The Apostle Thomas

Thomas - Scripture - John 20:24-29

The physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead is such a basic belief of Christian doctrine that the Christian faith literally stands or falls on this one event in history. Everything Jesus taught and everything we believe and practice revolves our belief in the resurrection of Christ.

The resurrection of Christ gives meaning to our lives, sets the standards of our attitude and behavior, and gives us the hope of everlasting life.

Now, just to remind you of the events of the resurrection. Jesus rose from the dead before dawn Sunday morning. By the time Mary Magdalene, Mary - the mother of James, and Salome arrived to complete preparing Jesus' body for burial they discovered the angel had rolled away the stone and that the Roman guard had gone to the Jewish leaders to tell them about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

So quickly the women ran to tell the disciples the news. Peter and John immediately ran to see the empty tomb for themselves. On Sunday afternoon Jesus appeared to 2 men walking toward the little village Emmaus. If you have seen that famous painting it's really pretty close to what I saw in Israel when I visited Emmaus in 1987.

On Sunday evening Jesus appeared to 10 disciples. Two of the original twelve disciples were absent. Judas had committed suicide. Thomas was apparently off by his pessimistic self. Sometime later that week, when Thomas saw the other disciples they told him they had seen Jesus alive. But Thomas would not believe them.

The name Thomas is negatively associated with doubt; but that really isn't fair to Thomas. There is nothing wrong with demanding evidence before we confess that we are believers in Christ. My guess is that if any one of the other disciples had not actually seen the risen Christ they would have doubted, too.

In fact when Jesus appeared to the 10 that first Sunday evening none of them believed. They thought Jesus was a ghost. Jesus showed them His hands, feet and side and they still would not believe. Finally Jesus ate a piece of fish to show them that He was not a ghost and they believed.

The fact is all the disciples were doubters; all were unbelievers until convinced by the evidence.

In order to appreciate the doubts and pessimism of Thomas we are going to look at the 4 times Thomas appears by name in the Bible.

1. John 11:16 - Jesus' friend, Lazarus, had died in Bethany and Jesus said He was going to raise Lazarus from the grave. The disciples objected to going to Bethany because it was so close to Jerusalem. The leaders of the Jews even then (3 mos. prior) were plotting to murder Jesus. The disciples were convinced that if Jesus went to Bethany He would be assassinated.

So the disciples tried to talk Jesus out of going to Bethany. But when they saw that Jesus was going
with or without them, Thomas spoke to the other disciples and said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him,"

This is not a statement of faith. But it is a great expression of courage.

Courage is easy for an optimist because he thinks that what he is going to do will succeed
But courage is difficult for a pessimist because he thinks that what he is going to do will end in disaster. When Thomas said to the other disciples, "Let's go with him", he fully expected the worst . . . to die.

Woody Allen expressed his pessimism for the future of the human race. "More than any other time in history, humankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."

That's pessimism!

1836 J. B. Bonham and 19 others fought their way INTO the Alamo to join 163 others brave souls who were trapped by Santa Anna's army of 4-6000 soldiers. There was no way possible for the defenders of the Alamo to defeat the Mexican army gathered against them. Yet these 183 men inside the Alamo fought until the last man was dead. It was as if J.B. Bonham and the other 19 courageously declared, "Let us go with them that we may die with them."

Courage is not the lack of fear . . . courage is to act in spite of one's anxiety. And we have to give credit to Thomas. He was not a coward. He was courageous enough to go with Jesus and at least to say he would die with Him.

2. The next time we hear from Thomas is in the Upper Room [John 14]. In one of the most sublime passages in the scripture Jesus told His disciples that He was going away . . . but that He would come again and take them to the place He was going to prepare for them. Immediately . . . Thomas spoke up and asked, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way."

Because of Thomas' question Jesus told us exactly the way to everlasting life, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

3.Now let's go to the heart of the matter [John 20:24-29]. The story of "Thomas the Doubter". During the week after the resurrection, when Thomas heard the news that Jesus was alive, he didn't believe it. And so the name - "Doubting Thomas".

Many Christians think that to doubt is to sin. But when you look back at the lives of the greatest characters of the Bible doubt is one thing they seemed to have in common.

Abraham laughed when God told him he was going to father a child.

Moses argued with God Who told him he was going to be the liberator of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage.

Gideon asked for a sign that God would be with him in battle and when he got the sign . . . he asked for another one.

Elijah - greatest of the prophets - thought his preaching was useless. God had to show him that there were 7000 other believers

Doubt can be good . . . as long as it is honest doubt . . . and not based on one's preconceived ideas and prejudices.

