Thomas The Doubter Series

Thomas the Doubter

John 11:1-16, 14:1-7, 20:24-29, 21:1-25

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

When we walk into a church building and sing the hymns and worship songs, pray, and have conversations concerning our walk with Jesus we try our very best to give the impression that we believe and never doubt God as our Lord whom always does good to those who love Him. And yet in the valleys and on the mountaintops, we have moments when the Devil plants seeds of doubt into our minds and as a result we sometimes question not only the path God wants us to take in life but also our salvation and His very existence! In the face of such doubts we should cry out like the father in Mark chapter nine, “I do believe, help me God with my unbelief,” but refuse to do so for what would the other members whom are “strong in the faith” think about our apparent weakness? After all, if we told them that there are times when we doubt God would ever forgive our heinous sins, that we sometimes wonder if there are other gods or paths to heaven, whether we are important to God, or even our occasional doubt that we are saved, would they not frown and see us as mere babes or worse yet not part of God’s family? When it comes to overcoming doubt, I think there is much that we can learn from Apostle Thomas. In the following sermon we are going examine four stores in the life of Thomas that clearly demonstrates that those whom obtain a strong faith are precisely the one’s that cry out to God daily help me with my unbelief!

Background on Apostle Thomas

Today we are going to continue the sermon series on the Twelve Apostles by examining the life of Thomas “the doubter.” Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that the book “Twelve Ordinary Men” by John MacArthur was used as the foundation for this sermon series. What little that can be known about Thomas comes mostly from four biblical accounts of his life as found in the book of John (11:1-16, 14:1-7, 20:24-29, 21:1-25). While his semitic name was Thomas in three of the four accounts in the book of John he is called by his Greco-Roman name “Didymus” which meant “the twin.” It would seem that Thomas had a twin brother but despite gnostic texts suggesting Jesus was his twin this is not supported by Scripture and therefore makes such a statement extremely unlikely. Thomas appears in the middle of the lists of apostles either being paired with Matthew or Phillip (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). While we know almost nothing of Thomas’ ministry role amongst the twelve disciples, there is considerable ancient testimony that Thomas carried the Gospel message as far as India. While some scholars claim that Thomas wrote several gnostic texts such as the Gospel of Thomas, Acts of Thomas, Infancy Gospel of Thomas and the Hymn of Jude Thomas the Apostle in the Country of the Indians; due to a lack of proof of authorship and due to these texts containing theology contrary to Scripture makes this claim to be untrue. When it comes to how Thomas was martyred, ironically as one “whose faith came of age when seeing the spear mark in his Master’s side,” he died for his faith by being run through by a spear!

Doubt Turned to Faith (John 20:24-29)

Except for Judas Iscariot, no apostolic legacy has been defined as negatively as Thomas’s based mostly on a singular event. To start off this event we are told that when Jesus first appeared to the twelve disciples Thomas was not present (verse 20). While the reason for Thomas being absent is not given one can’t help but wonder if Jesus’ crucifixion left him feeling alone, rejected and forsaken and was therefore in no mood to socialize. When the disciples told Thomas that they had seen the Lord one would have expected him to be ecstatic but instead with great pessimism he refused to accept the claim until he had “visual and tactile proof” of both seeing and touching the nail marks in Jesus’ wrists and the spear mark in His side (verse 25). A week later Jesus again appeared to the disciples and this time Thomas was present (verse 26). Upon appearance Jesus told Thomas to see and touch His wounds and in doing so to “stop doubting and believe” (verse 27). There is no indication that Thomas needed touch but mere sight to speak one of the strongest ascription given of Jesus’ deity, “my Lord and my God” (verse 28). Jesus then stated that it is good that Thomas’ sight led to belief, but it is even better when people believe despite never having seen Him (verse 29)!