Thomas - A Biographical Sketch

Biographical Sermon                                                                           Terry Lange

Thomas                                                                                                Box 176

John 20:19-29

Introduction:  When we hear the name Thomas, we often think of the expression “doubting Thomas” and we are reminded of John 20 where the exchange between Jesus and Thomas took place regarding the resurrection of Christ..  What else do we really know about him?

• He is one of the twelve disciples whose name appears in all Four Gospels (Mt. 10:3; Mk 3:18; Luke 6:15;Jn 11:16, 20:24, 21:2).
• He is often referred to as Didymus (Greek equivalent of his name which means twin).
• He was a courageous man (Jn 11:16)
• He sought after truth and was not afraid to ask questions (Jn. 14:5)
• We call him “Doubting Thomas” but Jesus did not rebuke him for his doubts but for his unbelief.

One of the key words in the Gospel of John is “belief”.  We see that John traces the faith of the disciples throughout the book and it culminates with this account of Thomas’ belief.

Seeing is believing

I.                   When Jesus first appeared to the disciples, Thomas was not present (vs. 24)

a.       The Scriptures do not give a reason for the absence of Thomas

b.      Some have speculated that Thomas was absent because of cowardice or fear.

c.       We know that his absence caused him to miss a spectacular event and possibly contributed to his doubt.

II.                Thomas challenges the eyewitness account of the disciples (vs.25)

a.       The disciples testified exclusively to what they saw “We have seen the Lord”

b.      This testimony caused Thomas to react and expect the same experience that the disciples had previously; only in his case, he wanted to touch or shove his finger into the wounds and side of Christ.

c.       Thomas is emphatic regarding his doubt , “Unless” (subjunctive verbs- imply doubt) He made an assertion that he was not sure would be fulfilled.

d.      If you tell a man that there are 581,678,934,341 stars in the universe, he’ll believe you, but if a sign says “Fresh Paint”, he has to make a personal investigation.

III.             Thomas’s doubt gives way to belief (vs. 27-28)

a.       Even though Thomas asserts his doubt and attached conditions of faith or belief to it, he never actually did what he had asked to do!

b.      Jesus dealt with Thomas in a gentle manner

c.       Doubt vs. unbelief

                                                              i.      Doubt is often an intellectual problem – we want to believe, but are overwhelmed by problems or questions.

                                                            ii.      Unbelief is a moral problem  - we simply will not believe

d.      Thomas’ testimony did not come from touching Jesus, but from seeing Jesus! (vs. 28-29)

e.       Thomas was wholly convinced and addresses his confession accordingly.(vs. 28)

Conclusion: Doubt sees the obstacles.

Faith sees the way!

Doubt sees the darkest night,

Faith sees the day!

Doubt dreads to take a step.

Faith soars on high!

Doubt questions, “Who believes?”

Faith answers, “I!”[1]

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[1]Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers (Garland TX: Bible Communications, 1996, c1979).