'doubting' Thomas

John 20:19-31

This is the Sunday that we hear about and celebrate the apostle commonly known as ‘Doubting Thomas’, considered by some theologians to be one of Jesus’ ‘bad boys’.

We find the other ten disciples cowering in a room, afraid to come out. The doors were shut and locked; the drapes were drawn, the widows were closed and the disciples were full of fear and despair. They have just seen their Lord and Master crucified on a cross and buried. Then on the third day His body disappeared from the tomb. Although the angels at the tomb tried to reassure them, they were still afraid.

"Overwhelmed" is a good way to describe the disciples after Jesus died, huddled together in their fear and confusion, not knowing where to turn or what to do next. Their leader and teacher who had held them together all those long months was dead and buried, executed like a common criminal, and his body now missing from the tomb. What a disappointing turn of events! When Jesus was laid in that tomb, there went all their hope, their vision, their sense of direction and purpose in life. They were left only with an overwhelming sense of failure, loss, and shame, because they knew they had deserted Jesus in his hour of need. Were they more disappointed and disillusioned with themselves or with Jesus, who had raised their hopes so high?

What were they afraid of? I don’t think they were just worried that those who killed Jesus would kill them as well. Their fear went deeper. Maybe they didn’t want to deal with the scorn or ridicule of those who knew they had failed. They had even failed at protecting Jesus. They had denied knowing him. In spite of all their earlier bravado, all their zeal and conviction, they were afraid of the cross. And ashamed.

So on the night of the first Easter Sunday, the disciples were hiding together behind locked doors. They didn’t remember or wouldn’t believe Jesus’ promise of resurrection. Imagine the speculation which took place behind those closed doors:

• They feared those who caused the death of Jesus would come after them. Not an unrealistic concern.

• The suspected someone had stolen Jesus’ body

• Or perhaps they would be accused of stealing His body

• They surely wondered where the body of Jesus was

• But most of all, they were paralyzed with fright - they did not know what to do or what was going to happen to them.

But they must surely also have felt shame:

• Ashamed that they had not been able to save Jesus,

• Ashamed that they had deserted and denied their leader, their Lord

• And perhaps, ashamed that they did not believe in Jesus enough to feel assured of His resurrection.

I have to ask you, who are the ‘bad boys’ here?

Here at the very heart of the Easter gospel, when the mightiest act of God is occurring, when Jesus has just been raised from the dead by the power of God, when the blaring trumpets of Easter have exploded in celebration, we learn there is doubt. That there is plain, old fashioned doubt. On such a grand occasion as Easter morning, you would have expected the disciples to have been filled with awe and adoration. But the Bible tells us on that first Easter Sunday, there was doubt.

On the first Easter Sunday the disciples were gathered together, the doors were locked. Suddenly they became aware that Jesus was standing among them. The same thing happened the following Sunday.

Thomas was the only disciple out running the streets. We do not know for sure why he wasn’t with the rest of the disciples, but we are told that he was not.

Was he faithless, separating himself from the community?

So where was Thomas anyway that first Easter Sunday? In my childhood Sunday school classes, Thomas was a "bad guy." When the other ten disciples told him that Jesus was alive after his crucifixion, Thomas refused to believe it. He separated himself from the others and demanded to see Christ for himself. In short, we learned that he was a dull, doubting follower of Christ whom we should not imitate.

The moral of the story was clear -- Don’t be like Thomas! Believe! Don’t doubt!

Remember, Mary Magdalene had told the group that she has seen Jesus. Maybe Thomas couldn’t imagine hiding when someone has just reported seeing Jesus alive. Perhaps he was trying to find out the truth. Or maybe he was the only disciple with enough sense to recognize that this hiding thing could take a long time, and that he’d better go out and get milk and bread for the group.

Have you ever been to a party or a ball game or a concert and the next day a person comes up to you and says, “You should have been here last night. That was a fabulous game. Or, the Braves won last night in the fifteenth inning. Or, you should have been at that concert last night.”