Whiteboard: Doubt and Faith

It is striking that right after Easter Sunday we hear the story of the one commonly known as Doubting Thomas.

{For the record, I think Thomas gets a bum deal, and I'll make that case to you this Sunday at worship}

Doubt breaks in right on the heals of Easter's triumphant celebration.

It isn't just a twist of the liturgical calendar either. No, it is downright scriptural. For Easter Sunday we read from John 20:1-18 and this coming Sunday we'll pick up exactly where Easter's story left off.

John 20:19-31 (see, it picks up at the very next verse!) tells the story of the Disciples hiding out in a house behind a locked door paralyzed by their own fears that they might face the same fate that befell Jesus. What happens next shows how Christ's resurrection power reaches out to us in our times of doubt and fear and distress and fills us once more with faith and power and purpose.

This Sunday we'll see that maybe, just maybe doubt and faith aren't polar opposites of each other but instead steps along the journey that lead to the very blessings of God.

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John 20:19-31

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

Jesus and Thomas

 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

The Purpose of This Book

 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.