2nd Sunday 0f Easter
“The Faith of Doubting Thomas”
2nd Sunday of Easter, April 19, 2020
Submitted to the church website due to Coronavirus outbreak
Bible lesson: John 20:19-29
John 20:19-29 NKJV Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." (20) When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. (21) So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." (22) And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. (23) If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (24) Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. (25) The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." (26) And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" (27) Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." (28) And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" (29) Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Introduction:
Several years ago, before everyone got busy with jobs or extracurricular activities, our family referred to Friday nights at our house as “junk and movie night.” We would usually rent a movie or two and eat things like pizza, cheeseburgers and chips. When I watch movies, I usually find myself looking at the characters and asking, is that a “good guy” or a “bad guy?" You see, Hollywood generally portrays its characters as either good guys or bad guys, and we have to understand which character is which if we’re going to understand the story line. The good guys always wear white hats, always shoot straight and always tell the truth. Bad guys always wear black, never shoot straight, lie through their teeth, and never have a single redeeming feature. In Hollywood, most everyone is either playing the role of a good guy or a bad guy.
But that’s not the way things are in real life. We still have the good and the bad, but most folks are a mixture of the two. Even the best people have feet of clay and even the worst people have an occasional good quality.
Even our Christian lives are lived in a struggle between these two sides of our nature. There is the side that calls us to follow God, to have fellowship with Him, and to obey His commandments. The Bible calls this side of our nature "the spirit." But there is another side of each of us that seeks to rebel against God and His commands; the Bible calls this side of us "the flesh." Every day our lives are a battlefield where the flesh and the spirit fight for supremacy.
And if you think that sounds overly dramatic, then listen to what Paul says in Romans 7. It’s a passage that can be a little bit confusing, so pay close attention:
Romans 7:14-15 NKJV For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. (15) For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
Romans 7:18-19 NKJV For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. (19) For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
Romans 7:22-23 NKJV For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. (23) But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Here, Paul captures the essence of the Christian struggle – it’s a struggle between right and wrong, between strength and weakness, between the flesh and the spirit. And the good that our spiritual nature wants to do very often is counterbalanced by the evil that our flesh insists on doing. That struggle goes on constantly. Our spiritual growth and maturity as Christians don’t stop the struggle; it only increases the number of victories that we win.
One of the problems that we face in this struggle, though, is that we sometimes think that we’re the only ones who feel that way. We look around at other people, other Christians, and we may see no signs of a battle taking place in their lives. We feel that battle between flesh and spirit raging within us, but we don’t see that struggle in anyone else. Everyone else seems to have it all together spiritually.
I remember hearing the story of two Christian men walking down the street, one of them about 40 years old and the other about 80. As they walked together, there was a beautiful young woman who walked by them going the other direction. As their conversation resumed, the 40-year-old said, "I’ll be glad when I’m old enough that I won’t have to struggle with thoughts of lust." And the 80-year-old responded, "So will I."
It’s true, isn’t it, that all Christians, no matter how mature, are pretty much like ducks swimming in the pond. On the surface we may appear to be calm, but underneath we’re all paddling like crazy, struggling with our faith and our feelings, torn between what we know is right and what we’re tempted to do.
I think it’s important for us to admit that. I think sometimes people who aren’t Christians get to know us and they say, "I don’t fit in with this group. They’ve got it all together and I’ve got so many struggles. They would never understand my struggles!" Or sometimes a new Christian has those feelings and feels guilty because nobody else seems to.
So, I think it’s important for us to admit that, to one degree or another, we all walk a tightrope of sorts between strength and weakness, between faith and doubt. Like ping-pong balls, we bounce back and forth between the two extremes, some days feeling very strong and spiritual, other days wondering how God puts up with us and with all the ways that we disappoint Him.
The plain truth is that we all struggle with the ups and downs in our spiritual lives. The same struggle went on back in Bible times. As we look to the scriptures, I want to talk about one of the apostles who experienced the same sort of struggle. I’m not talking about Peter, although he certainly had his ups and downs. Instead, I’m referring to Thomas.
Somewhere, hundreds of years ago, somebody began referring to Thomas as "Doubting Thomas." That title had its beginning in a passage we’ll look at in a little bit. It had its beginning in the fact that Thomas, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, refused to believe the Lord’s resurrection without verifiable proof. But I don’t think that the picture the Bible paints of Thomas is one of a doubter at all. In fact, one of the greatest single statements of faith in Jesus’ deity came from the lips a doubter turned spiritual warrior.
