin, let Jesus come into your heart. (Chorus) Just now, your DOUBTINGS give over. Just now reject Him no more. Just now throw open the door. Let Jesus come into your heart.”
INVITATION
