24 Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t with the others when Jesus appeared to them. 25 So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won’t believe unless I do this!”
26 A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples 27 and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”
28 Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”
30 Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.
Read John 20:24-31 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
One of the few events that the gospels record following Jesus’ resurrection stands out to me as an incredible witness to us regarding our belief. Through Thomas’ example, we are able to understand another level of God’s blessing for those who follow Him.
John, who was present for both times Jesus was present records what happened. He tells us, “Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t with the others when Jesus appeared to them. So they told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’” (v. 24-25a)
We don’t know why Thomas was not with the other ten remaining disciples during that first meeting. He may have been getting supplies while they were hiding out in Jerusalem, or he may have been nervous to be with the remaining disciples as they feared their lives were in danger as well.
Whatever the reason was that he wasn’t with them, Thomas was not happy to have missed seeing Jesus. He responds to the other disciples’ joy by saying, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won’t believe unless I do this!” (v. 25b)
Thomas stands out to me as a first-century example of many people living throughout time. Many people take Thomas’ approach to believing in God/Jesus. These people reason that if God cannot be seen, touched, or measured, then God does not exist and there is no reason to believe in Him. Skeptics throughout time have used this argument for their lack of belief.
However life itself, with all its complexities is one example of evidence that God exists. The notion that evolution took a single living cell and transformed it into all the life we see around us is irrelevant when we simply look at the millions of dollars that are spent creating and developing devices that can preserve living (and life-worthy) tissue. Once a cell has died, there is a point when it can no longer be brought back to life – and that is with the best science and minds living today. Evolution says that random chance started life from nothing that we cannot even replicate being “intelligent” beings.
Looking at life makes it easy to believe in a Creator. It is easy to believe that Someone or Something smarter than us started life on our planet. Those who want to reject God because they cannot see Him have to make up theory after theory to support their foundation for this planet’s life and even its existence. While some theories have lasted longer than others, believing in a Creator is the simplest explanation for life on this planet.
However, when we return to our passage and look at what happened next, we see an amazing picture of God and His blessing us. The following weekend, the disciples were back together and Jesus appeared to them again (and Thomas was with them). After Jesus has invited Thomas to touch the scars and after Thomas has made his statement of belief in Jesus for having seen Him, Jesus responds by saying, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!” (v. 29)
Jesus elevates those who have faith in Him without needing to see Him personally. Faith in Jesus simply from looking at the evidence present in the world today brings blessings into our lives that those who require a visible sign cannot grasp. Too many scientists and people have rejected God because He doesn’t fit into their measurable picture of what He should be and by doing so, they miss the blessings that come from believing in Him – blessings that not only come in our present lives, but also blessings that come in the next age of “HisStory”.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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