TGP2802 - Doubts Are Overcome

INTRO

THAT’S DOUBTFUL Say the following statements (all true) and allow students to vote on whether they believe them (thumbs up) or doubt them (thumbs down).

Mosquitoes can smell which blood type you are.

Your heartbeat will sync to the rhythm of music.

The average cloud weighs one million pounds.

Giraffes and humans have the same number of neck bones.

While many students felt doubtful, it didn’t change the truth of these statements.

Our doubts also don’t negate the truth of God’s Word, either.

Today we’re looking at Thomas, he gets a bad wrap as doubting THomas but when Jesus wants to go back to a place where they wanted to kill him

Thomas is His always ready:

John 11:16 ESV

16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

TEACHING

Trust the faithful witnesses. (24-25)

We don’t know where Thomas was the first time Jesus visited.

He missed out and it negatively affected the way he responded to the truth.

I don’t think Thomas’s need to examine the evidence is uncalled for; these claims are miraculous and outrageous given the gruesome death of Jesus days earlier. The other disciples had received this same evidence earlier without asking.

Despite the testimony of the Marys, John, Peter, and the rest of the Disciples, Thomas says he’ll never believe.

This is not a regular denial - I don’t really believe it - It’s all CAPS, bold with a mad emoji!

Thomas is singing his favorite song here: “we are never, ever, ever, ever getting back together Like, ever”

Thomas is driven only by what he can see and touch physically.

He doesn’t just want to see Jesus, he wants to touch His wounds.

Thomas’ skepticism is unparalleled in the Gospel, no one demands such proof. It could be that he is more skeptical in general or so shocked by the tragedy of crucifixion that he is preoccupied with seeing and touching the wounds.

Believe the Historical Evidence. (26-27)

Eight days later - Thomas has a full week to come to terms with the reports of the others.

Remember they are experiencing these things in real time, their reactions are raw.

They are trying to understand what’s going on.

Illustration - photo proof or it didn’t happen - are you like this? I’ve got to see it to believe it.

Jesus comes back, but this time Thomas is there.

The text doesn’t tell us but I bet Thomas was with them every day after the first encounter so he didn’t miss Jesus again.

There is an expectancy.

We need to expect Jesus to show up at any time in our lives.

Look at Jesus’s words, He’s kind and gentle, He loves Thomas and it shows.

I might of been like: HERE I AM!

Jesus calls Thomas out in a compassionate way, using Thomas’s exact words.

Compare the two

Jesus confronts Thomas’s doubt directly, “do not disbelieve, but believe.” (27)

Confess Jesus as Lord. (28-29)

Look at what Thomas says!

He calls Jesus Lord and God.

These two words appear together throughout the OT but when talking to YHWH!

Psalm 35:23 - Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord!

Thomas is declaring that Jesus is the same God of the OT!

Jesus blesses those who believe even when they cannot see.

Thomas had been a disciple, he was prepared to die for Jesus as we saw in John 11:16 and to follow where Jesus led, but his faith was insufficient.

Therefore, true faith requires more than commitment to Jesus, it requires the recognition of Jesus’s Lordship, He is God!

As Saint Augustine, the follower of Jesus from long ago, said, “Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.”

GROUP