I. The Faith of the Doubter: Thomas
As we look to the scriptures, we find that Thomas is one of the lesser known disciples. We know that he was one of the twelve apostles and that he also went by the name of Didymus, which means "the Twin". Thomas didn’t belong to Jesus’ closest circle of friends (Peter, James, and John), and he didn’t stand out as a leader of the apostles. But he does, however, stand out in three different episodes recorded in John’s gospel. I think these three incidents in Thomas’ life tell us something very interesting about this man – and maybe something about ourselves as well.
A. The first incident (John 11)
The first incident, found in John 11, involves the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus had just received word that His good friend Lazarus was very sick. When He heard that, Jesus was on the west side of the Jordan River and far away from Bethany which was where Lazarus, Mary and Martha lived. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two more days. Then He told His apostles that Lazarus had died, and that they would now go to Bethany.
But Jesus had reached a point in His ministry where it had become dangerous for Him to move from place to place. His enemies were out to kill Him, and that was no secret. In John chapter 8 and then again in chapter 10, the Jews picked up stones and tried to kill Jesus. That opposition had centered around Jerusalem, and now Jesus was contemplating a trip that would take Him within two miles of that city. It was a dangerous trip, and His apostles recognized that fact. But listen to the words of the man that we call the Doubter:
John 11:16 NKJV Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."
In a way, Thomas sounds like Eeyore, friend to Winnie the Pooh
The trait that we see in Thomas at this point is loyalty. Here was a man who had no doubt waited his whole life for the Messiah. Thomas was convinced that he had found Messiah in Jesus. He was determined to cling to Christ with every fiber of his being even if that loyalty meant his own death. Because of a loyalty based on a strong faith, Thomas was able to say, "Come on guys. A lot of people at Jerusalem want to kill Jesus by stoning Him to death. Let’s go die with Him!" That’s loyalty.
B. The second incident (John 14)
The second incident, found in John 14, took place shortly before the crucifixion of Jesus. After Jesus predicted the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter and His own death on the cross, Jesus soothed His friends with some of the most beautiful words of scripture:
John 14:1-4 NKJV "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (4) And where I go you know, and the way you know."
On many occasions, Jesus had told His apostles where He was going, but they still didn’t understand. They didn’t understand how He was going to the Father, and they certainly didn’t understand the way Jesus was going, because that way was the cross. Jesus was going back to God the Father by dying. At that moment the disciples were confused and bewildered.
And, again, it was Thomas who spoke up. Thomas was the kind of person who was far too honest and far too earnest to be concerned with what other people thought of him. So, Thomas expressed his doubts and his failure to understand:
John 14:5 NKJV Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"
I think to a large extent Thomas’ question was a sign of his loyalty. He didn’t want Jesus to leave. He was willing to follow Jesus anywhere. He said, in essence, "OK, Lord, tell me where You’re going, and I’ll be right there with You." Thomas had a deep loyalty for Jesus, a loyalty based on faith. And that loyalty comes to the surface every time we meet Thomas.
But his statement of loyalty was also a statement of an imperfect faith. He was confused. He didn’t understand. He missed the spiritual beauty of Jesus’ statement and in effect asked the Lord for a Rand McNally road map with the route marked in red. We see "the faith of the doubter" – faith mixed with doubt. And we can see ourselves mirrored in Thomas.
C. The third incident (John 20)
We finally come now to our text this morning, the most familiar passage about Thomas:
John 20:19-20 NKJV Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." (20) When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
John 20:24-25 NKJV Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. (25) The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
John chapter 20 begins with Mary Magdalene discovering the empty tomb of Jesus. Peter and John also witnessed that empty tomb. Then after the apostles left, Jesus appeared to Mary. She told the apostles about this appearance. Then, later that day, as ten of the remaining eleven apostles were together behind locked doors, suddenly Jesus appeared to them. He showed them His hands and His side. The apostles were overjoyed to see that it was true – Jesus was alive!
But there was one apostle missing. Thomas wasn’t there for some reason. We don’t know why. We can speculate all day as to why Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples. We might assume that he wasn’t there because he had lost faith; he had totally given up and deserted the apostles.
We could also suggest that he wasn’t there because his faith was greater than the others. The overwhelming majority of the disciples were hiding because of fear that they might be the next ones to be crucified. Maybe Thomas wasn’t afraid, and thus didn’t fit in with his former associates! All of these ideas are pure speculation. The point of the matter is that he wasn’t there. Of course, the other apostles were very quick to tell Thomas about their experience with the risen Lord as soon as he returned. I can imagine the exciting conversation that took place between Thomas and the others who were hiding:
"Hey Thomas, did you happen to notice how much cantaloupes are going for at the farmers’ market? And we’re all going fishing later, you want to come? Oh, and by the way, we saw Jesus a little while ago, and He looks pretty good for someone they crucified three days ago. How much did you say the cantaloupes were...?"
