Thursday, April 19, 2012
More
words from Jesus post-resurrection. These words come from John 20:24-29:
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not
with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told
him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his
hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I
will not believe it.”
26 A week later his
disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors
were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and
put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to
him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told
him, “Because
you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have believed.”
Thomas
was an honest doubter. I think there are two types of doubters: 1) there are
really hard shelled rationalists who say, “I don’t believe it and there is
nothing that will make me believe it.” They are not looking for answers they are
looking for an argument. 2) The other
doubter is one who says, “I don’t believe but I am willing to believe if I can
see for myself.” That was Thomas. He is
not an unbelieving skeptic; he’s an interested doubter.
There
are three things that transform Thomas from doubting the Lord to shouting for
the Lord, or believing in Him.
1.
The stubborn love of
Jesus –
Jesus transforms Thomas by his love. I see this in verses 26-27. Jesus shows up again, but this time just for
Thomas. Jesus connects with Thomas at the spot that Thomas needs him the most.
He met Thomas at his doubts. That’s real
love. Jesus doesn’t say, “Shame on you,
Thomas”. But he says, “Peace to you
Thomas”. And lovingly, Christ lets
Thomas touch his side and his hands so he could believe. That’s the way Christ
is; he meets us at our point of weakness and strengthens us with his love. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown
himself”. Jesus will never forsake
his own, even when our faith is running low, he will meet us and lift us. That’s what he did for Thomas.
2. The confession of Thomas – this is the shouting part. Thomas
confessed Jesus as his Lord and his God. That’s the greatest confession anyone
can ever make. Notice it’s not just Jesus is Lord and Jesus is God. It’s personal – Jesus is my Lord and my
God. Have you made that confession?
3.
The lesson of Jesus – This teaching moment
from Jesus is very powerful. Note verse 29 – You believed because you’ve seen.
Blessed are those who haven’t seen and still believed. It’s one thing to see and believe; it’s a
greater thing to believe and not see.
It’s weak faith to say God do this or that so I can believe you. It’s
mature faith to say Lord I believe you no matter what, you can do what you want,
I still believe you. “Faith is the
substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things NOT SEEN!” Heb. 11:1
We walk by faith not by sight – 2 Cor. 5:7
Some of the strongest doubters can become the
strongest believers in the Lord. God’s
blessings will flow to us if we will believe and confess that Jesus is my Lord,
Jesus is my God. The risen Jesus changes us from doubting to believing with his
faithful love. He meets us with His peace; not shame. He raises our weak doubts
to strong belief. If you have honest
doubts today, come back to this basic reality, Jesus Christ is living
today. If you believe that – He will
move your doubts to shouts.
Are you a doubter or a shouter?
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