Today’s Reading: John 20:22-28 / John 11:1-16
Today’s Verse: The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. John 20:25 KJV
Doubting Thomas was what he was called (John 20:24-29 KJV).
But we all know that title was not entirely fair.
Think about it.
How many of us would have believed that the Savior, who we saw die on the cross had been resurrected?
We should call him “Courageous Thomas” for the fact that he had enough courage to handle the events that led to the Savior’s death.
We even read that at the death of Lazarus, Jesus had said, “Let us go into Judaea again” (John 11:7).
This prompted a protest from the disciples.
They said unto Him, “Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?” (John 11:8 KJV).
But it was Thomas who said, “unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16 KJV).
His intentions proved nobler that his actions.
We read that upon the arrest of Jesus, Thomas and “all the disciples forsook him, and fled” (Matthew 26:56 KJV).
But Peter whom the Savior had told “That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice” continued to follow “him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end” (Matthew 26:34, 58 KJV).
And it happened just like the Savior said.
Only John and his disciples followed Jesus all the way to the cross (John 1:35-2:12 KJV).
It is interesting that even after witnessing the resurrection of Lazarus, we read where Thomas could not bring himself to believe that the crucified Lord had conquered death.
The other disciples had told him, “We have seen the Lord.”
“But [Thomas] said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25 KJV).
Because he wanted to be convinced by his own way, or not at all, he limited the Savior.
The Lord could have justly left him in his unbelieve.
Instead, when Jesus saw him, He said, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing” (John 20:27 KJV).
It was not until he saw the risen and touched the Savior that he cried out, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28 KJV).
“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29 KJV).
This gave comfort and assurance to Thomas.
We may not be able to touch Him like Thomas did, but we know He lives.
It should give comfort and assurance to all believers.
There will always come a time when we search for the truth.
And He does not want us to have any doubts or fears about who He is.
About how our faith in Him has influence in our lives.
The Bible is our main source to answer any questions we have.
His Word is forever true.
We have no reason to doubt.
Because “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29 KJV).
A WORD OF PRAYER
Father, we know they say that “seeing is believing.” As believers we know that even though we cannot physically see You that You are there for us. Teach us to act on what we know about You. About Your goodness and trust. To continue to keep faith regarding those things we do not know. You are always there to lead and guide us. Thank You for always being the light that shines brightly in our times of darkness. Always showing You are who You are. That You are always there for us. We do appreciate it.
In Jesus Name We Pray, Amen