John 20:24-31


John 20:24-31
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” 30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
We have a saying that “seeing is believing.”  Actually, just the opposite is true: “not seeing is believing.”  It does not take any faith to believe something that you have seen.  When we don’t see, and yet believe, that it is what true faith is all about.  We were not alive when Jesus walked the earth.  We have not seen Him the way the disciples saw Him.  There are blessing associated with belief.  One day, we will see Jesus as He is and realize that there is so much about Him we did not know and our worship will be enriched.  Until then, we must “see” with the eyes of faith.

THOMAS REFUSES TO BELIEVE: Thomas has been forever nicknamed “Doubting Thomas” because of his statements in this passage.  He had heard the teachings of Christ, read the prophecies of Scripture and heard the accounts of the many who had seen Jesus; yet he refused to believe.  He even went so far as to say that unless he personally saw Jesus, he would not believe.  His distrust of the testimony of his friends is concerning and reveals that there must have been some deep pain associated with all that had transpired in the crucifixion.  This type of feeling is usually brought on by expectations that are unfulfilled and disappointment we face.  There are times when we have expectations that are completely unrealistic.  When expectations go unmet, it is easy for us to become angry or doubtful instead of evaluating our expectations.  Thomas expected a kingdom but got a crucifixion.  We may be expecting peace and prosperity but experiencing conflict and persecution.  It is important for us to adjust our expectations and preserve our faith in the Lord.

THOMAS RETURNS TO BELIEF: Jesus once again comes into a locked room with the disciples and greets them with a desire for peace.  This time Thomas is with them and Jesus comes to him and offers His hands feet and side for Thomas to see.  Jesus does not scold Thomas or reject him because of his doubts.  Jesus restores Thomas to faith.  Jesus can handle our doubts and fears and graciously works to draw us closer to Him.  Finally, Thomas recognizes Jesus as His Lord and God.  Jesus commends Him for believing but then points to the many people in that as well as future generations who would believe without the benefit of seeing all that Thomas saw.  We, like every generation, are given the opportunity to believe or reject Jesus.  Believing Him means recognizing Him as our Lord and our God and trusting Him as our only Savior from sin. There are great blessings in believing and dire consequences for rejecting Jesus.  One day we will see Him, and our lives will be eternally transformed by and for His glory.

JOHN RECORDS FOR OUR BELIEF: John concludes his Gospel by recording His purpose for writing, which is our belief.  We may not be able to physically see Jesus, but we have been given “sight” through the eyes of John.  He has recorded a small percentage of the events, miracles and teachings of Jesus so we would not follow the footsteps of Thomas who struggled with doubts and unbelief.  The secret to being able to please God is faith.  The source of our faith is the Spirit of God using the Word of God to assure us of the truth of God.  The basic content of our faith is that Jesus is the Son of God.  The result of faith is that we have life.  We can be so thankful for the Scriptures and our access to the Word of God.  May we faithfully study God’s Word so our faith in Jesus might grow and allow us to truly live in a way that reflects the eternal life He has given us through faith.
 
APPLICATION: Don’t allow frustrated expectations derail your faith in the Lord.  Our lack of understanding about our circumstances should draw us closer to Jesus as we trust Him to care for us when we don’t understand how to do that.  Study the Word of God and allow the promises of God to strengthen our faith.  Don’t wait to see Jesus before believing in Him because then it will be too late. 

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