Certainly not! I can picture them falling all over one another telling Thomas about the greatest event in all human history, the event that turned the world upside-down. Jesus had risen from the dead. He was alive, He was alive!
Now we come to the doubting part of doubting Thomas. Thomas wasn’t willing to accept their testimony about the resurrection. He told his friends that he wouldn’t believe Jesus was alive until he could see Jesus for himself. Until Thomas could see and touch the actual wounds, he wouldn’t believe. So, he remained in his disbelief for a solid week until Jesus appeared to him.
But why wouldn’t Thomas believe? Lest we be too hard on him, I think we need to realize that Thomas wasn’t asking for any further proof than had been already offered to the other ten apostles. In verse 20, when Jesus appeared to the ten apostles, He offered them His hands and side as proof.
John 20:19-20 NKJV Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." (20) When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
So, when Thomas said, "I won’t believe it until I see it," the proof he was looking for was no different from what the other apostles had already exprienced.
But I think there’s another consideration to be made in defense of Thomas. In Matthew 24, Jesus warned His apostles to be very careful when people made claims about His appearance.
Matthew 24:23-24 NKJV "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. (24) For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
It’s entirely possible, maybe even likely, that when Thomas heard that Jesus had appeared, he thought about that warning. And his reluctance to believe the message of the resurrected Lord may have been tied to his insistence on believing Jesus. Thomas could have been thinking, "Jesus warned me about reports like this; but I didn’t think that my own buddies would be taken in so quickly." It’s more than possible that Thomas’ statement of doubt is also a statement of great faith.
Whatever his motivation for disbelieving, it was his reaction when he finally saw Jesus that is especially impressive.
John 20:26-29 NKJV And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" (27) Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." (28) And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" (29) Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Thomas was driven to his knees before Jesus when he realized that it really was Jesus. He fell down before Christ and exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" Nowhere in all of scripture is there a greater statement of faith, and it comes from the lips of the man that we call "Doubting Thomas"!
I heard about a man who was driving his sport utility vehicle when he came to a detour sign that read, "ROAD UNDER REPAIR." Now this guy was driving an SUV. He wasn’t going to let a little construction stop him. So, he engaged the 4-wheel drive, went around the sign and got through the construction site with no problem. His success continued for about 20 miles until he came to the absolute end of the road because he came face to face with a huge gorge with no bridge.
The guy had no choice but to turn around and retrace his route back to the detour sign. When he approached the back side of the same construction sign, he read what someone had written on the back of sign: "WELCOME BACK, STUPID."
I’m sure glad that’s not the way Jesus welcomed Thomas back. Jesus met Thomas and his doubt with openness and love. I can even picture Jesus smiling; smiling to the point of being near laughter because of the look of surprise and joy on Thomas’ face when he finally had no doubt at all that Jesus was truly risen.
Once again, the loyalty of Thomas shone through. He was now convinced that the good news of the gospel is true – Jesus really had risen from the dead! Thomas was once again ready to follow Jesus anywhere and to put his life on the line. Legend has it that Thomas traveled to India to spread the good news about Jesus. While on his missionary trip, the pagans of India had to kill Thomas to keep him from telling the story of his dead Master who had come back to life. Thomas had once offered to follow Jesus even though it would mean his death. And if we can believe the legend, that’s exactly what happened.
II. The Faith of the Doubter: Us
It’s not wrong to doubt. Doubt is a natural part of life. Frederick Buechner once wrote: "Were there no room for doubt, there would be no room for faith, either." Sometimes our doubt even leads to faith.
In every recorded episode of the life of the apostle Thomas, there is a mixture of loyalty and doubt. His faith was always present, and it was always directed toward the right place. His faith was directed toward the only person worthy of our faith – Jesus Christ. But, at the same time, that faith was always incomplete, always imperfect. Thomas had a unique way of expressing confidence and doubt at the same time. But even in his doubt, that underlying loyalty to Christ was still there. It was that loyalty that made him a great servant of God. It’s what makes him such a great example for us.
How do we face times of crises? To whom do we turn for help?
The world teetered on the edge of Armageddon in 1962 when John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev played their game of high-stakes poker. Only there would be no winner if either unleashed the dogs of war. A single launched nuclear warhead would start a chain reaction ending in total destruction.
