Thomas in the Bible, unfortunately in the western world, has been labeled as a doubter. This labelling, however, is inaccurate to who Thomas is and the rest that is known of him as a follower of Jesus. First, we need to look at the definition of doubt. Doubt is questioning an already held belief. Because Thomas did not believe that Jesus was the resurrection and life, this would not be classified as doubt, but as skepticism (Cooper, 2024). Although he can be labelled as a silent skeptic in terms of the resurrection, he was undoubtably a true follower of Jesus. When Jesus was about to go to Judea, all of the disciples were discouraging the idea out of fear of death. Thomas in John 11:16, however, responded by saying, “Let us go, so that we may die with him.” He, although still a Christian, struggled with belief in an area of his life. In a sermon preached by Pastor Jason Cooper, he states, “Just because we have experienced redemption in one area does not mean we have experienced the redemptive work of Christ in all areas” (Cooper, 2024). Like Thomas struggled with belief in certain aspects of Christianity, we can also struggle with belief. This does not make us any less saved or that we have done something wrong to fall from God’s grace…this makes us imperfect humans in need of a perfect savior. In this same sermon, Cooper goes on to state, “It’s a great place to come to when you finally relieve yourself from the spirit of perfection… to think that I actually need to strive to be perfect” (Cooper, 2024). Although we should not stay stuck in our unbelief, because of Jesus’s redemptive work on the cross, we do not need to be ruled by perfectionism. He died as an atonement for our sins, was buried, and raised on the third day and all we have to do now is receive this gift and believe and follow Him. The Lord accepts us with open arms exactly as we are, imperfections and all. It is only through His redemptive work in our lives once we accept Him that we can be transformed.
Although we may struggle with unbelief, The Lord can meet us there, as He did for Thomas. John 20:24-29 states,
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the imprints of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the door having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
In this passage we can see that Jesus sought Thomas out. The rest of the disciples have already seen that Jesus was alive and believed, but the second appearance to the disciples, He did not speak to any other disciple but Thomas. This should give hope that even in those moments when we walk away from God and we are absent from him, stuck in our guilt and shame, the power of the resurrection proved that he’s not finished. Even absence won’t stop Jesus from getting to those who needs to be free from unbelief (Cooper, 2024).
Although He met Thomas where he was, he still had commands for Thomas concerning his unbelief. In The Working Preacher Commentary, it states,
“On the one hand, in 20:27 Jesus gives several commands to Thomas, echoing the conditions Thomas had established in 20:25. On the other hand, Thomas never physically examines or inspects Jesus’ wounds as he claimed he needed to do before he would believe… The key is the closing command Jesus gives in 20:27, “Don’t be unbelieving but believing.” Jesus’ command functions as performative speech. He speaks the proper response into Thomas so that Thomas responds with the ultimate relational confession of faith, “My Lord and my God.” (20:28)”(Carlson, 2020).
When reading this passage, it helps to take a step back and put yourself in Thomas’s position. He had just seen his best friend, mentor, and the one he loves most get tortured and die a brutal death on a cross. I can imagine that he was overcome with grief and that he had what seemed to be an insurmountable amount of fear in believing that Jesus was alive because he did not want to get his hopes up in fear of this incredible news of Jesus’s resurrection not being true. When putting myself in his shoes, I would imagine that I would be no different. Even reflecting on my own life and areas where I struggle with belief, I found that I approach it similar to Thomas. Like Thomas, I come to God with my terms and conditions of what it will take for me to believe or how I want Him to show up in my life. Although eventually there is breakthrough, rarely does Jesus operate the same way that he has in the past or show up how I expect Him to. We need to trust that the Lord knows best and that he is not scared of our unbelief. He will redeem our unbelief in His perfect timing and His perfect way, while also correcting us moving forward, as he has done with Thomas (Cooper, 2024).
References
Cooper, J. (2024, March 31). Join us for live worship at Redemption Church. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkZihEENcEE
Carlson, R. (2020, November 11). Commentary on john 20:19-31. Working Preacher from Luther Seminary. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-john-2019-31-3
NASB: New American Standard Bible. Foundation Publications, Publisher for the Lockman Foundation, 2020.
