John 20:24-29
The Rev. Dr. Robert S. Langworthy, preaching
April 27, 2025
Some believers tell me they never doubt. I don’t doubt them. Yet, most believers do struggle with doubt, at least from time to time. And some of the strongest do. Mother Teresa and Billy Graham, for example, openly admitted to it.
Poor Thomas gets pigeonholed as “doubting Thomas” as if he had to fight to have faith more than others. Yet, there was much more to the man than his skepticism. For instance, Thomas loved Jesus mightily. You can see this when, in John 11, Jesus proposed that they all go to Bethany, a village located just outside of Jerusalem. The disciples tried to argue Jesus out of the idea, reminding Him that to go there would be to walk into the lair of enemies bent on killing Him. It was Thomas, perhaps realizing Jesus would go there whether or not they followed Him, who countered their counsel of prudence, saying, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Thomas was so devoted to keeping close to Jesus that he’d risk his life to accompany Him.
Notice also in Thomas what he probably called realism, but what others probably called pessimism. He half-expected early death with Jesus. Yet, his love for Jesus gave him the courage to put his life on the line just to remain in Jesus’ presence as long as he could.
There’s one other virtue in Thomas of which we should take note: his honest forthrightness. The night before Jesus died, when He was telling His disciples He was leaving them to prepare a place that where He’d be they could be also, it was Thomas who admitted confusion and gave voice to the question on all their minds, saying, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
One last fact to bear in mind: Three evenings after that conversation, two evenings after Jesus’ crucifixion, the evening of the day the women had testified Jesus was again alive, all the disciples were gathered together to sort out what was going on – except Thomas.
Why was he not with the others? Though that pessimist was likely the least surprised by Jesus’ death, it must have, given his devotion to Jesus, hit him hard. We can only speculate the reason behind his absence. Maybe because I am of the personality type, I wonder whether he was one of those who, when in distress, feel the need for solitude.
Thomas did, however, join the other disciples the next Sunday. The ten of them had told him they had seen Jesus alive; but that honest, forthright skeptic still expressed doubt, saying, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
When you think about it, Thomas was then showing no more doubt than the ten other disciples had the previous Sunday. For, just as they had doubted the women’s testimony about Jesus’ seeing alive again, he was doubting their testimony about it. They only believed after Jesus appeared to them and Thomas only wanted the experience they’d already had.
When Jesus showed up that first Sunday after Easter, He neither reprimanded nor scolded Thomas for his doubt. I like to think Jesus appreciated Thomas’ authenticity and honesty. At any rate, Jesus graciously gave Thomas exactly what he asked for. Jesus gave Thomas the opportunity to obtain the proof he sought, inviting him to “put your finger here and see my hands…reach out your hand and put it in my side.”
Here’s a question to ponder: Did Thomas go ahead and touch Jesus? The Bible does not tell us. It does tell us that this skeptic declared the fullest and highest affirmation of Jesus in all of John’s Gospel. Thomas sang out, “My Lord and my God!”
Many of us who also proclaim Jesus as our Lord and God recognize that our faith in Jesus’ ongoing reality is not proven by our personal experience and thus remains an uncertainty, though one on which we’re staking our life. We’re banking on what it is possible to doubt. And that is, I believe, how God wants it!
But why would God want that? Because God wants with all of us a relationship based on love; and we can’t have that without the freedom to decline the offer; and we can’t have that if God makes Himself incontrovertibly real, as well as obviously and irresistibly lovable. Yes, it’s possible not to be able to stop from falling in love with someone; but to love someone in the highest sense – that is, with a commitment to serve them even when we don’t feel like it – we have to make a free choice to do so that is in no way compelled, not even by the weight of certainty. That’s why God gives us enough evidence to make the life of faith reasonable, but not enough to make the life of doubt unreasonable. He’s not going to force our hand in any way. To love Jesus then, we have to decide to love Him when we could decide otherwise.
Doubt is not the opposite of faith, but knowledge is. If we understand the terms, we can’t doubt that “2+2=4”. It’s not a matter of faith; we know it’s true.
To love Jesus is to put our faith in Jesus despite any doubts. That’s why God has provided enough light for those who want to give Him their heart and enough darkness for those who don’t. But, if the evidence doesn’t demand we do one or the other, shouldn’t we suspend judgment, embrace agnosticism and refrain from making a commitment one way or another? The problem is that, while we can always delay a decision about what we think, we can’t always delay a decision about what we do. Sometimes, not to make a decision about whether to take a course of action (say, to follow Jesus) amounts to making a decision not to take that course. Let me illustrate.
Suppose it’s April Fool’s Day and late in the afternoon a friend who I know loves me but who I also know loves to play pranks, calls me to say he’s got a special pass that will give me access to the Dodgers’ locker room and the opportunity to watch the game that evening from the Dodgers’ dugout. But, my friend says, because of time sensitivity, I have to drop whatever I’m doing and come over within the hour to pick up the pass – or he’ll give it to someone else. I’d be conflicted about how to respond! As a Dodger fan, I’d love to be with my beloved boys in blue like that; but, as a guy who’s really fed up with being goofed by a prankster, I’d love to be spared the embarrassment of being fooled and wasting time on a wild goose chase. I have to decide what I desire more and choose between the two uncertainties before me: to try to fulfill a Dodgers fan’s dream, or to try to enjoy the satisfaction of having finally wised up. If I can’t make up my mind within the hour as to which way I’ll go, it’s the same as making up my mind not to go see about getting the pass my friend says he has.
I believe Jesus is standing before each of us now, just as He was with Thomas that first Sunday after Easter. This first Sunday after Easter, He’s offering us the chance to get a pass to a glorious adventure of following a living Savior. How much would you love to have that? What are you willing to risk to have that?
Each of us is free to decide whether we’ll take Jesus up on His offer or not. But none of us is free not to decide our next step!
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