Offered to the congregation of the Wharton Hungarian Presbyterian Church on May 1, 2022
Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder PCUSA
This morning, I want to talk to you about doubt. I want to look at this fellow Thomas who through the millennium has gotten a pretty bad rap because of his doubt and his hesitation in believing the witness of his fellow disciples.
What do we know about Thomas? Among the 12, he was called the Twin. I don’t know why, the Gospel writer, John, doesn’t explain it. He just tells us; he was called the Twin. He is most famous for his doubt but less famous for his ministry after Jesus’ ascension. His ministry was to take the word of Christ to the East, to India and he is credited for the founding of seven churches there.
But still the thing we most remember him by is his doubt and his supposed lack of faith and believing. “I will not believe”, he says to his fellow disciples. I think that when we do that, we miss John’s point in his telling of the events of those evenings in the locked room when Jesus visited them after his resurrection.
Let’s see if we can re-examine Thomas’ journey to faith. Let’s start by reconstructing those two scenes in the locked room visited by Jesus.
On the evening of the first day of the week – that would have been Sunday evening, they were all there [minus Thomas] locked inside that room for fear of the Jewish leaders, we are told. Now this is the evening of the same day that Mary discovered the empty tomb and then ran to tell the disciples that she had seen the Lord. It was the same evening of the day that Peter and John ran to and witnessed the empty tomb for themselves. This is the day that the Lord had told them was coming but despite all this, they were locked in a room hiding.
It was almost as if they didn’t get the memo. They had heard Mary’s report, she had seen the risen Lord. Peter and John could verify, Yes. The tomb was empty. So why were they hiding? Shouldn’t they be out telling Jerusalem and all the people, “He did what he said he would do. After three days, his temple has been raised up again. He is risen!”
No. Instead, they were hiding. The pillars of Jesus’ new covenant, the very ones who were to bring his message of good news to the world were hiding in fear.
Then inside that closed room, Jesus appeared. Jesus shows them his hands and his side and breaths upon them his Hoy Spirit and they recognize him and rejoice.
Now, please stop for a moment and see all that is happening here. The disciples are not emboldened by the good news that Mary brings or of Peter’s and John’s witness. Far from it, they are paralyzed with fear. Jesus appears to them in that fear filled place and shows them his hands and his side and then says, “Peace be with you.” And then, they finally recognize who it is. It is their Lord. The physical proof is displayed before them so that they could believe.
Now, there’s more that I want to say about this encounter, but I want to fast forward to Thomas and then we will circle back to this, later.
Thomas is not with the disciples on the first night. Perhaps, he too, was hiding. Or, perhaps, he is despondent. Because Thomas understood what was to happen, and it happened; that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to his death. Remember that days before when Jesus announced that he was going to Jerusalem, the disciples tried to convince him not to go because it was too dangerous. But Jesus was not deterred. He said we are going, and it was Thomas who said, “Let us also go, so that we may die with him.” knowing fully what it was likely to lead to. It was Thomas who understood the events of the days leading up to the cross.
Now eventually, he shows up and the disciples tell him, “We have seen the Lord.”
Thomas’ reaction? We all know it all by heart. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the marks of the nails and my hand in my side, I will not believe.”
OK. Let’s stop for a moment. Let’s read into Thomas’ reaction a little bit. This is the thing; the disciples were not the sharpest knives in the drawer. They were mostly fishermen and their families, a tax man and a couple more that we know very little about. And maybe, just maybe, Thomas had a right to be a little skeptical and doubt them just a little. After all, they had been locking themselves away in fear. Thomas might be thinking they were creating wild stories out of their isolation and that fear. So, perhaps, rightly so, Thomas doubted their story. And by the way, Thomas wasn’t asking for anything more than Jesus had already provided the other disciples – to see the marks of the nails and the large wound in Jesus’ side.
So, now let’s move a week ahead in time and reenter that locked room. This time Thomas is with them, and Jesus reappears and greets them saying, “Peace be with you.” Jesus then turns directly to Thomas and invites him to put his finger into the marks that the nails had made and his hand into Jesus side where the spear had pierced him.
Now STOP! Stop breathing and hold your breath and be silent. Because I am sure that is what must have happened in the room at that moment. The disciples must have all stopped, crowded around Thomas and Jesus in anticipation to see what Thomas would do.
