Thomas The Doubter Series

Sometimes popular ideas about biblical characters are so

accepted that one is compelled to go along with them almost as if

they were inspired, but they are often arbitrary and superficial. No

one ever calls John the Baptist John the doubter, yet his experience

of doubt was far more serious than that of Thomas. He had

proclaimed of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God.” But as he sat in

Herod’s prison he had doubts and sent his disciples to ask Jesus if

He was really the Messiah. Jesus did not rebuke him just as He did

not rebuke Thomas. Jesus accepted those who had a quest for

evidence, and He gave it in both cases.

Thomas, however, got tagged as the doubter because of his one

experience. On this basis he gained a reputation as if he was a

skeptic. The fact is we have as much evidence on record as we need

to call him Thomas the dedicated defender. He is the only other

disciple of the 12 who matches Peter in his commitment and

confession. When Jesus determined to go back to Jerusalem, it was

Thomas who said, “Let us go and die with Him.” It is Thomas who

gives the clearest confession of the deity of Christ when he said, “My

Lord and my God.” The Bible does not call him doubting Thomas

because it does not stereotype people on the basis of one week of

their life. It remains true, however, that though it was only briefly,

Thomas was a doubter, and we want to examine that aspect of his

life.

God said let there be light and there was light, and darkness

gave way to brightness. This is the way God works both in nature

and in man. During World War I a young American sailor gave his

testimony of how God brought him out of darkness into light. His

ship was torpedoed, and he and 4 other men were on a raft in the

ocean for 32 hours. He had a New Testament in his pocket, which he

hardly ever read before, but he began to read it now. Three of the

men made fun of him, but the 4th said, “Read on buddy, and read

loud so I can hear.” He read the Bible and prayed for God to save

them. Night came and one by one the 3 scoffers slipped from the

raft into a dark eternity. The 2 who were left prayed for God to

save them, and after what seemed like an eternity a search light

appeared from a U. S. Destroyer. Joy filled their souls, for they knew

their sins were forgiven and they dedicated their lives to serve

Jesus.

You can imagine the doubts and fears of these men as the

clung to a raft in the darkness. They had something, however, which

the other 3 did not have to hang onto. They had the promises of

God’s Word, and God never refuses the true seeker. Not many

have that identical experience, but they do go through the agony of

dark mental doubts, and we want to look at the experience of

Thomas to see if we can gain some insights into the causes and cure

of doubt.

I. THE CAUSE OF HIS DOUBT.

The other disciples were not exactly men of great faith at this

point. That very morning they did not believe the women who told

them that Jesus had risen. They were all doubters of the

resurrection. Now we find them meeting behind locked doors for

fear of the Jews. They were not strong but they stayed together and

did not scatter. So we have here the first Christian meeting as all of

the Apostles were filled with fear. Jesus came and demonstrated

that He was alive and they are glad. But there were only 10 there

for the betrayer was gone and the doubter was absent. We know

Judas was dead, but where was Thomas? The very first Christian

meeting and someone is missing, and as usual, it is the one who most

needed to be there for his faith was the most shattered. If Thomas

had been there his wound could have been healed, but he was not.

Many are they whom God would comfort and heal, but they are

absent from the place where he appears. We see the danger of non-

attendance with others for worship and instruction. Forsaking the

fellowship is the first step to forsaking the faith.

Thomas was not there, but that was not the cause of his doubt.

It was the cause for its continence, however, for the others had joy

when he remained in sorrow. He was not doing anything wrong, but

he was just not where he should have been. We shall see, however,

that Jesus was not hard on Thomas, and so we should not be either.