ORDINARY MEN, EXTRAORDINARY CALLING (6)

SESSION 6 — THOMAS: FAITH THAT SURVIVED THE QUESTIONS

Text: John 20:24–29

John 20:24–29 ESV

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 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.” 26 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.” 27 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.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Supporting Texts: Matthew 10:2–4; Mark 3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16; John 11:1–16; John 14:1–7; John 20:19–29; John 21:1–14; Acts 1:12–14

INTRODUCTION — MORE THAN “DOUBTING THOMAS”

There are certain biblical characters whose entire reputation has been reduced to one moment.

Peter denied Jesus.

David committed adultery.

Jonah ran from God.

And Thomas doubted.

But none of those moments tells the whole story.

Thomas has carried the nickname “Doubting Thomas” for centuries, yet Scripture never actually calls him that.

John calls him:

“Thomas, called the Twin...” — John 11:16

The Greek name Thomas comes from the Aramaic t’oma, meaning “twin.” John also calls him Didymus, the Greek word for “twin.”

We do not know with certainty who his twin was.

But we know something far more important:

Thomas was one of the Twelve.

Jesus chose him.

Jesus trained him.

Thomas heard the teachings.

Thomas watched the miracles.

Thomas saw demons cast out.

Thomas saw storms obey Christ.

Thomas watched Lazarus walk out of a grave.

And eventually Thomas stood before the risen Christ and made one of the strongest confessions recorded in the Gospel of John:

“My Lord and my God!”

Thomas's story is not merely the story of a man who doubted.

It is the story of a man whose questions eventually brought him to a deeper confession of who Jesus really is.

There is a difference between rebellious unbelief and struggling faith.

Some people ask questions because they are looking for an excuse not to believe.

Thomas asked questions because he desperately wanted something solid enough to believe.

And Jesus did not throw Thomas away because he struggled.

Jesus came looking for him.

1. THOMAS WAS PERSONALLY CHOSEN BY JESUS - Matthew 10:2–4

Thomas appears in every biblical listing of the Twelve.

That matters.

Thomas was not merely someone who occasionally followed Jesus.

He belonged to the inner group Christ personally selected.

Mark tells us:

“And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach...” — Mark 3:14

Notice the order.

First — “that they might be with Him.”

Then — “that He might send them.”

Before Thomas became an apostle who was sent, Thomas became a disciple who stayed near Jesus.

This is foundational to discipleship.

Our calling begins not with what we do for Jesus, but with being with Jesus.

Ministry without communion eventually becomes machinery.

Calling without relationship becomes religion.

Before Jesus sent Thomas anywhere, He brought Thomas close.

APPLICATION

Never become so occupied working for Christ that you stop walking with Christ.

The power of our calling comes from proximity to the One who called us.

2. THOMAS WAS NOT A COWARD — HE WAS WILLING TO DIE WITH JESUS - John 11:7–8

One of the most overlooked statements Thomas ever made occurs before the resurrection of Lazarus.

Jesus tells the disciples:

“Let us go to Judea again.”

Immediately the disciples remind Him that the Jewish leaders had recently attempted to stone Him.

Going back toward Jerusalem was dangerous.

Jesus then tells them Lazarus has died.

And suddenly Thomas speaks.

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.”

That does not sound like a coward.

Thomas believed Jesus was walking into danger.

And his response was essentially:

“Then we're going with Him.”

Thomas may not have understood what Jesus was about to do.

Thomas may have expected the worst.

But he was willing to follow Jesus into it.

There is something powerful here:

Thomas had questions, but Thomas also had loyalty.

Sometimes we imagine faith means never being afraid, never struggling, and never having questions.

But biblical faith is often demonstrated by obedience in spite of those things.

Thomas did not say:

“I understand everything.”

He said:

“Let us also go.”

That is discipleship.

I may not understand where Jesus is taking me, but I am still going with Him.

3. THOMAS WAS HONEST ENOUGH TO ASK WHAT EVERYONE ELSE MAY HAVE BEEN THINKING - John 14:1–6

The setting is the Upper Room.

