The Doubting Thomas In Us All

Scripture: “The other disciples were saying to [Thomas], “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.”

Observation: The Apostle Thomas is most remembered for this refusal to believe the testimony of the other disciples, so much so that it has earned him the English euphemism, “doubting Thomas” to refer to anyone who is skeptical. We don’t know his reasoning behind his statement, but from the detailed proof he is outlining it seems he thinks there needs to be substantive physical proof that Jesus has risen bodily from the grave.

Yet this account is used by the Lord to provide that very proof–we have it inspired by God to be included in the canon of scripture as a testimony against false teachers who would later claim Jesus only appeared to be human, those that argued against His literal physical resurrection from the dead. This is such a good example of how the Lord can use our failures for His good purposes, protecting the early church from heresies that would crop up and even protecting us today from being misled by various movements that have broken off from orthodox Christian doctrine.

Later, when Jesus appears again, He does not reject Thomas, but shows him His hands and side to lovingly correct him. What great mercy we can count on when we fail, too! Jesus doesn’t discard us when we lack faith–He confronts our lack of faith so that we believe all the more.

I’d like to also remember Thomas for the love and loyalty he expressed when Jesus determined to return to Judea upon hearing Lazarus was severely ill. All the disciples seemed to be reluctant to go back because Jesus had faced recent death threats there, and to return might put even their own lives in danger. Yet Thomas said, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.” (John 11:16)

This shows his heart to follow his Lord and his courage amid imminent danger. When you think about it, all his disciples showed moments of great faith mixed with moments of great failure. And they are recorded in God’s word for our great comfort and encouragement to remain faithful to the end even though we fail at times along the way. Indeed, the Lord is so kind to take our flaws and failures and turn them into faith-building, grace-filled encouragement that manifests His mastery over the results of man’s sin, His power to bend the evil of this world to His good and perfect will, and His matchless faithfulness to us all. This is nothing less than our God revealing His perfect rectitude and right to rule all of creation. No wonder the Seraphim cry out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” Let us, together with the rest of heaven, fall down and worship the only One who is worthy to receive all honor, glory, and praise!

Application: Have you just had a faith-crisis that you miserably failed? Take heart! Do not give in and let the enemy whisper in your ear that God won’t forgive you or can’t use you any more. Just look at Peter, faithfully shepherding the early church for approximately 35 years until his martyrdom in Rome. We don’t know much about Thomas outside of the scriptures, but the early church historian Eusebius records he was sent out as a missionary. All of the disciples fled when Jesus was arrested, yet they all remained faithful under persecution as they served their Lord and many of them died as martyrs for His sake. In the book of Hebrews, the heroes in the hall of faith all had character flaws; God’s friend, Abraham, had character flaws; David, the man after God’s own heart, had character flaws–yet none of them gave up on their belief in the Lord’s incredible mercy. And in so doing, God included them as examples in His inspired word to encourage us even to this day.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, what absolute solace and consolation it is to know when we fail, we can look to Your soul-comforting grace and perfect integrity toward us as our benevolent King and Savior, and in so doing discover You ever more worthy of our worship and adoration. Our faith journeys take twists and turns, our faith is tested, and at times we fail, just like the disciples. But they did not throw in the towel, and neither should we. You will faithfully make us stand before You in glory with the full realization of how much we relied on Jesus for our salvation and endurance, for Your word says “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” May we learn from our mistakes our great weakness, be thoroughly convinced that with man (including ourselves), it is impossible, with You all things are possible, and that Your grace is sufficient. For then we can clearly see our finite selves set against Your infinite wisdom, power, and love, and bow in worship. We give all praise and glory to the Faithful & True, Amen.