This Ain't No Joke!

“Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘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.’

“Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” [1]

What will it take for you to believe what Christ the Lord says? I’m not speaking to outsiders; I’m speaking to people who profess to believe Him. But I’m asking what it will take to believe Him. Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” [MATTHEW 28:18-20]. What will it take for you to believe that He is always with you? What will it take before you fulfil the command to make disciples as you are going? It is not possible to say you love Christ when you neither obey Him or rely on the promises He has given.

The Son of God says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” [JOHN 14:27]. What will be required before you begin to walk in peace though the world about you rages? Why do so many professed followers of Christ torment their souls by failing to rest in Him?

The Master commands His followers to love one another. Jesus has said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another” [JOHN 15:12-17]. What sort of love is it that allows us to say, “I’ll love you if..?” What will be required before we begin to love one another deeply from the heart?

The promises of the Saviour, and the commands that He has given, are meant for those who follow Him to seize and to obey. We hear the stories related by others throughout the centuries since our Master conquered death, and we don’t doubt that these are true accounts of others who went before us; and yet, we act as though we have an exemption from obedience. Like Thomas, we bluster, “Unless I receive a special dispensation, I will not believe, I will not obey.” Nothing much has changed; we still demand God’s special dispensation for ourselves.

CASUALLY DISMISSING THE TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES — When the other disciples related what they had witnessed when the Risen Lord had appeared in their midst, Thomas rejected the report, responding, “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 20:25b]. This was an incredibly strong statement, but we have every reason to believe that Thomas was given to taking bold positions. However, the words Thomas spoke and the emphatic manner in which he expressed himself is no less strong than the response we Christians pronounce to some testimonies we may have heard. Rather than using sanctified caution as we ought, we can be amazingly stern in rejecting the testimony others may present when they speak of God’s gracious work. It is one thing to seek confirmation of God’s work in our own lives, but we too often neglect the need to be generous toward others when we hear of His powerful work in their lives.