“How many of you would like for one of your weaknesses to become the title in front of your name? Anybody? … I wouldn’t want that for a day or a month or a year, but like, my man Thomas has been called “Doubting Thomas” for over two thousand years! Talk about a nickname haunting you!”
~ Pastor Matt
And most likely, this will be his nickname for the rest of history until the second coming. But is that really fair? Is that really the best depiction of his character?
No!
Remember, ALL of the disciples doubted Jesus was coming back. Jesus resurrected the dead, yes – but there was no evidence He could raise Himself. Just like many of the miracles He performed, it had never before been done. No matter how much His followers wanted it to be true, they had no proof it was even possible.
So here lies the difference between Thomas and the others: he was not there when Jesus first appeared to the group. He needed to see for himself, just like the others, but he didn’t have that opportunity… yet.
We all have moments, even seasons, of doubt and questioning. We all know what it is to struggle.
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.”
~ John 20:19-24
He missed it. Thomas missed it. Does that make him less than? Of course not – he simply was not there. None of them could have expected it, and he didn’t purposefully plan to be absent during the Lord’s visit. So, naturally, doubt seeped into his heart. Maybe he even felt a little sense of betrayal and hurt, wondering if he even mattered to Jesus.
How many of us have those doubts in our life? We doubt over the little things just as much as the big things. But do you automatically trust what’s on tv? Do you automatically trust what you see on social media?
Sometimes doubt accompanies discernment, and in that circumstance, it is not necessarily a bad thing. There is nothing bad about wanting to do more research and check with other sources when the Holy Spirit tells you “my dude, the vibes are so off rn”. But Thomas did not yet have that Spirit. He had to lean on his own understanding to judge whether or not his friends’ claims could be true. And even though he spent time with Jesus, and did have a strong faith, and witnessed miracles we all wish we could have seen, he was still human. So, naturally, he had his moments.
“God was calling me into the ministry, and from a young age I had people say, “You’re going to be a pastor one day!” And I… no I’m not. Like, zero desire to ever be a pastor at that time period, and late highschool, and college… I’d rather you stuck me in a box of spiders, locked up, than to put me on stage and have to teach anything.”
~ PASTOR Matt
It’s important to recognize your doubts and bring them to God. He can handle it. He wants to handle it.
There are doubts of all kinds, but here are a few:
~ Is God really there?
~ Is following Him really worth it?
~ Does He truly love me?
~ Is God really who He says He is?
~ Does he really have a plan for me?
~ What am I supposed to do?
~ Has He left me alone in this?
But every doubt has an answer. Every doubt can be confronted when you put your faith in God.
~ Exodus 33:14, Jeremiah 29:13, Psalm 139:7, John 1:14, Revelation 3:20, Genesis 28:15, Zephaniah 3:17
~ Galatians 6:9, James 1:12, Matthew 25:21, Matthew 6:33, John 8:12, John 12:26, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
~ 1 John 4:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:19, John 3:16, 1 John 3:1, Romans 8:37-39, John 15:9
~ Lamentations 3:22-23, Deuteronomy 7:9, Genesis 9:16, 2 Timothy 2:13, Hebrews 10:23, 2 Peter 3:9, Hebrews 13:8
~ Jeremiah 29:11, Proverbs 16:9, Romans 8:28, Proverbs 10:24-25, Proverbs 19:21, Romans 8:18, Proverbs 3:5-6
~ Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:12-17, Philippians 2:3, 1 Peter 3:8, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:5, Hebrews 12:1-2
~ Joshua 1:9, Psalm 23, John 14:26, John 10:10, Psalm 55:22, Psalm 34:17-20, 1 Corinthians 3:16
When you let doubt take root in your heart, your relationship with God will suffer. You have to surrender it and bring it to God as soon as you recognize it – do NOT let the enemy get a foot in the door! Your heart is meant to be secure, don’t invite the thief in.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
~ James 4:7
Thomas doubted, but that was not truly his identity. Don’t let your flaws consume your mind; Jesus’s power and grace and mercy and forgiveness and love… those qualities cover everything else. Everything you’ve ever done. When Thomas did finally get to encounter the resurrected Jesus, his response was repentance – and Jesus’s response was love. He understood that the truth was hard to believe, and He allowed Thomas’s doubts to pass away without condemnation. Thomas was a faithful follower, but he had his moments. Just like everyone else. So it would truly be better to call him “Thomas the Disciple”, as THAT is where his identity rested. He had a deep love for his Savior, and Jesus knew that.
The devil knows your name but calls you by your sin.
God knows your sin but calls you by your name.
(~ Attributed to Ricardo Sanchez)
Sarah laughed when God revealed that she would bear a son in her old age. Abraham doubted the Almighty’s power to do such a thing. Yet, God still fulfilled his promise. (Although He did discipline them for their lack of faith.)
David struggled with doubt as well. Psalm 13:1-4 shows us the pain David was experiencing; but he brought it to the Lord. He didn’t bottle it up or try to hide it. He wasn’t afraid to be honest with his Father. God already knows what we’re going through – but He wants us to come to Him. He wants to show up for us when we ask. David cries out, in pain and doubt and fear, but in Psalm 13:5-6 he turns his focus off his problems and onto God’s identity. At some point you must make the shift from doubt and frustration to reminding yourself…
How faithful God has been,
and that He will be faithful again.
It’s important to recognize when we’re slipping so we can ask God for help. Don’t be ashamed to come to Him. He understands, and He loves you enough to prove He’s there and He’s got it when you’re struggling to believe.
“Now Thomas (also known as 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 Mark’s in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
John 20:24-25
Here we see that Thomas is quite… um… stubborn. So it’s not exactly surprising that he was nicknamed “Doubting Thomas”, but still, it’s unfair. We know he was in a season of doubt, but what we often forget is that he was also in a pit of grief. His savior, his friend, his teacher, his Messiah, was gone. That’s a harsh reality for anyone to face; oftentimes when we are grieving, we shut out anything that could cause us relief. It’s an unconscious rejection of anything that could make us feel alive, because we are content to stay in the pain. It reminds us that our love for them was real, and helps us avoid succumbing to numbness. Thomas was experiencing fear, grief, confusion, struggle, doubt, and understandably, trauma. We are so quick to judge others for their reactions to tragedy that we forget to check ourselves and consider what we would do.
“So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?””
John 11:6-8
“Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
John 11:16
And that’s faith. The feelings Thomas experienced – all the fear, grief, confusion, struggle doubt, and trauma – were not his identity. And your feelings don’t have to be your identity, either. Jesus shows up to confront those feelings head-on, so you are not fighting alone.
There is more to the story.
And remember: the loudest voices are rarely the truthful ones.
“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.”
John 20:26-29
Jesus meets us where we’re at – but He doesn’t leave us there. We have a good Father, and He wants to be close to us.
Thank you for reading this episode of rarely-posted-Sunday-sermon-notes!! This one was too good not to review and write/post about. Matt did an excellent job. If you want to watch the sermon for yourself, you can find it here ⬇ and I’ll include a couple songs at the bottom that came to mind during the service!
♡, Skippy
