We are so glad that you’re here with us this morning to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. That event is without a doubt the single most significant and meaningful event in the history of mankind. But the significance of the resurrection is not just found in the gospel accounts of the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus, as important as those are. It is not found in all the commentaries that provide us with the scientific research that confirms and supports those accounts. To me the significance of the resurrection of Jesus is found in the way that it impacted the lives of ordinary people who are much like all of us, and in the way it continues to impact lives nearly 2,000 years later. No other event in history can claim to do that.
So each year as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, I like to take a look at one of the people whose life was greatly impacted by the resurrection of Jesus. We’re going to do that again this year as we look at this passage from John’s gospel:
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."
John 20:24-29 (NIV)
In a Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown is talking with Lucy as they walk home on the last day of school. Charlie Brown says to Lucy: “Lucy, I got straight A’s. Isn’t that great!”
Lucy in her typical fashion shoots down poor Charlie Brown and says: I don’t believe you Charlie Brown. Unless you show me your report card, I cannot believe you.”
This morning, we’re going to look at the account of a man who was a lot like Lucy, a man who would not believe until someone showed him the evidence.
Although we don’t know a whole lot about Thomas from the Biblical accounts, almost all of us associate him with the nickname that he has been given as a result of this account I just read – “Doubting Thomas”. As I hope you’ll see this morning, that is really not a very accurate moniker for Thomas. In fact, when John wrote his gospel, probably after Thomas had died, the only nickname he used was “Didymus”, a Greek word that means twin, the very same meaning as his Aramaic name, Thomas.
As I mentioned, the gospel writers don’t tell us a lot about Thomas. In fact, Matthew, Mark and Luke merely include him in the list of the names of the apostles but don’t tell us anything else about him. In addition to the account we just read, John records two other events that give us some insight into Thomas, so let’s look at those briefly.
The first event occurs as Jesus is getting ready to return to Judea to raise Lazarus from the dead. The apostles knew that it was dangerous for Jesus to return to that area because the Jews were looking to stone Him. But Thomas responded with these words:
Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
John 11:16 (NIV)
Thomas doesn’t sound like much of a doubter there, does he? He is willing to accompany Jesus even if that means his own life might be in peril.
The other recorded incident involving Thomas occurs in John 14 when Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to prepare a place for them and promises to come back to take them to be with Him there. Although I’m sure the other disciples were confused about what Jesus was saying, Thomas was the only one who was willing to speak up and ask Jesus to explain what He meant:
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
John 14:5 (NIV)
Because Thomas was bold enough to ask the question, we have this response of Jesus which is crucial to our faith:
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6 (NIV)
When we view all these accounts together we begin to get a more complete picture of who Thomas was. Rather than being a doubter, we find that he was a bold follower of Jesus who wasn’t just content with religious clichés or a religion that merely satisfied his own wishful thinking. He was willing to ask the hard questions so that He could understand Jesus, not just on his own terms, but in accordance with the truth.
In a sense, Thomas has received a bum rap. There is nothing in the gospel accounts that would justify the conclusion that he was especially hard-hearted or resistant to believing in Jesus. In fact, if you read the gospel accounts carefully, you’ll find that every single follower of Jesus only came to believe in Him and the reality of His resurrection after some kind of first-hand empirical evidence.
When Mary came back at told Peter and John that the tomb was empty they didn’t believe it until they ran to the tomb and saw for themselves. After Jesus spoke to Mary and she returned to tell the disciples, they didn’t fully believe until Jesus appeared to them later that evening. Like the others, Thomas was not about to believe based only on the testimony of others. He needed that same empirical proof that the others had already seen.
I think Thomas really did want to believe the reports of the others. But based on everything that he had seen and he knew, all the facts pointed in another direction. So before Thomas could believe he had to personally see Jesus and make sure it was Him, the same Jesus he had seen die on the cross and not just a ghost or a dream or a vision. Perhaps he was even thinking of the words that Jesus had shared with him and the other disciples just a few days earlier:
"So if anyone tells you, ’There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ’Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
Matthew 24:26 (NIV)
Even if it was his own friends and fellow disciples telling him it was Jesus, Thomas had to see for himself.
