December 9, 2023
Judging Him Unfairly
“After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here with your finger, and see My hands, and reach here your hand and put it into My side, and do not be unbelieving, but believing.’” John 20:26-27 (NASB)
When a paramedic, nurse, or doctor examines a person, they have to touch the person at one time or another. This allows them to verify the symptoms the person is experiencing. Thomas needed the same thing. He needed to examine the proof and come to his conclusion without deciding for himself if this was the resurrected Jesus Christ.
“After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them.” When Thomas arrived some ten days later, he finally joined the disciples. Most people associate Thomas doubting as a negative thing as we said yesterday. Jesus appeared again where they were gathered. Similarly, Jesus greeted them again saying, “Peace be with you.” Jesus knew Thomas's conversation with the others (He is God!) when he said he would not believe “unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (vs. 25). Without a mention of the conversation from others to Jesus, He knew what needed to transpire. He read Thomas's thoughts just as He had with the Pharisees in Mark 2:8, “Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?” Then He invited Thomas to touch His nail-scared hands and spear-ripped side saying, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands, and reach here your hand and put it into My side, and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Note that “Jesus did not rebuke Thomas here for his failure, but instead compassionately offered him proof of His resurrection. Jesus lovingly met him at the point of his weakness (2 Tim. 2:130. Thomas’ actions indicated that Jesus had to convince the disciples rather forcefully of His resurrection, i.e., they were not gullible people predisposed to believing in resurrection. The point is they would not have fabricated it or hallucinated it, since they were so reluctant to believe even with[1] the evidence they could see.” Foster offers some good thoughts about Thomas: “There is a difference between Thomas and us. He lived in a time when it was possible for him to test in this way, and it is not possible for us. But it is important to us to know that in that day when Jesus was raised from the dead, there were those who were anxious to test the surface as well as to plumb the depths. If the depths are real, the surface should be real as well. Now the Gospel of John comes full circle. It began with the affirmation that the Word was God, and now the whole Gospel reaches its climax in the exclamation of Thomas as he acclaims Jesus, ‘My Lord and my God’ (John 20:28). This is what the Gospel of John is written for, to lead an individual to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Thomas shows us how one man came to that belief. He was not easy to convince, but he came to the full acceptance of Jesus Christ as God. This included belief in the resurrection and much more.”[2] An encounter with Jesus changes everyone who has ever met Him. I know it did for me. I hope it did for you as well. Jesus transforms life by His resurrection power. These somewhat shy disciples were going to do the same with the world we know and would start a worldwide evangelism effort. Started with a bunch of nobodies who became powerhouses for God!
[1] (MacArthur, John, 1997). 1627.
[2] Foster, L. (1987). (p. 221). Standard.