Week 66 — “Doubting Thomas”
John 20:24-29

John 20:24-29   Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although 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, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”   Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Poor Thomas, so famously known for one moment in his life.  This is how we often perceive people.  We tend to reduce them to that one moment that we remember.   And sadly, like Thomas, it may be a moment we view negatively.  Thomas is not the only person who, unfortunately, becomes known for one moment in their life.

If you are a baseball fan, there is one name that comes to your mind.  Bill Buckner.  It is Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.  The Red Sox lead the Mets in the series, three games to 2.  A win in this game will mean Boston will have their first World Series Championship since 1918.  Boston was leading this game, but the Mets tied it up, and the game went into extra innings.  In the top of the 10th inning, Boston scored two runs to go ahead again, 5-3.  In the bottom of the 10th, the Mets scored twice to tie the game again at 5-5.  The Mets had a man on second, but there were two outs, and they were down to their last strike.  One more strike and the game goes to the 11th inning.

Mookie Wilson hits a slow roller down the first baseline.  Bill Buckner is there to field the ball, but it goes between his legs and rolls into right field.  The runner scores and the Mets win.  The Mets go on to win the World Series, denying Boston yet again.  The term ‘Buckner Play’ became synonymous with a costly sports blunder.

Bill Buckner played Major League Baseball for 21 years. He ended his career with over 2,700 hits and almost 500 doubles, having batted over .300 seven times. He retired as one of the most effective first basemen in major league history, but is still remembered for one error.

“Doubting Thomas.”  Does he deserve this title?  Should he be known for this one event?  We don’t have as much written in the Gospel accounts about Thomas as we do Peter or John, but there is more to him than this one story.  Thomas was a bold, dedicated follower of Jesus.  When Jesus says he is going back to Jerusalem, and the disciples say, “Wait, you know they are looking to kill you there?”  It is Thomas who steps up and says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Another time, Jesus tells the disciples:

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.   And you know the way to where I am going.”

But none of them understood, and they were scared to admit it.   Only Thomas has the courage to speak up.”

“Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”     

And because Thomas was bold enough to ask, we get this from Jesus:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The reason we have this verse is that Thomas was bold enough to ask the question that the others were scared to ask.  But what do we remember about Thomas?  He was the doubter.    And is doubt really that bad of a thing?  Do we even understand what doubt means in the Bible?

According to modern dictionaries, doubt is “a feeling of uncertainty or a lack of conviction”. If that is what doubt means, then we might think of the opposite of doubt as faith, which is defined as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.”  These would seem to be near opposites.  But these modern-day dictionary definitions don’t fit with the way the Bible uses these words.  You see, this is the Greek view, not the Biblical view.

Our thinking is significantly influenced by the ideas of Greek thinkers.  We tend to want proof with absolute certainty before we ‘believe’ something. In fact, the very idea of proving something is Greek.  It comes from the Greek mathematicians Euclid and Thales, who devised a method of proof for mathematical theorems.  (I am suddenly having flashbacks of writing proofs in Geometry in High School.  Anyone else nauseous?)

 However, in life, absolute certainty is rare.  So, then it takes a leap of faith.  You finally have to be convinced enough to accept something.  So the Greek idea of faith is what you mentally agree with.  If you have Greek faith, then you are mentally convinced, your mind is made up. 

However, the Biblical notion of faith is not from the Greek mindset but from the Hebrew.  Faith in Hebrew is ‘emet’ (from which we get our word ‘Amen’); it is about reliability, trustworthiness, and consistency of actions.  God is always consistent.  He always keeps his promises.  He is faithful.  Faith is about actions, not thoughts.  It is what you do, not what you think.  (It helps us to read “faith” as “faithfulness” as it is an action, not a thought.)

So, biblical faith is not just accepting God and His word, but acting in obedience to His word.  But if Biblical faith is about action, then what is doubt in the Bible?  The Biblical Hebrew word for Doubt is — wait, there is no Biblical Hebrew word for doubt.   Does that surprise you?  There is a word for doubt in modern spoken Hebrew (safek), but you won’t find that word in the Bible.  While we view doubt or mental uncertainty as a negative thing, the Old Testament doesn’t even assign a word to it.

