DOUBTING THOMAS

John 20:24  But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

To begin with brothers and sisters, Christian friends, Well Wishers and Saints of God this is one of the most famous passages of scripture about anybody who has a doubting spirit.

St. Thomas is known for a whole lot of other positive things. But brothers and sisters you can do one negative thing that will stick to your name, and you can’t shake it off. I don’t want God to expose my secret sins, because doubt is an internal secret sin.Nobody can really know, just by looking at you, if you have a doubting spirit or not. But What if the Lord revealed every negative thing we’ve ever done. And what if God publicly told every negative thing about you.

I don’t know about you but I couldn’t take it. And the text says that Thomas didn’t believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Thomas is exposed as a doubter.

In this John 20 text it explains expounds and exclaims to us that Thomas was all in his feelings. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. Unbelief in Jesus Christ is was of the most dangerous characteristic to have. No drinking not smoking not adultery no gambling no cheating, not be a crook, and not being fake phony and full of flaws no no no no none those things are worst than unbelief in Jesus Christ. Because Unbelief in Jesus Christ will send you straight to hell.

Throughout biblical history Thomas’ name goes down as the doubter and even though in Matthew 10:3 Mark 3:18. Luke 6:15. and Act 1:13 In John 11:16

Thomas is listed as a person in good standing with God, Listed as a go to guy, and listed as a faithful disciple. Brothers and sisters “All up until now” Thomas has shown impeccable character. So what’s making Thomas act chaotic, crazy, and extra like this? I have a couple reasons why Thomas acted extra Y’all got a minute?

1. Maybe it was the character of the other disciples. Thomas knew they weren’t any better than he was. Because Judas Iscariot was the traitor who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Because Negative Nathaniel said can anything good come out of Nazareth. Thomas knew they weren’t any better than he was because ambitious and arrogant James and John pushed their own mother up to ask Jesus if her sons to be promoted to positions of power when He came into His kingdom. Thomas knew his fellow disciple weren’t any better than he because “Peter”, chief Apostle denied that he knew Christ 3 time denying Peter. and !!Thomas knew!! his cheating tax collecting twin brother Matthew surely wasn’t no better than him.

2. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t around the first time when Jesus showed up. Some people have to be the first one on the scene, the first one to hear it said, the first one to start the project and first to make contact. And if they’re not they get Brand New.

And If you think about it, Thomas is really upset that he didn’t get the same experience that the other disciples got. After all Thomas knew that none of the disciples weren’t no better than he was in character.

But let me help somebody in here “you can’t compare yourself to nobody else”,

Tell your neighbor: Don’t compare yourself to nobody else

You don’t have to be nobody else Just be yourself...because God deals with each individual according to His Sovereign Will.

Let’s read the text again in John 20:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.

Then the second part of verse 25 takes a dramatic turn. And it deals with all of those facts I just listed before which tells us about the terminology “The Presuppositions to the text”

But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

The Problem with having prior knowledge and a Presupposition on any given subject matter is that our assumptions are not always right!!! If you were raised a certain way you bring childhood baggage with you throughout your life. If you had a bad experience a one church and you leave that church and come here you bring presuppositional baggage with you. If you had a bad experience on a job you can’t take that with you to the next job.. Brothers and sister that presuppositional negative behavior will corrupt your thinking and corrode your positive actions.

Because Thomas said

“y’all got the chance to touch Him”.

“Y’all got a chance to handle The Master’s Hands. And

“Y’all got a chance to eat with Him, but I do not!!! Thomas is saying in essence “I don’t like it” Y’all were able to have an experience that I didn’t have. So it’s a form of presuppositional jealousy.

And brothers and sisters let me say this “Every individual has the right to feel however they want to feel”, but that doesn’t make it right.

That’s why it’s not what I feel but it’s what God’s word says.

Let me teach you something Free will is hard at work here in this John 20 text.

And Free Will is so important in our Christian Walk, because of three things

1.God doesn’t make us accept Him,

2. God doesn’t make us believe in Him, and 3.God doesn’t make us lean and depend upon Him.no no no it’s our own Free Will. Thomas had the right to have his own Free Will at work in this situation, but Thomas wasn’t right with his interpretation of the events surrounding Jesus’ appearance with the other disciples. He had the right to feel some kind of way even though he was wrong about how he was feeling. And that’s called Human Nature. And know this about Humankind

And !God has a way of showing up and clearing things up, and putting things back in their proper prospective, Because the bible says 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

Jesus shows up shows out and shows off in front of Thomas, and says Peace be unto you. Peace in the Greek vernacular is the word Eirene. I need Ereine in my life. I don’t need crazy chaos or sinister or drama for your mama everyday in my life. I live a peaceful lifestyle. Get Peace into your life and calm your spirit-man all the way down. That’s what jesus is saying to Thomas in the text and that’s what jesus is saying to us in 2022.

Tell your neighbor: Get you some peace baby

I don’t want to be all upset all the time.

Jesus came 8 days later but Why eight days later? verse 26 says 8 days later. Sometimes God makes us wait. The bible says wait on the Lord and be of good cheer. And God will exalt you in due season.

And Jesus shows up 8 days later with all of the windows close and the doors locked. It looks mystical and magical but it’s miraculous. There are a plethora of implications here but the true obvious one is that God is Omnipresent. Jesus now has His resurrected body and He’s now fully the Very Son of God, an after His ultimate sacrifice on the cross at Calvary now He’s able to display that’s He’s Omnipotent Omniscient and Omnipresent A what Jesus does is he lowered down His voltage so that Thomas the doubting disciple could see Him. When Thomas see our Lord and Savior the bible says Jesus in verse 27 Then saith Jesus to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. This statement by Jesus that dispels all rumours all myths all fables and all lies. !Thomas you wanted proof here’s your proof. And here’s the thing God wants us to have faith. Because we walk by faith and not by sight. because when we walk by sight we see too much. Look what Thomas says

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. In other word Lord that’s all I wanted. Father God, Jesus the Christ and Holy Spirit all I wanted was an intimate relationship with you. Thomas is saying I wanted individualized time with you that the other disciples got… But in verse 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. I’ve got to close here but tah I never seen the Lord Jesus with my natural borne eyes Great God but I know My God is real.yes Yes God is real Oh Lord He real deep down in my soul. Because one day when I was too mean to live and wasn’t fit to die Jesus step in right on time. He pick me up and turned me around Put my feet on solid ground, Hey hey hey Lord

30 And the bible says “many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Is there anybody in here that believe in my Jesus.

The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Jn 20:26–31.