Sermon Cloud

A Bout with Doubt

Two Snapshots of Thomas

Thomas is willing to die in John 11. Having been to India it is fascinating to see the Thomastic Christians.

In 1498, Vasco de Gama lands in India and finds 2 million Christians in 1500 churches.
What happened in the middle?

How did he get labeled with an adjective: Typhoid Mary, Fat Albert, Doubting Thomas. His name is a metaphor: Benedict Arnold, Hanoi Jane

What happened? Is he getting a bad rap?

John 11- he's the guy who says don't worry about the persecution and let's go die with Lazarus. Yet, he is forever "Doubting Thomas"

1. John 14-Willing to Believe

Thomas asks the right questions:

John 14:1-5 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

This is the first time in the Bible when the idea of leaving the earth is recorded as part of the plan for eternity. It is not the last.

Jesus tells them they know the place, but Thomas obviously does not.

But, Thomas naturally has a question.

Thomas "Produces" the Clearest Answer:

This is a remarkable exchange.

John 14:6-7 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

Some very definitive statements: I am THE way. NO ONE comes.

Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

Philip follows up Thomas' question and we get more details.

John 14:16-18 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Lots of people are willing to believe, but being willing to follow is a different thing.

Take note of the recent study done by The Missional Research Center. It shows that a majority of people in America

2. John 20:19-31-Willing to Follow

After meeting with Mary, Jesus comes to the disciples.

Coming to Mary Magdalene first is a remarkable thing. Jewish, Roman, and Greek law all agreed that women could not be trusted. So, Jesus shows up.

He appears physically because his resurrection is physical.

Jesus Appears and Sends His Disciples:

John 20:19-21 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors 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 side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Thomas was not there so his friends coax him to come to the meeting the next Sunday. Jesus shows up again.

Thomas, the one who was NOT there to hear the sending command, goes the farthest. He got the message.

(See map of where disciples went on missionary travels after Pentecost.)

Thomas Doubts the Truth:

John 20:24-25 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 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."

Thomas is not satisfied by the experience of others, he wants to know himself. This fundamentally is why one can acknowledge something as true but not have it transform your life.

Not a second hand religion... and that is not the worst thing.

But, it is better that Jesus had to leave.

Jesus Meets Thomas, Personally:

John 20:26-29 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!" 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." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

He is admonished about needing to see and then Jesus reminds the rest of us that we need not see.

Have you had a personal encounter with Jesus? It changes everything.

Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

He does say "Lord God!" He makes it doubly personal: "my" lord and "my" God.

Some call this the high point of the gospel.

He proclaims the truth of John 1:1, 14.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

A statement of faith and a statement of intent. That's when you really get it. When you know his as Lord and God.

It ties into the beginning of John 14: "Trust in God; trust also in me."

It is not anti-intellectualism. Instead, it is a recognition that your intellect can only take you so far!