Faith-filled Thomas

John 20:24-29

Thomas misses Jesus' first resurrection appearance. This is his barrier to faith. Jesus meets Thomas where he was... and leads Thomas to the greatest confession in the book of John.

My Lord and My God.

Thomas had been a faithful and loyal disciple... but he met a barrier in taking his next step of faith: belief in the resurrected Jesus. We have barriers in our faith journey, either in that initial step in faith or in further "can Jesus do this?" steps.

May Jesus meet us where we are at... and remove every barrier. May we confess with Thomas "My Lord, My God"

Hottest Peppers Known to Man

As young adults, it was a rare occasion… but we were going to cook. We had a bunch of friends over and we got it into our heads that we were going to make philly cheese-steak sandwiches. And we had strong opinions about what went into that.

Jono and I were gathering materials at the grocery story. And he started hunting around for those peppers. “What are those peppers called?” he asked me. “You know… the really HOT ones!”

Umm jalepenos? Ghost peppers? Serrano?

“No… the really hot ones. Never mind, I’ll find them.”

We gather all the other stuff and he comes out proudly with his bag of “hot” peppers. A bag of green bell peppers.

“Dude, those aren’t spicy.”

Jono says “whatever tough guy, just because they’re not spicy to you…”

“No… I’m telling you, those aren’t spicy, like, at all. Zero spiciness, not a hot pepper.”

Jono insists these are epic spicy goodness.

He refused to believe my witness. My testimony. And to this day, whenever I see a bell pepper, I say to him “careful Jono, those are the REALLY spicy ones!”

He didn’t believe me and nothing I could say to him would convince him. He had to taste the pepper.

The Problem of Faith

Have you ever known the truth and someone just wouldn’t believe you?

When it’s a bell pepper, ha ha, wait and find out. What about when someone’s about to make a mistake. Or what about the biggest decision of them all: what about faith.

You believe and you share it with people… and they don’t believe you. They don’t believe what you’ve experienced… or it just isn’t enough for them.

I have people in my life who just can’t bring themselves to believe in the Jesus. For some it is that they don’t want to change the way they are living. But some are really honest seekers who just can’t seem to take the leap of faith. They have questions. They have barriers to their faith.

They need to see it themselves or encounter Jesus in a way they can accept. They need to encounter Jesus in a way they can’t deny.

I am so thankful for my man Thomas. This is a man with questions, honest questions, but he just can’t seem to bring himself to believe.

Recap – Jesus shows up and everything changes

John 20:19-23

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Jesus shows up and everything changes. Now that has to be all that the disciples are talking about. Jesus was there, and he showed them his hands and side. Other gospels say that he ate with them.

The disciples are charged and excited and talking. What does it mean? We will see in a moment that they don’t totally get it yet, they don’t understand all the significance, they haven’t put the pieces together.

But they know this: Jesus is alive. They believe and they are rejoicing and everything has changed…

Except for one guy:

John 20:24-25

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.”

First, can you imagine missing that? Jesus appears to them, and ten minutes later, in comes Thomas. He was out picking up the pizza.

“alright who wanted the cheese? Hey guys? What happened?”

And they tell him “Jesus, was just here. He appeared and he ate and drank with us. It was awesome!”

Thomas: “Yeah… not a funny joke guys.”

The other disciples kept telling Thomas. They were ongoingly telling him… but Thomas kept responding that he just couldn’t believe it.

What do we know about Thomas

Thomas is kind of a blank slate. We know that he is a sincere, loyal follower of Jesus. When Jesus went to resurrect Lazarus… but the heat was on in Jerusalem. Thomas is the one who pipes up and says “Let’s follow him that we may die with him.” Thomas is a loyal follower: he is sincere.

And when Jesus says to the disciples in the upper room that he is leaving, but that they “know the way,” Thomas is the one who speaks up and says “Ummmm… no we don’t”. He says: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

And then Jesus says “I am the way, the truth and the life…” Thomas is somewhat literal minded, maybe, but he is forthright and honest with his questions.