Jesus knows the cross is approaching.

He tells His disciples:

“Let not your hearts be troubled.”

Then Jesus says:

“And you know the way to where I am going.”

Thomas responds:

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

I love the honesty of Thomas.

He doesn't pretend.

He doesn't nod his head as though he understands.

He says:

“Lord, I don't understand.”

And because Thomas asked the question, Jesus gave one of the greatest revelations in Scripture.

John 14:6 ESV

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

Think about that.

Thomas's question opened the door for Jesus to reveal:

I AM THE WAY.

I AM THE TRUTH.

I AM THE LIFE.

Sometimes a sincere question is not the enemy of revelation.

Sometimes it is the doorway to revelation.

Thomas did not hide his confusion.

He brought it to Jesus.

And that is exactly where our questions belong.

TEACHING TRUTH

There is a tremendous difference between saying:

“I refuse to believe.”

and saying:

“Lord, help me understand.”

God is not intimidated by sincere questions.

Bring them into His presence.

Bring them into prayer.

Bring them into Scripture.

4. THOMAS'S GREATEST CRISIS CAME AFTER THE CROSS - John 20:19-24

Then everything changed.

Thomas had followed Jesus for approximately three years.

He had watched Him perform miracles.

He had heard Him teach.

He had watched Him raise Lazarus.

But now Jesus was dead.

Thomas had seen enough to know crucifixion was final.

The Messiah he loved had been nailed to a Roman cross.

The body had been placed in a tomb.

Then something happened that would define Thomas's reputation for centuries.

John 20:19–24

The disciples gathered behind locked doors.

Jesus suddenly appeared among them.

He showed them His hands and His side.

They saw Him.

They knew He was alive.

But:

“Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.”

Thomas missed the meeting.

We are not told why.

But he was absent when Jesus manifested Himself to the others.

There is a practical warning here.

You never know what you may miss when you separate yourself from the fellowship of believers.

Thomas missed an encounter that everyone else experienced.

And now the other disciples tell him:

“We have seen the Lord.”

But Thomas struggles to accept their testimony.

5. “UNLESS I SEE” — WHEN FAITH COLLIDES WITH DISAPPOINTMENT - John 20:25

Thomas says:

“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails... I will never believe.”

Those words sound harsh.

But consider what Thomas had experienced.

Thomas had believed Jesus was the Messiah.

Thomas had left his former life.

Thomas had followed Him.

Thomas had expected the Kingdom.

Then Thomas watched everything apparently collapse.

Sometimes what looks like doubt on the surface is actually disappointment underneath.

People who have been deeply disappointed sometimes become afraid to hope again.

Thomas seems to be saying:

“Don't ask me to believe this unless it's real.”

He wants evidence.

But notice something remarkable.

Jesus already knew exactly what Thomas had said.

Thomas had said:

“Unless I see...”

Eight days later Jesus appears and essentially repeats Thomas's conditions back to him.

That means Jesus heard Thomas even when Thomas did not realize Jesus was listening.

And there is a powerful truth here:

Jesus hears the conversation you have while you're struggling.

He knows the questions.

He knows the confusion.

He knows the disappointment.

He knows what wounded your faith.

6. JESUS CAME BACK FOR THOMAS - John 20:26

“Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them.”

Notice something different.

This time Thomas is there.

He still has questions.

He still has doubts.

But he showed up.

That will preach.

You may have questions.

Show up anyway.

You may be disappointed.

Show up anyway.

You may not understand what God is doing.

Show up anyway.

Thomas did not allow his doubt to completely disconnect him from the disciples.

And suddenly:

“Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them...”

Jesus appears.

Then Jesus turns directly toward Thomas.

John 20:27 ESV

27 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.”

Jesus meets Thomas at the exact point of his struggle.

Notice that Jesus does not humiliate him.

He does not say:

“Thomas, you're finished.”

He does not remove him from the apostles.

Instead, Jesus gives Thomas what he needs to move from unbelief into faith.