You do see people in a time of mental uncertainties in the Bible, but it is not called doubt.  Abraham and Sarah both laughed when God told them they would have a child in their old age.  And while God corrects them, he does not rebuke them.  Twice, Gideon seeks confirmation of God’s plan before he acts because he is unsure.  Similarly, Moses needs assurance from God because he is uncertain that he is the right man for the job.

God doesn’t rebuke any of these people for having some mental uncertainty.  He helps them through it.  Jesus does the same with Thomas, yet you don’t hear “doubting Abraham” or “doubting Sarah.”  Instead, you see the author of Hebrews put all of these people who had uncertainties in the Hall of Fame for faith in Hebrews 11.  And for all of the “heroes of faith,” in that ‘roll call of faith, ’ you read not what they believed, but what they did.  Their faith is not what they thought about God, but their actions.  (Abraham offered up Isaac, Noah built an ark, Moses kept the passover, sacrificed the lamb, walked through the sea, etc.)

While there is no word for doubt in the Old Testament, you do see the word doubt in the New Testament a few times.  There are 2 Greek words that are translated as ‘doubt’:
Diakrino, which means to distinguish between two things, is occasionally translated as ‘doubt.’
Distazo, which means to waver, hesitate, or delay, is translated as ‘doubt’ twice.  However, it is clear that neither word accurately captures our modern understanding of doubt. The best example of how these words are used is the story of Jesus walking on water.  We reviewed this back in the fall, but let’s revisit it here to see what Jesus says that gets translated as ‘doubt.’

The disciples are in a boat in a storm.  Jesus is casually walking on the water by them.  Peter says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  Jesus replies, “Come.”  Peter hops out of the boat and begins walking on the water. 

Matthew 14:30-31   But when he saw the wind, he was afraid…    

Wait a minute.  Can you see the wind? No, you can only see the results of the action of the wind.  Hang on to that thought for a minute.

Matthew 14:30-31   But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me.”

What is going on? Why is Peter sinking?  Peter is wavering between two thoughts:
1. Jesus told me to walk on water, so I should be obedient.
2. It is impossible to walk on water (do you see those waves?)
And Peter is stuck.  He stops walking and becomes stuck in his thoughts, pondering between these two ideas.  This is similar to our concept of doubt.

Some call this Analysis Paralysis – His mental confusion led to an inability to do what Jesus commanded.  His mental uncertainty causes him to stop obeying Jesus’ command to come.  So, how does Jesus respond to Peter?

Matthew 14:31     Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him. “Lord, save me.”

This is important.  Jesus does not punish Peter for having mental confusion; he reaches out his hand to pull him up, and says, 

“Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Why does Jesus say Peter has “little faith”?  First, remember that Jesus said if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you could move mountains.  A mustard seed was the smallest item he could show them, smaller than a grain of sand.  So the point is any faith at all is sufficient, even the smallest amount, because the outcome is not dependent on the amount of faith you have, but the amount of power God has.  “Little faith” really means no faith.

Why does Jesus say Peter has no faith?  Faith is like the wind.  You can’t see it, but you can see the result of it.  Remember when the paralyzed man’s friends let him down through the roof to Jesus?  The Bible says, “Jesus saw their faith.”   You can see faith because faith is an action.  Biblical faith is characterized by reliability, trustworthiness, and consistency of action.  Peter stops walking.  He is inconsistent in his actions. Therefore, he has no faith.

“Oh, you of little faithfulness, why did you doubt?”  Jesus isn’t asking Peter if he is theologically confused or has doctrinal issues.  He is asking Peter why he stopped walking.

This Greek word doesn’t mean ‘doubt’ as we think, but instead has the meaning of hesitating and/or delaying.  To Jesus, the problem is not mental questioning or uncertainty; the problem is his hesitation or refusal to do what he called Peter to do.  To Jesus, the issue with doubt is the lack of obedience.

The Bible doesn’t call us to be certain in our minds.  (It is not Greek.). Proofs are not necessary.  The Bible leaves room for uncertainty.  But it does not leave room for disobedience.

Jesus never said, “Understand everything I say and don’t ask questions.”  He said, “Follow me.”  It’s all about the action, all about obedience.  Jesus is fine with your questions.  He has no problem with your consideration as long as it does not lead to disobedience.

