"The Gospel According to Thomas" John 20:24-29

Introduction

You do remember Thomas don’t you? You remember because he is most often remembered as “Doubting Thomas.”

John’s gospel is the only gospel that records this account of Thomas’s skepticism.

As a matter of fact you may even ask yourselves, “why in the world are we looking at “Doubting Thomas” on Easter Sunday 2023?

The answer to that question would be that, because today, more than ever skepticism is a dominating force in the culture. And it so happens that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one area of orthodoxy that is considered to be mythological and the equivalent of a religious fairy tale by many who even claim to be followers of Christ.

I would submit to you this morning that believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is an essential to a Christian’s salvation. Romans 10:9 tells us this: “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. If you reject the resurrection you don’t believe the gospel.

But this account of Thomas does reveal something concerning ourselves and our struggle with unbelief when it comes to the miraculous power of God.

This is why skepticism is so dominate in our culture. We are people prone to determine truth through our senses by observation. And in the natural order of things miracles like the dead being raised after three days doesn’t happen.

All of us have probably been there at one time or another to one degree or another. Even if it was for just a few moments skeptical thoughts of unbelief have challenged our faith in life.

As we look at the faith and life of Thomas we see three aspects of Thomas encounter with the reality of the resurrection that perhaps challenge us in our own encounter with the resurrection this morning. The first one is seen in verses 24-25 of our text, it is what I am calling: The Bias of Thomas:

I. The Bias of Thomas (24-25).

Thomas wanted the material proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was a materialist who trusted his senses and the experiential observation before he would commit to believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

You see Thomas was not going to listen to any testimony of the other disciples having seen the risen Lord. Thomas wanted something he could feel and touch and see in an existential experience before he would believe.

Remember that Thomas wasn’t there on that original Easter evening when Jesus visited His disciples.

Thomas heard about it after the fact but refused to believe unless he saw and touched the evidence.

Thomas’ logic sounds strange at first considering that he had witnessed on many occasions the Lord Jesus performing miracles.

Why would Thomas have such a hard time now believing in the supernatural power of God?

If I had to guess, I would say it was probably because of the devastating events of Jesus Christ being crucified just a few days before. Knowing of the horror of Jesus death in the context of such suffering and agony. The definitive reality of His death must have left Thomas with no hope of the possibility that Jesus could now be alive.

In Lexington, Mississippi at Porter and Sons Funeral Home back in February of 2014, Walter Williams woke up still zipped up in his body bag after being pronounced dead at around 9pm. And three hour later he was alive.

They believe his pacemaker had malfunctioned and started working again. The Coroner said, “I was in shock! We got him into the embalming room, and we noticed his legs beginning to move, like kicking, he also began to do a little breathing” (CNN March 13, 2014).

Obviously it would not be something someone would expect to see. Even in a span of three hours and Walter Williams situation was due to a faulty pacemaker.

Imagine how it would have been for Thomas post-crucifixion to hear of Jesus Christ being alive. Thomas knew that when the Romans crucified someone they didn’t live through it. A spear in the side would ensure that and after such a brutal execution, that one would just appear to be dead and three days later show up without injuries would be unthinkable.

This is the notion that those who believe in the swoon theory hold to. That Jesus was not really dead. He was just severely wounded and He recovered three days later.

Such alternatives to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead are due to fallen man’s skepticism. And it has been going on for centuries even up into the modern day. The liberal theologian Rudolph Bultmann, who was one of the most influential theologians of the last century, said in his work “Kerygma and Myth” that: “It is impossible to use electrical light and the wireless and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries, and at the same time to believe in the New Testament world of spirits and miracles” (Rudolph Bultmann, Kerygma and Myth: A Theological Debate)

Liberal Christianity bought Bultmann’s argument hook, line and sinker. For Bultmann, you had to get the mythology out of the Bible before you could get to the heart of what constitutes true Christianity.

Contrast this with the teaching of the Apostle Paul that if you take away the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead there is no hope for the Christian as stated in 1 Cor. 15:17 “17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”

This is exactly why being a Christian does not depend primarily on human rationalism but on God given, Holy Spirit quickened, faith alone. High IQ doesn’t necessarily give a person an edge over the simple minded.

Saving faith is not merely just an intellectual assent, it is something that originates with God and it is worked by sovereign grace into the person’s life. Just like He did in the life of Thomas. And it was to the benefit of Thomas. Look at verses 26-27:

II. The Benefit of Thomas (26-27).

What would it take for Thomas to believe? By his own admission it would take a physical encounter with the risen Lord.

Eight days passed and Jesus came into their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” And He then directed His focus to Thomas in verse 27*

Thomas got exactly what he wanted. He got the opportunity to see the risen Lord.

We don’t have the opportunity to encounter the physical risen body of the Lord today for us to touch.

But what we do have present with us today are transformed lives. His own disciples believed in the resurrection and they suffered for their belief even to the point of death for the message of the gospel.

The Apostle Peter denies Christ openly in John 18 but in Acts 2 he boldly and openly preaches the gospel at Pentecost.

According to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs Thomas went to India to preach the gospel and was killed by a pagan priest who ran him through with a spear.

Not likely that men would die for something they know to be a fabricated lie. There were many more besides Peter and Thomas and the other disciples that witnessed the risen Christ. The New Testament declares over 500 people witness the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 15:6).

Jesus presentation to Thomas was the original evidence that demands a verdict. Thomas got the presentation that he wanted to his benefit which God used to manifest faith in Thomas. Look at verses 28-29:

III. The Belief of Thomas (28-29).

Thomas statement reveals his verdict after considering the evidence; “My Lord and my God!” (28).

Theologian Leon Morris says that this is the greatest statement of faith in the whole of John’s gospel. I would say it is probably the greatest statement of faith in all the New Testament.

I say this because it is a statement of the absolute Lordship and Deity combined. And Jesus lets it stand without correction.

Then Jesus contextualizes the faith of Thomas in relation to those who have not seen but still believe in verse 29: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

“My Lord and my God” are profound words coming from a man often referred to as doubting Thomas. For Thomas nothing but a physical encounter would confront his unbelief.

This is just one of the accounts in the Scriptures that declares to us the reliability of the truth surrounding the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Conclusion: The Old Testament foretold it and the New Testament revealed it. In Thomas case the doubter was transformed to a proclaimer and he even died for the message. It is the gospel according to Thomas. And today you are being confronted with the truth of the resurrection as well.

Unbeliever Christians living transformed lives are sitting all around you. Living testimonies of those who are blessed though they have not seen with their physical eyes they believe the revelation of Jesus Christ declared in the word of God.

Maybe today is your day. The day that God opens your eyes to believe by faith in Jesus Christ and in His finished work of His death on the Cross for your sins and having made atonement for sin God raised Him from the dead victorious over sin and death. Believe the gospel for your salvation.

Believers, I am with Thomas, My Lord and my God! I hope we all are reminded of our covenant blessings in Christ. That we are kept by God and provided for by Him through Christ Jesus our Lord. Confess your sin to Him and rest in His provision of grace to you in Christ. Let’s Pray!