We are following Jesus this week after the resurrection as He begins to show Himself to His followers. We first saw Him appear to Mary Magdalene. Then we watched Him interact with the the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Today we will see him appear to the 11 disciples. Read through John 20:19-29.
Apparently in Jesus first appearance there are only 10 disciples in the room. Thomas for some reason is not with them when Jesus shows up suddenly in the midst of a locked room and makes His appearance to the 10. John gives us little to no information about the reaction of this group of disciples to Jesus’ sudden appearance in their midst. All he tells us is that they were “glad when they saw the Lord.” I feel as if that might be a bit of an understatement!
But when this “glad” group tells Thomas about what he missed, they were met with complete unbelief. Thomas seems to think they are all losing it. Perhaps they only imagine they saw Jesus. Notice what he says, “Unless I place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.” Seeing isn’t enough. It could be an illusion. A trick of the mind. No - Thomas will never believe just by sight - he needed to touch him.
Fast forward 8 days and now all of the disciples are back in the locked room when once again Jesus suddenly is right there in their midst and this time He singles out Thomas the skeptic. I love how Jesus interacts with Him. He knows what was inside Thomas. He knows what he was thinking. He knows his doubts. He knows his unbelief. And yet Jesus comes to him and shows him the wounds in His hands and invites Thomas to step from unbelief into belief, “Thomas, I’m right here. I’m really here. I’m not a ghost. You’re mind is not playing tricks on you. Touch me. Put your hand in my side. Believe.” And he did. From skeptic to believer. Thomas needed to touch the resurrected Jesus in order to truly see Him. He now knew that Jesus was no ordinary rabbi, no ordinary man. Thomas stood there looking into the eyes of his Lord and his God.
When the Apostle John writes his first letter to testify of Jesus, he says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have TOUCHED with our hands...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you...” John, Peter, Thomas, the writers of Scripture saw the resurrected Jesus - they heard Him speak to them - they touched Him and they testify to us today that He is indeed risen. He is indeed their Lord and their God. And through their testimony Jesus says to us today... “Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
Post a Comment