We see that with Thomas.  Thomas was an eyewitness to Jesus’ life; he knew Jesus had died.  If Jesus were alive again, Thomas would need to see Him again.  Jesus doesn’t fuss at him. He gives him exactly what he needs.  You need to see my hands and side.  Here they are..  Jesus solves his uncertainty.  Mental uncertainty is fine, as long as you remain obedient.

But there can be a huge potential problem with resolving mental uncertainty.  We need to go back to Genesis. There is a tree in the garden.  Eve says, “That fruit looks delicious!  It looks so good to me, but God said, ‘Don’t eat it.’”  So, where does Eve go when she has uncertainty?  Where does Eve go when she is confused?  She goes to the serpent and listens to what he has to say.  Then she reasons within herself.  Her mental uncertainty led to disobedience, as she sought advice from the snake and then decided that she was more capable of making decisions than God.

If Adam and Eve had some mental uncertainty or questions about the tree of knowledge of good and evil, then they should have asked God about it on their next walk in the Garden, not the snake.  The answers we need are not going to come from our reasoning, and certainly not from the snake and the world he controls.

Proverbs 3:5-6.  (Message)  “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track.”

If you find yourself confused or questioning, don’t go to the serpent for advice. Don’t go to the world that he currently runs.  And then don’t think you can decide better than God.   The next verse in Proverbs says, “Don’t be wise in your own eyes.

Luke tells us this also.  In the book of Acts, Luke writes about Paul’s ministry and says:

Acts 17:11. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 

Paul was saying some things they had trouble understanding.  You may not have noticed this, but Paul can be difficult to understand. (See 2 Peter 3:16 for Peter’s opinion on this.)   So what do you do?  You don’t go asking a snake about it.  And you don’t just sit around thinking you can reason it out in your own mind.

I frequently see this in Bible studies.   People ask, “What do you think the scripture is saying? What makes sense to you?”  I apologize, but that is not the correct way to interpret scripture. That’s what got Adam and Eve in trouble.  “The fruit looks good.  It makes sense to me to eat it!”  Use the Bible, God’s Word, to interpret the Bible, not your own understanding.  Don’t make the same mistake Adam and Eve made.  Ask questions about it, but go to the right place for answers.  Listen, if we spend hours in front of a television and never find time to study God’s word, it is no wonder we are confused.  Search the scriptures and ask God to help you understand them.

So it is all about action.   Christianity’s leap of faith is not a mental leap but a leap of action.

Remember the story of Naaman the leper?  He came to the prophet Elisha seeking healing.  He was expecting some grand gesture from the prophet, but Elisha sent a servant to instruct Naaman to wash in the Jordan.  Naaman was angry that Elisha didn’t even bother to speak to him personally, and he was mad that all he offered him was to bathe in a river.  What would that do?  But Naaman’s servant said, You’ve come all this way, what could it hurt to try the river that the prophet said?   So Naaman goes and washes 7 times in the Jordan.

Did Naaman, after his healing, understand how the water would heal him?  Did he solve his uncertainty about the prophet’s command?  No, but he was obedient, and he was healed, and his obedience led to faith. He goes back to the prophet and says, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel” (2 Kings 5:15). His obedience preceded his belief, and his obedience led to his belief.  Understanding is not a prerequisite to obedience.

Faith comes by obedience.  Let me ask you, “When has your faith grown?”  I have been in some beautiful church buildings and heard some fantastic music, and I enjoyed the time of worship, but that did not deepen my faith.  I have listened to some incredible preachers deliver great sermons, and I have learned a lot, but that hasn’t deepened my faith.    I have heard some amazing testimonies from others, but that alone didn’t make my faith grow.  However, all of these things contributed to inspiring me to do the one thing that ultimately led to my faith growing: walking out of the building and being obedient to what God led me to do.

It was when I followed God in obedience and stepped out to do something that my faith grew.  And often they were things that I didn’t really want to do or things I felt inadequate to do.   But as I stepped out, like Peter, God empowered me to do what I thought I couldn’t do.  And in obedience, faith grows.

Again, faith is not about mental agreement; it is about action.  Read the book of James.  James says faith without action is worthless.  It is dead.  It only exists if there is action with it.