It all started when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev cut a deal with Fidel Castro. In return for Russian resources, the Cuban regime would allow the Soviets to install nukes ninety miles from the United States. When US spy planes photographed missiles pointed straight at the heart of America, President Kennedy called out Khrushchev. The Communist boss refused to back down. But the US was not going to allow a Soviet base in its backyard. American warships soon encircled Cuba with a naval blockade.
Kennedy had shoved a pile of nuclear poker chips across the table.
It was now Khrushchev's play. The wily old fox gambled that the young US president was bluffing and sent a fleet with contraband warheads toward Cuba. The world held its collective breath. Who would blink first? Or push the button? During those thirteen days of high anxiety, four Soviet submarines commanded by Captain Vasili Arkhipov shadowed American warships. Each sub carried nuclear warheads with the explosive power dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
The situation only got worse when US warships detected the subs. Next came the game of cat and mouse, search and destroy. The Soviets dove deep. For a week they sat in silence while conditions deteriorated.
As their batteries ran down, the air supply slowly played out. The heat in the subs was suffocating, and each submariner was rationed a single glass of water a day. Then the Americans began to drop explosives. Tempers finally snapped. Valentin Savitsky, captain of Sub B-59, was positive that war had started. He ordered his crew to launch their nuclear warheads. Had that happened, the other subs might have followed suit. But Vasili Arkhipov was in command of the squadron, and uncommonly cool under pressure. He vetoed Savitsky's order and commanded his subs to begin the long journey home.
They did not arrive to a hero's welcome. A Russian admiral said, "It would have been better if you'd gone down with your ship." Khrushchev's gamble had failed, and Brezhnev deposed him. Captain Vasili Arkhipov spent his final years in disgrace and obscurity. In 1989, he died of radiation poisoning. A decade after his death, the world finally learned about his heroism. He may have made a career-ending decision, but in that split-second he saved the world from a nuclear holocaust. Thirty years after his death, his widow Olga says that she is proud of her hero husband. We should all be grateful for this Soviet naval captain. The amazing story of Vasili Arkhipov reminds us that God always has the right person at the right time in the right place to accomplish His sovereign purpose. No matter what our world is facing today, remember these words by Corrie ten Boom:
Never be afraid to entrust an unknown future to a known God.
The Lord says, "When you’re tempted to sin, I’ll give you a way of escape," yet we still stumble and sin and then try to justify our weakness by saying, "I just can’t help it."
The Lord says, "Take no thought about tomorrow," and not only do we spend a great deal of time giving thought, but that thought drifts into worry and anxiety just like He knew it would.
The Lord says, "Nothing can separate us from the love of God...," and yet we spend so much time wondering how God could possibly love us.
The Lord says, "Lo, I am with you always...," and yet we fail to serve Him and His church because we don’t feel that we really have anything to offer.
We often betray the imperfection of our faith, and we know it. We know that we disappoint our Lord because we disappoint ourselves. It’s so easy to look at the proofs of our weak faith and become hopelessly discouraged. We have failed the Lord so often, too often.
And here’s where the example of Thomas comes in. I think Thomas shows us the great difference between "imperfect faith" and "faithlessness". While his confidence in the Lord wavered from time to time, his loyalty never did. Now he didn’t always know how to translate that loyalty into ways of thinking and acting, but that loyalty and love were always there, even when he had his doubts, even when he didn’t fully understand.
You see, the obedient faith that saves is not a perfect faith. It’s not a perfect faith without doubts and fears. Instead, it is a loyal faith. It is a faith that accepts Christ as its center. And while the expression of that faith may stumble at times, it never loses sight of its center. That’s the "faith of the doubter". That’s the lesson of Thomas.
I mentioned earlier about those who are not Christians who are a bit intimidated by what they seem to see in the church. I’ve known a lot of people who said, "I’ll become a Christian as soon as I get my life straightened out." And I think what they mean by that is that they have struggles in their lives and Christians don’t seem to have them, so they want to wait until the struggles disappear. And they never will.
And I think a lot of young Christians fall away discouraged because they thought that becoming a Christian would take away all the struggles, all the temptations, all the desires to do the things they wanted to do before they became Christians. And it doesn’t. As I said earlier, maturing as a Christian doesn’t take away the struggle; it merely means that we’ll win the victories more often.
I don’t know what the situation with your faith is as you read this. It may be that you’re struggling with doubt, struggling with things you don’t understand. There’s nothing wrong with that, nothing to be ashamed of. Our faith needs to go through those sorts of struggles before it can grow. May we all pray with the father who asked Jesus to heal his son in Mark 9:24, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." That is the faith of one who struggles, but it’s the only kind of faith we’ll ever know.
