Faith

by Debbie Wallis

death Jesus decides to go anyway His disciples were not so sure about it but Thomas says, “Let us go also, that we may die with Him,” John

11:16 Thomas was a friend that was willing to lay his life down, he believed in Jesus Thomas was brave, loyal, committed, trusted and understood what they were facing He deeply loved Jesus

“I do believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:24.

Do you believe in miracles? By miracle I mean those contrary-tohuman-possibility events that have no natural explanation That kind of miracle is so rare that when they happen they’re hard to believe The resurrection of Jesus is that kind of miracle It’s totally unexplainable by any natural means We don’t talk about it very much because we’re not sure how it happened We understand the crucifixion but the resurrection is different If you have a hard time grasping this as fact then don’t feel guilty. There are a lot of people today that aren’t sure whether they believe it or not. And there were lots of people on the first Easter Sunday who weren’t sure either. People like Peter, James, John, Matthew, Bartholomew, and Thomas

There is more to Thomas than doubt In John 11, Lazarus already had died when Jesus and His friends were heading to Bethany They reminded Jesus that the last time they were through that area the leaders tried to stone Him to

The disciples knew the end was not far away. Judas had left the room to do his act of betrayal and the rest had gathered around Him. “Jesus said to His disciples; ‘Don’t be worried! Trust in God and trust in Me. There are many rooms in My Father’s house I wouldn’t tell you this unless it was true I am going there to prepare a place for you After I have done this, I will come back and take you with Me Then we will be together You know the way to where I am going,” John

14:1-4 All the disciples listened quietly but I’m sure it seemed vague and mysterious In a moment of great honesty Thomas asks, “Lord, we don’t know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” John 14:5 Thomas was honest and wanted to understand I know people like Thomas. They keep asking questions when everyone else is silently confused. They keep asking questions until it all makes sense to them. That was Thomas. He was an independent thinker and would not make a confession of faith unless he truly believed it to be the truth Thomas was a brave man, intensely loyal and deeply committed to Jesus He was honest about his doubts, confusion and fears

I’ve thought about what it would have been like to experience the first Easter Sunday The raw emotions of the last few days and the horror of seeing my Master, Friend, and Lord being treated as a criminal and so viciously murdered. Would I have believed He rose from the dead or would I have doubted? Could I have believed that I’d seen the friend I saw die come back to life after three days in the grave? I probably would have thought Mary was delusional because of the trauma she had experienced Jesus predicted that He would be put to death and then rise to life but His followers didn’t understand it If they had they would not have mourned His passing. They might have been preparing to celebrate His return instead. It was the Jewish leaders who persuaded the Romans to seal the tomb and guard it. The enemies of Jesus feared something might happen but His friends weren’t expected anything Mary Magdalene, Salome and Jesus’s mother Mary came to the tomb that Sunday morning to anoint His body as a part of the embalming process They discussed who would move the stone for them Instead they found it rolled away! “He isn’t here! He has risen, just as Jesus said He would ” Matthew 28:6

Thomas wasn’t there when Jesus suddenly appeared to the disciples. Maybe he was just broken hearted. Everything he had, he had given to Jesus and now Jesus was dead. Thomas wasn’t a skeptic. His doubts come from a devotion to Christ and now feeling lost without Him

There are two different doubters in the spiritual truth of the gospel

There is the hard hearted rationalist that refuses to believe There is nothing you can say to change their doubt That kind of doubter enjoys disbelieve, talks about it, laughs about it and gets angry when they are contradicted This doubter is not looking for answers but looking for an argument This doubter seizes the opportunity and looks for loopholes and attacks the

Believer Simple Because Of Belief

The Pharisees fall into that category of doubters In Matthew 16:1-4 when they ask Jesus for a sign, He refused, calling them “an evil and adulterous generation,” The second doubter searches for the answers Thomas fits into this category along with many of us still This doubter may be a wounded believer and won’t take anyone’s word. This doubter needs to be sure it was not some dream or vision. This doubter needs to see and feel the hand of Jesus personally. “When Jesus had received the drink, He said ‘It is finished,’ and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit,” John 19:30 Thomas had to be sure it was the same Jesus he saw die Maybe you are like Thomas and not satisfied with the testimony of others Thomas believed that the others thought they had seen Jesus But that wasn’t good enough He didn’t want second hand faith Jesus is fully man and fully God which made Him know all about Thomas’ doubts He knew the rage of questions in his heart “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe,” John 20:27. Jesus came to the disciples the second time after His resurrection just so Thomas could be sure

It’s ok to come to the empty tomb in doubt Jesus paid the price for your sins on the cross “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 6:23 He rose three days later as victorious and beat the grave He is alive and in Heaven and no one gets to God the Father except through Jesus God is who He says He is and He did what He says He did