But then Jesus challenges him:

“Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

Grace meets Thomas where he is.

But grace does not leave Thomas where he is.

Jesus does not merely comfort his doubt.

Jesus calls him out of it.

7. THE SCARS BECAME THE EVIDENCE

Thomas wanted to see the wounds.

Jesus showed them.

This is fascinating because the resurrected body of Jesus still bore the marks of crucifixion.

The resurrection did not erase the testimony of Calvary.

The wounds that appeared to prove Jesus had been defeated became evidence that He had conquered death.

There is something powerful in that.

God can take the very thing that looked like evidence of defeat and transform it into testimony of victory.

The scars said:

Yes, I was crucified.

But the living Christ standing before Thomas said:

But the grave could not hold Me.

The wounds remained.

But death did not.

8. THOMAS MAKES ONE OF SCRIPTURE'S GREATEST CONFESSIONS - John 20:28

Thomas sees Jesus.

And suddenly there is no argument.

No interrogation.

No theological debate.

Thomas answers:

John 20:28

“My Lord and my God!”

Thomas moves from:

“I will never believe...”

to:

“My Lord and my God!”

What a transformation.

The Greek text reads:

Ho Kyrios mou kai ho Theos mou.

Kyrios — Lord, master, sovereign.

Theos — God.

And notice the personal pronoun:

MOU — MY.

Not merely:

“Lord.”

But:

“MY LORD.”

Not merely:

“God.”

But:

“MY GOD.”

Thomas has moved beyond secondhand testimony.

The other disciples had told him:

“We have seen the Lord.”

But now Thomas has encountered Christ personally.

Christianity cannot remain merely:

My pastor's Jesus.

My mother's Jesus.

My father's Jesus.

My church's Jesus.

There eventually must be a personal confession:

“MY LORD AND MY GOD.”

9. JESUS POINTS BEYOND THOMAS — TO US - John 20:29

Then Jesus says something extraordinary.

John 20:29

“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Who is Jesus talking about?

Future believers.

People who would never physically stand in that room.

People who would hear the apostolic testimony.

People who would believe the Gospel.

Jesus was talking about generations like ours.

Thomas believed because he saw the risen Christ.

We believe through the testimony preserved by those who saw Him.

John immediately explains why he recorded these things.

John 20:30–31

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ...”

John essentially tells us:

Thomas saw Jesus.

John wrote what happened.

You read the testimony.

And through that testimony, you believe.

10. THOMAS DID NOT ABANDON THE DISCIPLES

After this encounter, Thomas does not disappear.

John 21:2

Thomas is present with Peter and several other disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.

Jesus appears again.

Thomas is there.

Then after the ascension:

Acts 1:13–14

Thomas is specifically named among the apostles gathered in Jerusalem.

And what are they doing?

“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer...”

The man who once said:

“Unless I see...”

is now praying with believers who are waiting for something Jesus promised but they had not yet seen.

Think about that transformation.

Thomas had learned something.

Faith does not require seeing before believing.

Jesus had spoken.

That was enough.

And Thomas waited with the others.

11. FROM QUESTIONING DISCIPLE TO APOSTOLIC WITNESS - Acts 1

The New Testament does not tell us where Thomas traveled after Acts 1.

However, ancient Christian tradition strongly associates Thomas with missionary work toward the East, especially with India.

The Acts of Thomas, an early Christian apocryphal work generally dated centuries after the apostolic period, contains legendary material about his missionary activity and therefore should not be treated as equal to Scripture.

However, there is a very old Christian tradition connecting Thomas with India, particularly with Christians later known as the Saint Thomas Christians along the Malabar Coast.

The traditional account says Thomas carried the Gospel eastward and eventually died as a martyr.

We should distinguish carefully between biblical certainty and later church tradition.

But whether every later detail can be historically established or not, Scripture itself gives us the most important picture:

Thomas did not remain trapped in John 20:25.

The last biblical picture of Thomas is not of an isolated doubter.