2nd Sunday of Easter, April 19, 2020
Submitted to the church website due to Coronavirus outbreak
Bible lesson: John 20:19-29
John 20:19-29 NKJV Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." (20) When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. (21) So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." (22) And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. (23) If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (24) Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. (25) The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." (26) And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" (27) Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." (28) And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" (29) Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Introduction:
Several years ago, before everyone got busy with jobs or extracurricular activities, our family referred to Friday nights at our house as “junk and movie night.” We would usually rent a movie or two and eat things like pizza, cheeseburgers and chips. When I watch movies, I usually find myself looking at the characters and asking, is that a “good guy” or a “bad guy?" You see, Hollywood generally portrays its characters as either good guys or bad guys, and we have to understand which character is which if we’re going to understand the story line. The good guys always wear white hats, always shoot straight and always tell the truth. Bad guys always wear black, never shoot straight, lie through their teeth, and never have a single redeeming feature. In Hollywood, most everyone is either playing the role of a good guy or a bad guy.
But that’s not the way things are in real life. We still have the good and the bad, but most folks are a mixture of the two. Even the best people have feet of clay and even the worst people have an occasional good quality.
Even our Christian lives are lived in a struggle between these two sides of our nature. There is the side that calls us to follow God, to have fellowship with Him, and to obey His commandments. The Bible calls this side of our nature "the spirit." But there is another side of each of us that seeks to rebel against God and His commands; the Bible calls this side of us "the flesh." Every day our lives are a battlefield where the flesh and the spirit fight for supremacy.
And if you think that sounds overly dramatic, then listen to what Paul says in Romans 7. It’s a passage that can be a little bit confusing, so pay close attention:
Romans 7:14-15 NKJV For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. (15) For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
Romans 7:18-19 NKJV For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. (19) For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
Romans 7:22-23 NKJV For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. (23) But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Here, Paul captures the essence of the Christian struggle – it’s a struggle between right and wrong, between strength and weakness, between the flesh and the spirit. And the good that our spiritual nature wants to do very often is counterbalanced by the evil that our flesh insists on doing. That struggle goes on constantly. Our spiritual growth and maturity as Christians don’t stop the struggle; it only increases the number of victories that we win.
One of the problems that we face in this struggle, though, is that we sometimes think that we’re the only ones who feel that way. We look around at other people, other Christians, and we may see no signs of a battle taking place in their lives. We feel that battle between flesh and spirit raging within us, but we don’t see that struggle in anyone else. Everyone else seems to have it all together spiritually.
I remember hearing the story of two Christian men walking down the street, one of them about 40 years old and the other about 80. As they walked together, there was a beautiful young woman who walked by them going the other direction. As their conversation resumed, the 40-year-old said, "I’ll be glad when I’m old enough that I won’t have to struggle with thoughts of lust." And the 80-year-old responded, "So will I."
It’s true, isn’t it, that all Christians, no matter how mature, are pretty much like ducks swimming in the pond. On the surface we may appear to be calm, but underneath we’re all paddling like crazy, struggling with our faith and our feelings, torn between what we know is right and what we’re tempted to do.
I think it’s important for us to admit that. I think sometimes people who aren’t Christians get to know us and they say, "I don’t fit in with this group. They’ve got it all together and I’ve got so many struggles. They would never understand my struggles!" Or sometimes a new Christian has those feelings and feels guilty because nobody else seems to.
So, I think it’s important for us to admit that, to one degree or another, we all walk a tightrope of sorts between strength and weakness, between faith and doubt. Like ping-pong balls, we bounce back and forth between the two extremes, some days feeling very strong and spiritual, other days wondering how God puts up with us and with all the ways that we disappoint Him.
The plain truth is that we all struggle with the ups and downs in our spiritual lives. The same struggle went on back in Bible times. As we look to the scriptures, I want to talk about one of the apostles who experienced the same sort of struggle. I’m not talking about Peter, although he certainly had his ups and downs. Instead, I’m referring to Thomas.
Somewhere, hundreds of years ago, somebody began referring to Thomas as "Doubting Thomas." That title had its beginning in a passage we’ll look at in a little bit. It had its beginning in the fact that Thomas, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, refused to believe the Lord’s resurrection without verifiable proof. But I don’t think that the picture the Bible paints of Thomas is one of a doubter at all. In fact, one of the greatest single statements of faith in Jesus’ deity came from the lips a doubter turned spiritual warrior.