So we don’t know a lot about Thomas: but we know that he is a sincere follower of Jesus, a sincere seeker after Jesus… he just didn’t see Jesus.

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.”

Jesus meets Thomas

Notice that the text doesn’t actually say that Thomas touched the wounds. Maybe its implied, but Jesus invites him to and Thomas appears to simply answer with this confession of faith.

But what a confession it is!

Thomas says “My Lord” or “Lord of me!” and this is a confession many of the disciples have uttered. Jesus is their Lord, their Master, a term of respect, of disciple to Master, it says I will obey you.

But he says “My Lord… and… My God”. Thomas appears to have leapfrogged forwards in his understanding of who and what Jesus truly is. The disciples are going to come to understand this… and the seeds of it are there… but as best as I can tell, Thomas here is the first to really understand that his Lord, Jesus, the risen Jesus standing before him, is actually God himself made flesh.

My Lord… My God… Lord of me, God of me.

Thomas had a faith-barrier. Jesus encounter. Thomas moves forward.

Jesus meets Thomas where he actually is. A sincere seeker after Jesus with a question, a barrier to his faith. But it isn’t obstinance. It isn’t willful ignorance: a sinner pretending to not know God so he can keep sinning. It isn’t arrogance, thinking that he doesn’t need Jesus.

Let me put words in Thomas’ mouth.

“Guys… I want to believe… I just can’t get past this thing, this question.”

“God, I want to believe… but I have questions.”

“God, I want to believe… but I need to encounter you first.”

And here is the good news: Jesus meets that need.

Thomas had a faith-barrier. Jesus encounter. Thomas moves forward.

A Blessing on Us

But there is this strange thing: Jesus meets Thomas but he speaks these words that almost seem like a condemnation of Thomas:

29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

At the least, this is a blessing for the rest of us. Those who have not seen. Jesus can appear to whoever he wants too… but he is ushering in an era of witnesses, where faith would be built on the witness of those who have seen the resurrected Jesus.

Jesus speaks a blessing over that, a beatitude on all those who believe without sight. A blessing on us.

But I wonder how that works. How is it a blessing. If Jesus is willing to reveal himself and meet a person where they are at… as he does with Thomas, why are those who “believe and have not seen” blessed?

One day no one will be able to deny Jesus as Lord and Savior. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. One day everyone will see him in glory, revealed.

why are those who “believe and have not seen” blessed?

Without Jesus for another week

I think of Jono and his sandwich. He learned eventually what kind of peppers make for a spicy Philly cheese-steak sandwich. But because he would not listen to my testimony, he missed out on the goodness that day.

I think of Thomas during that week. All the other disciples were rejoicing in the resurrected Jesus… and Thomas was excluded and bereft, alone not only because he had lost Jesus but now isolated from his community by his own doubt. How blessed would he have been if he could make that leap to belief.

The tension of that. The misery of that.

How blessed he would have been to believe without seeing. But then how absolutely thrilled was he when Jesus encountered him where he was at.

What is your barrier?

Where are you at?

Is there a barrier to your faith?

Maybe it is on that first step toward belief in the resurrected Jesus…

I pray that Jesus encounters you exactly where you are at. He knows what you need to see, what you need to experience in order to believe. I pray that he breaks through and you encounter the risen Jesus!

Maybe it is on a next step. Thomas knew Jesus and had followed him for years… he just didn’t believe Jesus could do THIS. He didn’t believe Jesus could bring hope and resurrection life in the midst of darkness and death and despair.

But Jesus did. Jesus brought Thomas right through that barrier and Thomas says “My Lord, my God!”

I want Jesus to meet my friends in their questions.

I want to have both blessings. I want the Jesus encounter, and I want whatever is in the not-by-sight blessing. I want to make the leap of faith and I want Jesus to meet me in my questions.

I am like the man who cries out to Jesus “I believe, help my unbelief!”

May Jesus meet us where we are at... and remove every barrier. May we confess with Thomas "My Lord, My God"