Doubting Thomas Believes

John 20: 21 – 29 (NIV): Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

You can't really blame Thomas for not believing the report that Jesus had risen from the dead. That is not something you encounter every day. His reaction was normal; he simply said he would believe it when he saw it for himself.

Here's a little human nature fact check: a lot of people still refuse to believe even when they see something for themselves. At least Thomas quit doubting and acknowledged Jesus as the risen Christ when he saw and touched him. History says Thomas took the gospel to India, giving the rest of his life to spreading what he saw. Whether we see Jesus with our own eyes or hear the report of someone else who did, we still must choose to believe that he is the Christ. It's amazing to think about how many people saw Jesus perform miracles and heard him preach, but refused to believe that he was the Christ.

Our only question to ask ourselves is, “are the scriptures reliable?” Can we trust that what Thomas said and did in this passage is true? Did he really see a risen Jesus? The good news is that, yes, we can trust the scriptures. Yes the scriptures are reliable. When we consider the internal prophecies that were fulfilled, the changed lives, the change to the whole course of History because of the disciples' testimony, the conversion of the skeptics, the amount of ancient manuscripts, the consistency among the books of the Bible and the innumerable changed lives today, we can easily conclude that the scriptures are reliable and true.

Jesus knew his physical ministry on earth was coming to an end. He knew that subsequent generations would have to rely on the word of the witnesses. He knew we had to believe in him based on what the disciples said. That's why he said we are blessed if we choose to believe in him, even though we don't get to see his scars upon his risen body. When we realize that the scripture is true and we do believe, we will make the same exclamation Thomas made. We will cry out to Jesus as our Lord and God.