What was it Thomas did? What was it Thomas said?
He looked at Jesus and finally saw him for who he truly was. He says, “My Lord and my God.” What that was is a clear and emphatic declaration of his faith with an explanation point (!).
Now, it is important to realize what has just happened here. We rush through this because we make a judgment that Thomas’ doubt is a weakness and that he is to be rebuked and we want to move on to the end of the passage.
But consider this. Mary sees Jesus and reports to the disciples simply, “I have seen the Lord.” Then the disciples report to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord.” Thomas is the FIRST to actually see who Jesus truly is. His response is, “My Lord AND my GOD!”
Thomas is the first of Jesus’ followers to understand what had happened, what IS happening and who Jesus really is.
Jesus is Lord and GOD.
This is perhaps the single most important thing Thomas has done for us in providing his witness. Because he arrives at it through his doubt. He has questions. He is unwilling to be accepting of things he does not understand. So, he demands answers. Or, if not answers then he demands clearer insight. And when he gets that from none other than the risen Lord, the faith that he arrives at is rock solid. At this point, Thomas’ faith is built upon a firm foundation. The poet Tenneson wrote, “There is more faith in honest doubt than is half the creeds.” Thomas’ faith is a result of working through his doubt and arriving at a truth that he can be sure of. And once he is sure, he goes all the way. Thomas declares, “My Lord AND my GOD!”
Now this is a faith-changing witness for us. Yes, Mary, the Lord is risen. Yes, Peter and John, the tomb is empty, and you have seen the Lord appear in a locked room. But it is Thomas who sees who Jesus is. He is Lord AND God.
If this isn’t enough, there is more grace in this passage for us. This passage gives us hope. It provides hope and encouragement for us in how Jesus reveals himself to his disciples on the first evening and then to Thomas one week later.
Thomas and the other disciples have questions, doubts, and fears. None of them is sure about what has happened at the Cross or at the empty tomb. They, all of them, had doubts like Thomas. The other disciples [Peter and John among them] were hiding in fear. They had questions but no answers. None of them had a rock-solid unwavering faith without a moment of doubt. The scene we see re-created here by John can be any day in our own lives, in our own faith journeys. I want us to dwell upon this for a moment. The doubt and fear that Thomas and the other disciples had is common for human beings and for Christians. We cannot always be mighty pillars of the Christian faith that can strut out and say look at me, “I have the light of the risen Lord within me, and I will never display any fear or doubt. My light will never be dimmed.”
Yeah, it doesn’t work that way. We are no different from this huddled group of cowering and fearful followers of Jesus hiding behind locked doors.
But Jesus did something for them, for Thomas, that he will do for all of us. Jesus goes to the disciples where their fear is, into that fear-filled dark and locked room. He goes to Thomas where his doubt is. Jesus doesn’t ridicule him. Jesus doesn’t belittle Thomas. You don’t hear, “Oh, yea of little faith. Tsk. Tsk.” Instead, Jesus goes to Thomas, where his doubt is and helps him to see the proof that he needs to see. Jesus isn’t aloof; he isn’t impatient or judgmental. Jesus understands their fear and doubt and walks with them through it.
Now what of us? Are we pillars of the faith, unwavering and steadfast? Are we rock-solid examples of the Christ’s resurrection? If you think back just a short while ago at the start of our worship today, we confessed our sins before God acknowledging our failures and weaknesses. So, the answer to those questions would be an emphatic, No.
So, that is why we need Jesus every day to do the same for us that he had done for Thomas and the others. That is, to walk with us through our fear and doubt. Faith journeys are long Treks through dark valleys of doubt. Our journeys are messy and filled with doubt and questions, ups and downs, trials and tribulations. If you don’t think so, just read the Book of Daniel. And that’s OK. It was OK for Thomas, and it is OK for us. Jesus understands. Jesus is here to walk that Journey with us. Don’t lose sight of his outstretched hand. See the marks that the nails had made and take it and let him walk your journey with you.
And all God’s people say Amen.
Charge: My friends, my charge to you is a simple one. Asking questions of Gods IS a pathway to growing in our faith. Jesus told us, “Ask and you will receive.” We don’t usually think of these words of Jesus as having to do with our doubts. But know this. As Jesus did for Thomas, Jesus will come to you in your doubt and give you his Peace.