It is of an apostle gathered with the church, united in prayer and waiting for the promise of God.

12. DON'T DEFINE SOMEONE BY THEIR WORST MOMENT

Perhaps one of the greatest lessons from Thomas is how unfairly we can define people.

We call him:

“Doubting Thomas.”

But why don't we call him:

“Courageous Thomas” from John 11?

Why not:

“Honest Thomas” from John 14?

Why not:

“Worshipping Thomas” from John 20?

Why not:

“Praying Thomas” from Acts 1?

Because human beings have a tendency to remember someone's failure longer than their faithfulness.

But Jesus did not define Thomas by his doubt.

Jesus saw an apostle.

This should change the way we look at people.

Do not freeze people in the photograph of their worst moment.

Peter was more than his denial.

Thomas was more than his doubt.

And you are more than the moment when your faith struggled.

God sees what His grace is producing in you.

APPLICATION — WHAT THOMAS TEACHES US TODAY

Thomas teaches us several truths about genuine discipleship:

You can have questions and still follow Jesus.

Thomas had questions, but he kept coming back to Christ.

Take your questions to Jesus rather than away from Jesus.

Thomas's questions ultimately produced revelation.

Do not isolate yourself when your faith is struggling.

Thomas missed the first appearance because he was absent. But when Jesus appeared again, Thomas was with the disciples.

Your disappointment does not have to become permanent unbelief.

Thomas experienced devastation at Calvary, but resurrection changed everything.

Jesus knows exactly where your faith is struggling.

Christ addressed Thomas's specific objections.

Faith eventually requires a decision.

Jesus said:

“Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

There comes a point where we must move beyond endlessly questioning and respond to the revelation God has given.

And finally:

The goal is not merely having your questions answered.

The goal is encountering Jesus.

Thomas did not walk away saying:

“Now I understand resurrection theology.”

He said:

“MY LORD AND MY GOD!”

CONCLUSION

There may be people sitting in churches every Sunday who love Jesus but are carrying unanswered questions.

Something happened that they cannot reconcile.

A prayer seemed unanswered.

Someone died.

A relationship collapsed.

A promise seems delayed.

Something they expected God to do did not happen the way they expected.

And somewhere underneath their worship is a Thomas-like statement:

“Lord, I need to know You're really here.”

Thomas teaches us:

Don't walk away.

Stay near the disciples.

Stay in the Word.

Stay in prayer.

Keep showing up.

Because Thomas did not know that when he walked into that room eight days later, Jesus was about to walk through the wall.

The locked door could not keep Jesus out.

And neither can the locked places of your heart.

Jesus knew Thomas's words before Thomas ever repeated them to Him.

He knew exactly where Thomas was struggling.

And Christ came directly to that place.

But when Jesus revealed Himself, Thomas had to respond.

And his response should become ours:

“MY LORD AND MY GOD!”

Church, Christianity is not built upon pretending we never have questions.

It is built upon knowing where to take those questions.

Take them to Jesus.

Because when genuine questions encounter genuine revelation, doubt can become worship.

CHALLENGE

Thomas's story can be summarized in three statements:

John 11 — “Let us also go.” That is commitment.

John 14 — “How can we know the way?” That is honesty.

John 20 — “My Lord and my God!” That is revelation.

Thomas went from following Jesus, to questioning Jesus, to worshiping Jesus.

And perhaps that is why his story matters so much.

Jesus did not need Thomas to pretend.

Jesus needed Thomas to believe.

And when Thomas finally saw the risen Christ, his questions gave way to one declaration:

“MY LORD AND MY GOD!”

The ordinary man who questioned became an extraordinary witness.

The disciple who demanded evidence became part of the apostolic testimony upon which generations of believers would hear the Gospel.

And the same Jesus who stood before Thomas still calls to every generation:

“Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

CLOSING QUOTE

“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” — Augustine

NEXT SESSION

Ordinary Men, Extraordinary Calling — Session 7

MATTHEW: FROM THE TAX BOOTH TO THE KINGDOM — When Jesus Calls the Unlikely