Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days the disciples were again inside and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here and look at My hand; and reach your hand here and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord, and my God!” John 20: 24-28, NKJV (Emphasis provided).
Heavenly Father, we pray that today You will teach us how to believe without seeing. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
We have heard a lot about “doubting Thomas,” the one disciple who needed to “see to believe.” Perhaps we have even seen our share of doubting Thomases in our day to day experience. Some of us might even be doubting Thomases! I have highlighted three concepts in this experience, that I would like us to begin considering in our devotional today. We will take a few days studying these concepts.
“Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” We have heard that, unlike science, where only what is seen and proven, is believed; “faith is blind.” Because of this, many Christians insist, that everything in religion calls for, “a leap of faith.” We come to the conclusion that it is not necessary for us to have any foundation on which to build our faith. Perhaps for some of us, this is really the way we see it. We read it, therefore we believe it, and that settles it! For others, it may be that we do not want to spend the energy and the time to study and get the facts for ourselves, so we leave all the evidence for our faith in the hands of “those who know.”
I believe that in both situations there is room for improvement. I also believe that the solution in both cases, is a personal relationship with the Lord of our lives. So let us see how that would help in each case. For those who “read it, believe it, and that settles it;” as we spend time with Jesus, studying His Word, our sphere of knowledge grows. We begin to see not only the naked text, but the context in which it was written, the community for which it was written, and why it was written.
All of a sudden, there is a completely new dimension to the Word of God! There is a greater depth to the text than we saw before. “If your right hand offend you cut it off” (Mark 9: 43), will not lead a thief to sever his or her hand from his or her body. By spending time with Jesus in the Word, he or she will realize that “a better way,” would be to study line upon line, precept upon precept” (Isaiah 28: 10), the meaning of the text. Soon, they may discover, that “a better way,” might be to “cut off” the avenues of temptation, than to cut off their arm!
For those who do not want to spend the energy and the time to study and get the facts for ourselves, but prefer to leave all of the evidence for their faith in the hands of “those who know.” This can be dangerous! Really dangerous! I am very zealous for the preservation of one’s individualized thought process; unless the person is mentally challenged; or the person recognizes that there is something wrong with his or her way of reasoning, and seeks help in correcting it. During the “Dark Ages,” the clergy took it upon themselves to read and interpret Scripture for the common people. The atrocities of that era provide sufficient evidence of how dangerous that decision could be. We can, and will, all “know,” God’s will for ourselves, if we so desire, and seek. it (John 7: 17).
We will continue tomorrow.