I. The Faith of the Doubter: Thomas
As we look to the scriptures, we find that Thomas is one of the lesser known disciples. We know that he was one of the twelve apostles and that he also went by the name of Didymus, which means "the Twin". Thomas didn’t belong to Jesus’ closest circle of friends (Peter, James, and John), and he didn’t stand out as a leader of the apostles. But he does, however, stand out in three different episodes recorded in John’s gospel. I think these three incidents in Thomas’ life tell us something very interesting about this man – and maybe something about ourselves as well.
A. The first incident (John 11)
The first incident, found in John 11, involves the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus had just received word that His good friend Lazarus was very sick. When He heard that, Jesus was on the west side of the Jordan River and far away from Bethany which was where Lazarus, Mary and Martha lived. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two more days. Then He told His apostles that Lazarus had died, and that they would now go to Bethany.
But Jesus had reached a point in His ministry where it had become dangerous for Him to move from place to place. His enemies were out to kill Him, and that was no secret. In John chapter 8 and then again in chapter 10, the Jews picked up stones and tried to kill Jesus. That opposition had centered around Jerusalem, and now Jesus was contemplating a trip that would take Him within two miles of that city. It was a dangerous trip, and His apostles recognized that fact. But listen to the words of the man that we call the Doubter:
John 11:16 NKJV Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."
In a way, Thomas sounds like Eeyore, friend to Winnie the Pooh
The trait that we see in Thomas at this point is loyalty. Here was a man who had no doubt waited his whole life for the Messiah. Thomas was convinced that he had found Messiah in Jesus. He was determined to cling to Christ with every fiber of his being even if that loyalty meant his own death. Because of a loyalty based on a strong faith, Thomas was able to say, "Come on guys. A lot of people at Jerusalem want to kill Jesus by stoning Him to death. Let’s go die with Him!" That’s loyalty.
B. The second incident (John 14)
The second incident, found in John 14, took place shortly before the crucifixion of Jesus. After Jesus predicted the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter and His own death on the cross, Jesus soothed His friends with some of the most beautiful words of scripture:
John 14:1-4 NKJV "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (4) And where I go you know, and the way you know."
On many occasions, Jesus had told His apostles where He was going, but they still didn’t understand. They didn’t understand how He was going to the Father, and they certainly didn’t understand the way Jesus was going, because that way was the cross. Jesus was going back to God the Father by dying. At that moment the disciples were confused and bewildered.
And, again, it was Thomas who spoke up. Thomas was the kind of person who was far too honest and far too earnest to be concerned with what other people thought of him. So, Thomas expressed his doubts and his failure to understand:
John 14:5 NKJV Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"
I think to a large extent Thomas’ question was a sign of his loyalty. He didn’t want Jesus to leave. He was willing to follow Jesus anywhere. He said, in essence, "OK, Lord, tell me where You’re going, and I’ll be right there with You." Thomas had a deep loyalty for Jesus, a loyalty based on faith. And that loyalty comes to the surface every time we meet Thomas.
But his statement of loyalty was also a statement of an imperfect faith. He was confused. He didn’t understand. He missed the spiritual beauty of Jesus’ statement and in effect asked the Lord for a Rand McNally road map with the route marked in red. We see "the faith of the doubter" – faith mixed with doubt. And we can see ourselves mirrored in Thomas.
C. The third incident (John 20)
We finally come now to our text this morning, the most familiar passage about Thomas:
John 20:19-20 NKJV Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." (20) When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
John 20:24-25 NKJV Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. (25) The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
John chapter 20 begins with Mary Magdalene discovering the empty tomb of Jesus. Peter and John also witnessed that empty tomb. Then after the apostles left, Jesus appeared to Mary. She told the apostles about this appearance. Then, later that day, as ten of the remaining eleven apostles were together behind locked doors, suddenly Jesus appeared to them. He showed them His hands and His side. The apostles were overjoyed to see that it was true – Jesus was alive!
But there was one apostle missing. Thomas wasn’t there for some reason. We don’t know why. We can speculate all day as to why Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples. We might assume that he wasn’t there because he had lost faith; he had totally given up and deserted the apostles.
We could also suggest that he wasn’t there because his faith was greater than the others. The overwhelming majority of the disciples were hiding because of fear that they might be the next ones to be crucified. Maybe Thomas wasn’t afraid, and thus didn’t fit in with his former associates! All of these ideas are pure speculation. The point of the matter is that he wasn’t there. Of course, the other apostles were very quick to tell Thomas about their experience with the risen Lord as soon as he returned. I can imagine the exciting conversation that took place between Thomas and the others who were hiding:
"Hey Thomas, did you happen to notice how much cantaloupes are going for at the farmers’ market? And we’re all going fishing later, you want to come? Oh, and by the way, we saw Jesus a little while ago, and He looks pretty good for someone they crucified three days ago. How much did you say the cantaloupes were...?"