I’m convinced that the Holy Spirit led John to include this account in his gospel because it is still relevant for us today. There are a lot of us, who like Thomas, are skeptical about the resurrection. We want to see the evidence for ourselves. Obviously none of us here have ever seen Jesus in the flesh as proof of His resurrection, but our belief in that event is certainly not the result of anything close to “blind faith”. We do have evidence, primarily the eyewitness accounts we find in the gospel, not only of the resurrection itself, but also the tremendous impact it made in the life of people like Thomas who saw the resurrected Jesus first-hand.
There are three important lessons that we can learn from Thomas’ encounter with Jesus:
1. Jesus reveals Himself to those who seek Him
It is quite apparent from this account that Jesus knew all about Thomas’ skepticism. That is an important observation because it confirms that Jesus is God since He was clearly omniscient – all knowing. When He entered the room, He greeted the entire group with the words “Peace be with you”, the very same greeting that He had used a week earlier. But then He immediately turned to address Thomas’ skepticism by inviting him to touch the wounds in His hands and side – exactly what Thomas said he would need to do in order to believe that Jesus was alive.
Even though ten of the eleven apostles had already seen Jesus alive and had continued to tell Thomas about that experience, Jesus came back again one week later just for Thomas’ sake. Just think about that. The One who created the entire universe is not too busy to meet even one person who is earnestly seeking after Him. I’m reminded of Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount:
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7 (NIV)
We often tend to apply those words to prayer, which is certainly appropriate, but there is no doubt that it also applies to those who are seeking the truth about Jesus. Jesus promised that those who earnestly seek Him will find Him. As Jesus spoke these words to His followers, I can’t help but think that He had the words of Jeremiah the prophet in mind.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
Perhaps you’re here this morning because you still have some questions about who Jesus is and whether or not He really did arise from the grave and is alive today. Maybe you’re a lot like Thomas – you’re not quite sure about this miracle that we celebrate each Easter. But just the fact that you’re here today seeking Jesus is a good thing. Maybe you’re that one person here this morning who is earnestly seeking the One who is truth, Jesus. And the good news is that Jesus cares enough about you that even if there are tens or even hundreds more here today who do already believe in Him, He’s here today just for you.
Those who are willing to bring their honest questions before God in their search for the truth often become the very strongest believers. Their faith is usually much deeper and stronger than those who make a commitment to Jesus without really taking the time and effort to ask the difficult questions and obtain the solid evidence needed to properly answer them.
Based on the writings of some of the early church fathers, there is evidence that Thomas went on to become one of the most faithful and persistent leaders in the early church. He travelled all the way to India and devoted his life to establishing and strengthening churches in that area. According to those sources, he was eventually martyred there for his faith. And all that was possible because Thomas faith was solid as a result of his earnest seeking for the truth.
2. In order to find Jesus, we need to put ourselves in the right places
There is a lot of speculation about why Thomas wasn’t with the other ten apostles the first time that Jesus appeared to them on the evening of His resurrection. Frankly, there is no way to know for certain why he wasn’t there. But what is really interesting is that after the others told Thomas about the appearance of Jesus, he apparently made sure that he stayed close by after that. After all, if Jesus had appeared to that group once, then the most likely place for another appearance was right there with those men. And sure enough, one week later, Jesus appeared in the same exact place again. But this time, Thomas was there.
After that first appearance, Thomas could have just gone back to his old life, probably as a fisherman. He could have said, “If Jesus is alive, He’s going to have to hunt me down and prove it.” But he didn’t do any of those things. He made sure that he put himself in the places where Jesus was most likely to show up.
Again, if you’re here this morning because you have some questions or you’re a skeptic, then you’re in the right place. Because you’re with other people who are also seeking Jesus and with people who have already had their skepticism addressed and have committed their lives to Him. Jesus gave us a pretty good clue about where we are most likely to find Him when he shared these words:
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.
Matthew 18:20 (NIV)
In other words, if you want to find Jesus, you need to be where there are people who are gathering together in His name. I’m amazed at how many people who claim that they are trying to find God refuse to go to all the places where they are most likely to find Him.