The actress Helen Hayes once cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving and before she served it to her husband and son she said, "Now I know this is the first turkey I've ever cooked. If it isn't right, I don't want anybody to say a word. We'll just get up from the table, without a comment, and go down to the hotel for dinner."

Then she went to the kitchen to get the turkey. When she returned to the dining room . . . there sat her husband and son with their coats on ready to go to a restaurant. Her family already dismissed the idea that the turkey would be any good. They had their coats on ready to go.

In Santa Rosa, CA there is a group of 75 self-appointed experts who call themselves the "Jesus Seminar". Stephen Mitchell, one of the experts, who doesn't believe the Bible is the word of God, has deleted from the Bible most of what Jesus said and most of the events of the life of Christ. He said, "We can't be sure of anything that Jesus actually said."

The leaders of the Jesus Seminar are John Crossan and Robert Funk and one of the experts they selected oo help them denounce the Jesus of the Bible is Paul Verhoeven. Most of you probably don't know who Verhoeven is but you will when I tell you the title of two of the movies he directed. "Basic Instinct" (staring Sharon Stone ) and "Showgirls".

Now - Do you suppose the director of Showgirls has any preconceived ideas about the Bible, Jesus, the morality of the Christian faith, and the message of redemption?

CNN Reported - Ted Turner's News Network - and hardly a bastion of Biblical Christian principles - said this about the Jesus Seminar's Paul Verhoeven. "What we have here is a guy who is desperately trying to make money by creating controversy. His claims are so outrageous and self-serving that they get attention. He's 69 years old - a turning point age - and he's dreamed of making a movie about the life of Jesus for many years. He's desperate, and this is the only way he can get the attention he seeks and make his dream of a movie about Jesus a possibility. And he admits that he hopes his book will be "a springboard" to raising enough money to make the movie.
There's no surprise then. It all comes down to money - and attention (i.e. fame)."

Verhoeven is probably like most skeptics who would believe Carl Sagan if he said, "There are 581,678,934,341 stars in the Milky Way." But if a sign says "Wet Paint" he would tell you that's ridiculous.

How often we trust each other
                   and only doubt our Lord.
We take the word of mortals,
                   and yet we distrust His word;

But, oh, what light and glory
                   would shine o'er all our days,
If we always would remember
                   God means just what He says.

Jeremiah the prophet saw people like Verhoeven coming. Jeremiah described thought processes of many skeptics. First a person breaks the laws of God. Then he tries to justify his sinfulness by denouncing the word of God and devising a new standard of morality that justifies their sinful behaviors. (Jeremiah 2:13)

Thomas's doubt was not like modern skepticism. Yes, it true Thomas did not believe (nor did the ten who first saw the risen Jesus on that first Sunday) Jesus resurrected from the dead. But when confronted with the living Christ He fell to his knees and cried, "My Lord and my God."

This is the 3rd great confession of faith made by an apostle. Nathanael - "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel." Peter - "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Now Thomas - "My Lord and My God."

What can we learn from the life of the apostle Thomas?

1. The reason Thomas became a doubter was because he left the companionship of his friends. He was not with the others when they saw Jesus on the day of the resurrection. Speculation about his reasons are his pessimism; feelings of betrayal, his loss of three years of his life trying to figure out who Jesus was.

Jesus described those who leave the fellowship of other believers as those who allow the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of riches to choke the word out of their lives.

The chances of overcoming doubts and discouragements by avoiding the companionship of other Christians is practically zero.

2. But Thomas got smart and returned to the company of the other 10 disciples. He still didn't believe them when they told him Jesus was alive, but at least he put himself in a position to be convinced.

3. Thomas had honest doubts. He said, "Unless I put my finger in the nail prints of His hands and put my hand in His side . . . I will not believe" But when saw Jesus he was convinced, he became a true believer.

The last time we see Thomas in the Scripture he was fishing with 6 other disciples on the Sea of Galilee. And this time when Jesus appeared to the disciples Thomas was there . . . never to leave them again.

Tradition is that Thomas became a missionary to India. When the Portuguese explorer, Vasco de Gama, arrived in India in 1500 he found churches of Christ already there. This is the living testimony of a doubter turned believer

One more thing about Thomas. Thomas was also called Didymus. Both names . . . Thomas and Didymus . . . mean twin. If Thomas was a twin we don't know who his twin was but we do know this: Thomas dedicated his life to duplicating himself. In the account of Thomas seeing Jesus for the 1st time after resurrection Jesus said something about you and me.

"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. True belief results in addition - not subtraction, multiplication - not division. True belief results in faithfulness, obedience, evangelism, optimism, and hope.

 

Back