Certainly not! I can picture them falling all over one another telling Thomas about the greatest event in all human history, the event that turned the world upside-down. Jesus had risen from the dead. He was alive, He was alive!
Now we come to the doubting part of doubting Thomas. Thomas wasn’t willing to accept their testimony about the resurrection. He told his friends that he wouldn’t believe Jesus was alive until he could see Jesus for himself. Until Thomas could see and touch the actual wounds, he wouldn’t believe. So, he remained in his disbelief for a solid week until Jesus appeared to him.
But why wouldn’t Thomas believe? Lest we be too hard on him, I think we need to realize that Thomas wasn’t asking for any further proof than had been already offered to the other ten apostles. In verse 20, when Jesus appeared to the ten apostles, He offered them His hands and side as proof.
John 20:19-20 NKJV Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." (20) When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
So, when Thomas said, "I won’t believe it until I see it," the proof he was looking for was no different from what the other apostles had already exprienced.
But I think there’s another consideration to be made in defense of Thomas. In Matthew 24, Jesus warned His apostles to be very careful when people made claims about His appearance.
Matthew 24:23-24 NKJV "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. (24) For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
It’s entirely possible, maybe even likely, that when Thomas heard that Jesus had appeared, he thought about that warning. And his reluctance to believe the message of the resurrected Lord may have been tied to his insistence on believing Jesus. Thomas could have been thinking, "Jesus warned me about reports like this; but I didn’t think that my own buddies would be taken in so quickly." It’s more than possible that Thomas’ statement of doubt is also a statement of great faith.
Whatever his motivation for disbelieving, it was his reaction when he finally saw Jesus that is especially impressive.
John 20:26-29 NKJV And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" (27) Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." (28) And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" (29) Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Thomas was driven to his knees before Jesus when he realized that it really was Jesus. He fell down before Christ and exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" Nowhere in all of scripture is there a greater statement of faith, and it comes from the lips of the man that we call "Doubting Thomas"!
I heard about a man who was driving his sport utility vehicle when he came to a detour sign that read, "ROAD UNDER REPAIR." Now this guy was driving an SUV. He wasn’t going to let a little construction stop him. So, he engaged the 4-wheel drive, went around the sign and got through the construction site with no problem. His success continued for about 20 miles until he came to the absolute end of the road because he came face to face with a huge gorge with no bridge.
The guy had no choice but to turn around and retrace his route back to the detour sign. When he approached the back side of the same construction sign, he read what someone had written on the back of sign: "WELCOME BACK, STUPID."
I’m sure glad that’s not the way Jesus welcomed Thomas back. Jesus met Thomas and his doubt with openness and love. I can even picture Jesus smiling; smiling to the point of being near laughter because of the look of surprise and joy on Thomas’ face when he finally had no doubt at all that Jesus was truly risen.
Once again, the loyalty of Thomas shone through. He was now convinced that the good news of the gospel is true – Jesus really had risen from the dead! Thomas was once again ready to follow Jesus anywhere and to put his life on the line. Legend has it that Thomas traveled to India to spread the good news about Jesus. While on his missionary trip, the pagans of India had to kill Thomas to keep him from telling the story of his dead Master who had come back to life. Thomas had once offered to follow Jesus even though it would mean his death. And if we can believe the legend, that’s exactly what happened.
II. The Faith of the Doubter: Us
It’s not wrong to doubt. Doubt is a natural part of life. Frederick Buechner once wrote: "Were there no room for doubt, there would be no room for faith, either." Sometimes our doubt even leads to faith.
In every recorded episode of the life of the apostle Thomas, there is a mixture of loyalty and doubt. His faith was always present, and it was always directed toward the right place. His faith was directed toward the only person worthy of our faith – Jesus Christ. But, at the same time, that faith was always incomplete, always imperfect. Thomas had a unique way of expressing confidence and doubt at the same time. But even in his doubt, that underlying loyalty to Christ was still there. It was that loyalty that made him a great servant of God. It’s what makes him such a great example for us.
How do we face times of crises? To whom do we turn for help?
The world teetered on the edge of Armageddon in 1962 when John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev played their game of high-stakes poker. Only there would be no winner if either unleashed the dogs of war. A single launched nuclear warhead would start a chain reaction ending in total destruction.
