Dave preached from John 20:19-29 last night, looking particularly at Thomas’s responses to the Resurrection. We are privileged to know the ending of the Easter story every day, but the disciples on that first Easter Sunday were broken-hearted and confused, afraid and worried. They had been expecting to find a dead body in the tomb and were not quite sure what to make of the subsequent reports of resurrection. The disciples needed the confirmation of this amazing fact, which Jesus gave to them in this encounter.
Jesus appeared to them in a locked room: no wonder they needed Him to calm their fears as He had calmed the raging seas. Thomas was not there on this occasion, however, and missed that opportunity to meet with Jesus. Christ is present with us every time we meet together in His name, and we need to be there, for we always need His reassurance, His teaching, His revelation and power in our lives.
Thomas wanted proof and reassurance. Although forever labelled ‘doubting Thomas’ from this passage, he teaches us how to move from doubt to declaration. Presumably he found the other disciples’ report of their encounter with Jesus difficult to believe: after all, these were the same disciples who had fled Jesus at the Cross, who had betrayed Him, who had been so afraid and scared just a week beforehand. Maybe he was doubting their word because their walk had not matched their talk. Whatever his reasons, Jesus appeared to him to settle all his doubts, urging him to come and see.
We may not see Jesus physically in the same way that Thomas did. Will we believe the same story? The blessing God has is great for those who not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29). We are called to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). We may not be able to prove everything about our faith, but we can still believe and can still declare, as Thomas did, ‘my Lord and my God!’