Have you ever been rappelling?   Essentially, you attach a rope to the top of a cliff, hook into the rope with a harness, then lean back off the side of the cliff and walk backward down the cliff wall.  There is a big difference between believing that the rope is strong enough to support your weight and then stepping off the side of the cliff and depending on the rope.   Faith is not “believing that the rope will hold you”; it is leaning back off the side of the cliff on that rope.

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

James is clearly thinking of Peter on the water here.  Doubt (wavering between two things) is like the back-and-forth waves in the sea, just being tossed around.  “Let him ask in faith.”  Don’t be like Peter, who stopped being obedient while he considered the physics of water-walking.

We must also guard against analysis paralysis. I don’t know about you, but I like to stop and think about things first – I’m not Peter, just quickly jumping out of the boat.  I want to follow Jesus, but sometimes I’m not quite sure it’s His voice I’m hearing.  It is okay to be sure, but it is not okay to use that as an excuse for delaying obedience.

How often have I been prompted to do something – give something away, visit someone, whatever – and I have not done it because I second-guessed myself, not believing the prompting was from God. A wise friend told me that if it were an act of kindness that could not harm anyone, then don’t hesitate.  It would certainly be tragic to miss a command from God because I was questioning my motivations.  Remember, Jesus is fine with our questioning, but not with our delay and hesitation in obedience.

So “Doubting Thomas”?  No.  Thomas was no different than any of the other disciples.  None of them believed Mary or the disciples from Emmaus when they came and told them about Jesus’ resurrection.  They had all seen him alive and seen him die.  They all needed to see him alive again.  Let’s look at the end of the story again.

John 20:26-29   Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although 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, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”   Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

“My Lord and my God!”   The clearest confession of Jesus’ divinity in the Gospels.¹  Many called Jesus ‘Lord’, but that was a title of reverence and used as a standard greeting, as we say ‘sir’ or ‘mister’.  Some called him the ‘Son of God,’ but this term is used frequently in the Bible to refer to angels, the nation of Israel as a whole, and some kings, not specifically to a divine being. ‘Son of Man’ can be used as a reference to human beings or as a special reference to the Daniel 7 exalted figure called the ‘Son of Man.’

John began his Gospel, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.”  This is a statement about the divinity of Jesus.  And now John is ending his Gospel with the same statement.  How ironic that this most bold statement of faith comes from the man we call “Doubting Thomas.”

How does Thomas’ story end?  The Bible doesn’t say, but history tells us Thomas, the disciple who stated his willingness to follow Jesus to death, traveled further than any other apostle to spread the Gospel.  He traveled the trade routes east, outside the Roman Empire, through Persia to India, likely arriving there by 49 AD.  He started numerous churches and was later martyred there.  The man known for doubting followed Jesus further than anyone.

So what is our take-home message?

1. It is ok to question God.  He can handle our questions.  If you are drowning in uncertainties, Jesus will reach out his hand to help you.
2. If you are uncertain or questioning, do not go to the world and do not go to the serpent, and do not think you can reason it out on your own.  Go to God’s Word and God in prayer.  Don’t make the Adam and Eve mistake.
3. Faith is something you can see.  It is not a creed, a list of things we believe.  It is the actions of a life that is based on that creed.  It is what you do, not what you think.
4. If God calls you to do something, do not delay or hesitate; act promptly.  Be consistent in your obedience.

God brought us into his kingdom to do the work of the kingdom.  He gave us talents to use them.  There is nothing I can say to help you grow your faith.  I hope to inspire you to walk into God’s world and do what God leads you to do.   I truly believe God is calling each of us to do something for the kingdom this week.  And as we do, our faith grows.

1. Last week, I mentioned that the Last Supper was the seventh meal Jesus had at the table in John.  Seven is the number of completion.  And then the next meal in Emmaus was a kind of ‘first supper,’ marking the beginning of a new era in the world following Jesus’ resurrection.  There are many ‘sevens’ in John.  There are seven miracles, and the eighth one, marking a newness of life in the world, is the resurrection of Jesus.  There are seven “I am” statements by Jesus.  There are seven statements by seven witnesses that Jesus is the Messiah, followed by the eighth one after the resurrection, the climactic witness that Jesus is divine.