THEME: THE DOUBTER
TEXT: John 20:19-31
DATE: 04/18/04
Pastor Bruce Skelton
I have to admit I always wondered why whoever chose the lessons for the Sundays of the church year, chose this particular Gospel text for the first Sunday following Easter. I mean last Sunday is without a doubt the most joyous, hopeful, and powerful day of the year for us as Christians. We gather together and celebrate the event that is the very heart of our faith, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. So, one would think that this Sunday we would try to maintain that same lofty focus, but instead we are given this very disappointing account of the behavior of the disciples and especially this one called Didymus or Thomas, the one we all know as: the doubter.
Well, I think I've figured out. Whoever chose this lesson for this Sunday did so to remind us of where we are at. You see, my friends, we live in doubting Thomas world and especially now, it this generation.
The shadow of doubt has been cast over the most basic tenants of the Christian faith. Both outside and, unfortunately inside the church, the truthfulness of the Scriptures is questioned. Everything it seems is up for grabs, the creation of the universe in six days, the virgin birth of our Lord, his incarnation, the miracles he performed, even the resurrection itself. Ironically, last Sunday as people gathered in their churches to celebrate Easter, there were some sitting in pews and even some preaching from pulpits, who doubted the truthfulness of the very event they were celebrating.
It is sad, but it is true. Being part of a Bible believing and teaching denomination, the LCMS, we often lose sight of the fact that we are more and more the minority in this once great Christian nation in which we live. To give an illustration from my own experience, I had a woman who was a member of one of the congregations I vicared for in Iowa, who had toyed with the idea of become a pastor in another denomination. She visited two seminaries and actually had the gumption to sit down and visit with some of the staff at those two schools. Of the 10 professors she sat down with, seven were agnostic. They questioned whether or not there is a God. They were the teachers of most of the preachers or ministers in that church body.
That is why I warn all the confirmands who have been entrusted to my care to hold the treasures that we teach from the Scriptures dear and to review them often, because the world into which they are going does not only doubt what we hold to be true, but despises us for believing it. That is the kind of world into which they are going.
But before we go on, we have to be careful here lest we just point the finger of condemnation at rank unbelievers and false preachers, even if it is deserved, because if you take a little closer look at doubting Thomas, you might be surprised at what you find.
If we look at the 11th chapter of this Gospel, the Gospel of John we find something very interesting. Jesus and his disciples in Perea across the Jordan river and they have just heard the news of the death of Lazarus. Jesus announces that he intends to return to Judea to raise him from the dead. Now the disciples objected to this very strenuously and for good reason. They had just come from Judea a short time earlier, because the Pharisees and their followers had just tried to stone Jesus to death. After much pleading and discussion, they were as always unsuccessful in
dissuading the Lord from His course of action and as Jesus got up to go, Thomas stood up and said the following words:
"Let us also go that we may die with Him."
Thomas was no Judas Iscariot. He was no traitor or false brother. He was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, just as faithful as Peter or any of the others. He had seen all the miracles Jesus had done and he had heard his teaching and believed in him. He believed enough apparently that he was even willing at one point to follow Jesus to his death.
But after seeing Jesus handed over and hearing that he had been crucified, Thomas just gave up. All his hopes had been dashed and he so he sank into despair and unbelief. So when he heard from the others that they had seen the Lord, he thought it was some kind of cruel joke and said, "Yeh, right. I'll believe it when I see it. When I see the nail holes in his hand and the spear hole in his side then I will believe."
Now let me ask you a question: Don't we do the same thing sometimes? When things aren't going our way or tragedy strikes don't we too have a tendency to fall away and to say there is no God, or if there is a God He certainly doesn't care about what happens to me? I think if we all honest with ourselves, we all have done so. We too have gone the way of the world and the way of Thomas and doubted the grace and mercy of our God.
What doubtful, fickle, unbelieving creatures we are, always second guessing our God. It is a wonder He puts up with us, but he does. And just as he came to Thomas and showed himself to him that he might believe, so he shows himself to us. How? Let us read verses 30 and 31 again.
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
That is not only a statement that applies to this Gospel but to this whole book. All of Scripture was written for basically one reason. So that we might not doubt that Jesus is indeed the Christ and that by believing in him we might have eternal life. You will find him no place else. You won't find him in nature. You won't find him by thinking real hard or by meditative navel gazing. You can only meet him here in this wonderful book, the Bible, His Word.
This is where he calls us first to repentance, "Stop doubting and believe." And then when we fall to our knees in worship saying, "My Lord and my God!" Then he says to us, "Peace be with you my child." And when the Lord says "peace" it means more than what we take it to mean, which is just lack of warfare. In the Hebrew-Shalom and in the Greek-eirene it means much more. It denotes a complete well-being, wholeness, and a right relationship with God. This is best seen in Psalm 85, where God's favor, forgiveness, salvation, and his love are all bound up with His peace. That is the peace of God That Jesus is talking about.
I am reminded of a story I once heard about a certain medieval monk who announced that he would be preaching about the love of God the following Sunday evening. When that Sunday evening came the congregation assembled and waited as the light ceased to come in through the beautiful cathedral windows. In the darkness the monk came in with a lighted candle and carried it to the Crucifix in the front of the church and illumined the crown of thorns, then the nails driven through the hands, then the spear wound in the side, and then the spike that held the feet. In the hush he blew out the candle and left the chancel. There was nothing left to say.
That is the love that Jesus had for doubting Thomas and that he has for us. When Thomas saw those wounds the doubt went away. May it be so for us by faith as he breaths out his Holy Spirit on us through His inspired (God- breathed) word and through holy Baptism and the sacrament of the altar. May we too by his almighty power stop doubting and believe, as the writer of the book of Hebrews, defines faith, being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Sure of our forgiveness. Sure of our salvation. Sure of the resurrection Jesus promises to all who trust in him. For one day, when our time on earth is done, we too will see he whom Thomas saw and we will rejoice and never doubt again. Until then my doubtful brothers and sisters let us hold fast to God's Word and believe it and in the one it brings to us --our risen Lord Jesus Christ. To Him and Him alone be all the glory. Amen.
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05/06/2004