It all started when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev cut a deal with Fidel Castro. In return for Russian resources, the Cuban regime would allow the Soviets to install nukes ninety miles from the United States. When US spy planes photographed missiles pointed straight at the heart of America, President Kennedy called out Khrushchev. The Communist boss refused to back down. But the US was not going to allow a Soviet base in its backyard. American warships soon encircled Cuba with a naval blockade.
Kennedy had shoved a pile of nuclear poker chips across the table.
It was now Khrushchev's play. The wily old fox gambled that the young US president was bluffing and sent a fleet with contraband warheads toward Cuba. The world held its collective breath. Who would blink first? Or push the button? During those thirteen days of high anxiety, four Soviet submarines commanded by Captain Vasili Arkhipov shadowed American warships. Each sub carried nuclear warheads with the explosive power dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
The situation only got worse when US warships detected the subs. Next came the game of cat and mouse, search and destroy. The Soviets dove deep. For a week they sat in silence while conditions deteriorated.
As their batteries ran down, the air supply slowly played out. The heat in the subs was suffocating, and each submariner was rationed a single glass of water a day. Then the Americans began to drop explosives. Tempers finally snapped. Valentin Savitsky, captain of Sub B-59, was positive that war had started. He ordered his crew to launch their nuclear warheads. Had that happened, the other subs might have followed suit. But Vasili Arkhipov was in command of the squadron, and uncommonly cool under pressure. He vetoed Savitsky's order and commanded his subs to begin the long journey home.
They did not arrive to a hero's welcome. A Russian admiral said, "It would have been better if you'd gone down with your ship." Khrushchev's gamble had failed, and Brezhnev deposed him. Captain Vasili Arkhipov spent his final years in disgrace and obscurity. In 1989, he died of radiation poisoning. A decade after his death, the world finally learned about his heroism. He may have made a career-ending decision, but in that split-second he saved the world from a nuclear holocaust. Thirty years after his death, his widow Olga says that she is proud of her hero husband. We should all be grateful for this Soviet naval captain. The amazing story of Vasili Arkhipov reminds us that God always has the right person at the right time in the right place to accomplish His sovereign purpose. No matter what our world is facing today, remember these words by Corrie ten Boom:
Never be afraid to entrust an unknown future to a known God.
The Lord says, "When you’re tempted to sin, I’ll give you a way of escape," yet we still stumble and sin and then try to justify our weakness by saying, "I just can’t help it."
The Lord says, "Take no thought about tomorrow," and not only do we spend a great deal of time giving thought, but that thought drifts into worry and anxiety just like He knew it would.
The Lord says, "Nothing can separate us from the love of God...," and yet we spend so much time wondering how God could possibly love us.
The Lord says, "Lo, I am with you always...," and yet we fail to serve Him and His church because we don’t feel that we really have anything to offer.
We often betray the imperfection of our faith, and we know it. We know that we disappoint our Lord because we disappoint ourselves. It’s so easy to look at the proofs of our weak faith and become hopelessly discouraged. We have failed the Lord so often, too often.
And here’s where the example of Thomas comes in. I think Thomas shows us the great difference between "imperfect faith" and "faithlessness". While his confidence in the Lord wavered from time to time, his loyalty never did. Now he didn’t always know how to translate that loyalty into ways of thinking and acting, but that loyalty and love were always there, even when he had his doubts, even when he didn’t fully understand.
You see, the obedient faith that saves is not a perfect faith. It’s not a perfect faith without doubts and fears. Instead, it is a loyal faith. It is a faith that accepts Christ as its center. And while the expression of that faith may stumble at times, it never loses sight of its center. That’s the "faith of the doubter". That’s the lesson of Thomas.
I mentioned earlier about those who are not Christians who are a bit intimidated by what they seem to see in the church. I’ve known a lot of people who said, "I’ll become a Christian as soon as I get my life straightened out." And I think what they mean by that is that they have struggles in their lives and Christians don’t seem to have them, so they want to wait until the struggles disappear. And they never will.
And I think a lot of young Christians fall away discouraged because they thought that becoming a Christian would take away all the struggles, all the temptations, all the desires to do the things they wanted to do before they became Christians. And it doesn’t. As I said earlier, maturing as a Christian doesn’t take away the struggle; it merely means that we’ll win the victories more often.
I don’t know what the situation with your faith is as you read this. It may be that you’re struggling with doubt, struggling with things you don’t understand. There’s nothing wrong with that, nothing to be ashamed of. Our faith needs to go through those sorts of struggles before it can grow. May we all pray with the father who asked Jesus to heal his son in Mark 9:24, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." That is the faith of one who struggles, but it’s the only kind of faith we’ll ever know.