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When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31)
Let's start with the ending verse of this passage. How about the last ten words? "That through believing you may have life in His name." The point of this passage is belief, not doubt. And it's not saying that doubt is bad, just that if we stay in doubt we miss out. And in this case, we miss out on life. What would Thomas' life been like had he stayed away or stayed quiet about his doubt? Tradition tells us great things about this disciple and how he served out the rest of his life in India and causing a great number of people to take his name as their surname; remember Danny Thomas and his daughter, Marlow? During my seminary days I knew a young man from that region whose last name was Thomas and who was a firm believer in the tradition that says the Apostle Thomas made his way to that part of the world and served as evangelist and witness to Jesus and had many converts. Not bad for a guy who to this day is calling Doubting Thomas!
Doubt is a regular visitor to most people. I pray it doesn't stay long, but it makes appearances and sometimes it comes just to help us throw him out as stronger believers. Life and life's fullness comes to those who have wrestled with doubt and come out as winners. The example of Thomas should encourage us to kick out doubt and move on towards fullness of life in service to Jesus with people who do not yet believe.
PRAYER: Loving God, the essence of resurrection is to overcome doubt and to move towards You with the surety that You will guide us to deeper service and success among those who need to know our struggles with doubt. Lead us to the fullness of life. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