Let’s say that I wanted to find Mike Stoops, but I refused to go anywhere near his office in McKale Center or the football stadium or the practice fields. Or I refused to associate with any of the other coaches or the players on the team. I couldn’t expect to have much success, could I?
But that’s exactly what some people do when they say they are trying to find Jesus. Instead of reading their Bibles and praying and spending time with those who love Jesus and follow after Him, they refuse to have anything to do with Christ’s body, the church. They spend all their time reading books written by people who are trying to prove there is no God or watching TV programs and movies that make fun of God and His followers. And then they wonder why they can never seem to find God.
Thomas certainly couldn’t direct Jesus and tell Him what to do or where to be. But He did do what he could and he made sure he was in the places where Jesus was most likely to show up. If you really want to find Jesus, then you need to do the same thing. You need to be around people who gather together in Jesus’ name.
Here’s some more good news. I can promise you, not based on my opinion or wishful thinking, but rather based on the Word of God, that if you are earnestly seeking after Jesus and you put yourself in those places where Jesus is most likely to be found, you will find Him. He will reveal Himself to you. There is nothing that He would rather do. But…
3. When we encounter Jesus, we must make a choice
Once Jesus appeared before Thomas, He called Thomas to make a decision when He said:
Stop doubting and believe.
The use of the word “doubt” in this translation is probably not very accurate. A better translation would be: “do not become unbelieving, but believing”. The issue here was not really doubt. But now that Thomas had been presented with the evidence to deal with his skepticism, he had a choice. He could examine that evidence and either become unbelieving or he could become believing.
He was in a position not all that dissimilar from a jury in our court system in which both sides present all their evidence and then the jury has to decide whether to believe or not believe the evidence and then render a verdict.
And there can be no mistaking Thomas’ verdict when he replied with these words:
My Lord and my God!
Thomas examined the evidence and he chose to believe that Jesus was indeed God. That was the only logical conclusion that could be made based on all the evidence that Thomas had before Him:
• Jesus knew exactly what Thomas has said earlier which revealed that Jesus was both omnipresent – He can be everywhere at once – and omniscient – He was all-knowing. Only God has both of those attributes, so Jesus must be God
• Jesus was physically resurrected from the dead. This was no ghost or dream or vision. By His resurrection Jesus fulfilled not only everything that he had previously told Thomas and the rest of the apostles, but also the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah. Therefore He must be God
• Jesus just appeared in the room. He didn’t need to use the door to enter the room. Only God could do that.
But Thomas went a bit further than just believing that Jesus is God. He also called Him “my Lord.” That was his acknowledgment that Jesus had the right to be in charge of His life, to be his master, his boss.
Even though it’s okay to be skeptical, one cannot be neutral forever. Once we are confronted with the evidence of the resurrection, we, like Thomas, have to render a verdict.
This account makes it quite clear that there is no such thing as borrowing faith. There are no coattails, no short-cuts, no Christianity by osmosis. Thomas didn’t become a Christian because he hung out with a bunch of other Christians. Nobody becomes a follower of Jesus by accident. It doesn’t just happen. Nobody just wakes up some morning and suddenly you’re a Christian. Each person has to make that decision for himself or herself.
This morning, if you have never committed your life to Jesus Christ, God wants to give you a great gift – a gift that will far surpass a new Easter outfit, or Easter eggs, or chocolate bunnies. Today you have the opportunity to receive a great blessing right here and now.
Remember what Jesus said after Thomas confessed Him as Lord and God:
"Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
None of us here today have ever physically seen the resurrected Jesus. But we certainly do have enough evidence to come to the same conclusion that Thomas did and confess that Jesus is God and make Him our Lord. And Jesus promised a blessing to those who would render that verdict.
Let me close with this promise from the Word of God:
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Romans 10:9, 10 (NIV)
Based on the Word of God I can tell you with great confidence that this morning if you confess that Jesus is your Lord and put Him in control of your life and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, God will bless you by making you His child and calling you into a personal relationship with Him.
If you’ve never done that and would like to make that decision this morning, there are a couple of ways that you can do that. On your bulletin is a flap that is labeled “Care Card”. Just check the box that reads “I would like to learn how to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ” and then give it to me or to one of our greeters after the service. Or feel free to talk to me or to Pastor Dana after the service.
