John 20:24-29. 24Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So 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.”
26Eight 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.” 27Then 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.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Thomas missed it when Jesus first appeared to the Disciples. They all got to see the resurrected Jesus, but not Thomas. And when they told Thomas about it, he refused to believe. Have you ever had a hard time believing something? Something about Jesus?
Are you a Christian? If you are it is because you believed something about Jesus. Likely something that you did not see with your eyes. You didn’t see Jesus die on the cross. You didn’t see Jesus rise from the dead either. You probably didn’t demand to see Jesus physically before you would trust in him. If you had, you’d still be waiting. That’s why Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
That’s us! We believe in Jesus even though we don’t see him. But that doesn’t make us better than Thomas. In fact, there is much we can learn from Thomas. What can we learn from him?
First, like we said yesterday, Thomas teaches us that Jesus rose from the dead physically, in a body – HIS body. Thomas demanded a physical resurrection and so should we. Not in a doubting way, of course, but in a way that remembers that we need Jesus to have died for us as a person. Thomas wanted to see Jesus’ wounds on his hands and feet and so should we. And one day we will! Jesus will have those same wounds forever. Why? So that we never forget how he died for us to take away our sins.
Second, we can learn that we need God’s peace through Jesus.
When Jesus entered the room and stood in the middle of the disciples, he did not say what we might say – “Thanks for nothing you guys. Why’d you leave me to be killed? I thought you were my friends. Now I’m gonna have to teach you all a lesson.” Nope. Jesus saw them and offered them peace. Forgiveness. Grace. Kindness. Patience. And love. And he offers all these things to us too. Thomas received this grace of God and so must we.
Finally, we can learn from Thomas to trust Jesus as our Lord and our God. Thomas wasn’t just happy that his friend was still alive. He didn’t say, “Wow, what an amazing miracle, just like Lazarus.” Thomas didn’t even say, “Clearly you were sent from God.” All of these thoughts are true, but Jesus is so much more.
HE IS GOD!
Within seconds of seeing Jesus raised from the dead, people are worshiping him as God. THE God. The same God who created the world. The same God who parted the Red Sea. The same God who conquered empires. Jesus is that God.
Thomas believed that Jesus as God. The savior of the world. And this faith will send Thomas around the world as a missionary for Jesus. Thomas will travel further than any other of the disciples, over 5,000 miles, all the way to India. There, Thomas will help the sick, the poor, and the needy. He will build churches and preach the gospel. To this day there are Christians in India because of Thomas.
Like Thomas, we all have questions. Look at Jesus for all the answers. Look to him as God, as Lord, as Savior, and as your peace giving friend. Then go tell others about him too.
You: What questions do you have about Jesus?
You with Jesus: Do you believe that Jesus is God? If he is truly God what does that mean about hwo we should trust him and obey him?
Prayer: Father, I have peace in my heart because I have Jesus in my heart. I still have questions and doubts sometimes but I want to trust you more and more. Help me to courageously tell others about Jesus like Thomas did. Amen.
TLICfamily 