Becoming Thomas
Jesus Appears to Thomas
"One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” John 20:24-29 NLT
Some people will be surprised to know that many of the terminologies we have now came from the bible. For example from the narrative above, came about the term 'Doubting Thomas'.
Mirriam-Webster describes this as a habitually doubting person.
Another term that comes to my mind is 'scapegoat', a term we use for someone who is blamed for something he didn't do.
This actually has its roots in the bible, from the Book of Leviticus.
Anyway going back to the passage above, Jesus have already appeared to His disciples following his death, but Thomas was not there with them to witness it first hand. So even with their pleadings, he told them he will not believe that Jesus came back from the dead unless he puts his fingers on the wounds of Jesus.
Seeing is Believing
Jesus appeared to His disciples again and this time, Thomas was present, and Jesus told him:
Peace, place your fingers at the nail wounds in my hands and put your hand into the wound in my side. Believe!
Only then was Thomas convinced.
Jesus added, you believed because you saw me but blessed are those who believe even though they haven't -- meaning every believer outside the original disciples.
Becoming Thomas
So it is totally alright to be a Thomas. It is alright to be skeptical. It is alright not to believe everything that other people tell us.
But we shouldn't just stop there, in our unbelief. In the face of reality we too have to believe, even if the truth is a little hard to believe or even unpopular or will cause us grief, sorrow, embarassment, threats, torture, imprisonment, even death.
Those disciples who witnessed the miracles faced these but they did not renounce what they believe in.
The gospels, or the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John plus the Book of Acts were written for those of us who were not there, (like Thomas was).
John wrote that Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than those he wrote down in the Book of John. He added, the things he did write are for readers to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in their own personal and unforced act of believing, to have real and eternal life in much the same way Jesus personally revealed it to them in the flesh.
*Note: If we are skeptical, then these books are available for us to read for ourselves. If we haven't read these yet and are only skeptical because other people told us these aren't or couldn't be true then we are merely believing in what we believe in because other people told us to.
"One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” John 20:24-29 NLT
Some people will be surprised to know that many of the terminologies we have now came from the bible. For example from the narrative above, came about the term 'Doubting Thomas'.
Mirriam-Webster describes this as a habitually doubting person.
Another term that comes to my mind is 'scapegoat', a term we use for someone who is blamed for something he didn't do.
This actually has its roots in the bible, from the Book of Leviticus.
Anyway going back to the passage above, Jesus have already appeared to His disciples following his death, but Thomas was not there with them to witness it first hand. So even with their pleadings, he told them he will not believe that Jesus came back from the dead unless he puts his fingers on the wounds of Jesus.
Seeing is Believing
Jesus appeared to His disciples again and this time, Thomas was present, and Jesus told him:
Peace, place your fingers at the nail wounds in my hands and put your hand into the wound in my side. Believe!
Only then was Thomas convinced.
Jesus added, you believed because you saw me but blessed are those who believe even though they haven't -- meaning every believer outside the original disciples.
Becoming Thomas
So it is totally alright to be a Thomas. It is alright to be skeptical. It is alright not to believe everything that other people tell us.
But we shouldn't just stop there, in our unbelief. In the face of reality we too have to believe, even if the truth is a little hard to believe or even unpopular or will cause us grief, sorrow, embarassment, threats, torture, imprisonment, even death.
Those disciples who witnessed the miracles faced these but they did not renounce what they believe in.
The gospels, or the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John plus the Book of Acts were written for those of us who were not there, (like Thomas was).
John wrote that Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than those he wrote down in the Book of John. He added, the things he did write are for readers to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in their own personal and unforced act of believing, to have real and eternal life in much the same way Jesus personally revealed it to them in the flesh.
*Note: If we are skeptical, then these books are available for us to read for ourselves. If we haven't read these yet and are only skeptical because other people told us these aren't or couldn't be true then we are merely believing in what we believe in because other people told us to.
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