You Can Learn a lot from a Skeptic

²⁴ Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” ²⁶ And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” ²⁷ Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” ²⁸ And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:24-29

We are approaching the time of year we set apart to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is so much to learn from the Gospel accounts of the death and resurrection of Christ. Even from someone we might consider an unlikely source, Doubting Thomas.

Of course, Thomas is the skeptic because Thomas doubted Jesus’s resurrection until he saw it for himself. However, upon seeing Jesus, Thomas’s confession was right on. When Thomas laid eyes on the risen Christ, his reaction was to say “My Lord and my God!” affirming not only His lordship, but the deity of Jesus. 

There are people who may doubt the deity of Christ, as well as cults that outright deny it. What do these people believe about Jesus? They usually will say that He was a good teacher, a prophet, or an angel.  The problem here is that Jesus did not correct Thomas when he called Him “God”. Good people, prophets, and angels in the Bible do not accept worship as God.  In Acts 10:26, Cornelius falls down at Peter’s feet and Peter immediately corrects him saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.” However, the Gospels record time after time as people fell down at Jesus’s feet and worshiped Him.  In Revelation 22, John fell down at the feet of an angel; the angel’s reply was “⁹ See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”  We are told in Romans 1 that judgment comes to men for worshiping the creature rather than Creator, and God says in Isaiah 42:8 “ My glory I will not give to another”. Because these Biblical truths, good people, prophets, and angels would never receive worship and allow themselves to be referred to as “my God”.

When Thomas saw Jesus and said “My Lord and My God”, Jesus did not correct him.  Jesus affirmed the truth by saying “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Believe in Jesus as your Lord and your God and be blessed! 

You’ve got a High Calling

¹⁸ And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. ¹⁹ However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” ²⁰ And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.  Mark 5

In this passage the Lord had just set a demon-possessed man free.  Jesus had compassion on him and changed his life forever. The man responds the way many of us would; he wants to leave his home to follow the One who set him free. This is certainly noble but Jesus has other plans for the man.  Jesus wants him to stay home and share the good news of what Jesus had done for him with his friends and family. Being a true disciple, the man is obedient to what Jesus has called him to do.  

You may not be called to vocational ministry (being a pastor or a fulltime missionary for example) but you have a calling on your life.  It is the very same calling as the man in this passage.  “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”  This is God’s plan for church growth. More people are saved by this method than by mass crusades. Chances are you were introduced to Christ by one or two people sharing with you what the Lord had done for them.

Your life is your mission field. Whether you’re a mother, father, son, daughter, friend, co-worker or employer, your mission field is in your home, at your workplace and where you socialize. God has sovereignly placed you there and wants you to tend to that field.

This is a high calling. It may not be flying off to the Congo to save souls, but the souls in your own backyard are of equal value to your Heavenly Father. One thing that Americans have in common with the people of the Congo is that when either dies apart from Christ they perish. Our job is to snatch them from the fire by telling them the Good News of Jesus Christ!  

The man in Mark 5 wanted to go with Jesus so much that he begged Him. When Jesus denied him and told him to stay home, the man could have sulked and not done anything.  However the man was faithful to follow His Lord’s instruction, and the people of his region heard the Gospel.  Our job is to be faithful and bring the good news to those in our lives.  Time to ask ourselves, “Am I being faithful to my calling?”  

One of the Worst Questions Ever!

³⁵ On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”³⁶ Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. ³⁸ But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

³⁹ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”^[d] 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Storms happen; they just do. If anyone told you before you met Jesus that once you became a Christian it would be smooth sailing from then on, they misled you. Not only did the twelve disciples go through storms, but Jesus led them into them.

You probably sympathize with the disciples. Matter of fact, their words may read like a page right out of your journal. “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Okay we know storms happen and that they rage, but why is Jesus asleep at the front of the boat when we’re freaking out and getting sea sick?

When you think about it “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” may be the worst question we can ask Jesus.  Something we have that the twelve didn’t at this point in scripture is knowledge of the cross. Our whole relationship with Jesus is based upon knowing He cared so much that we were perishing that He endured the suffering of the cross. For us to ask Jesus “Do you care?” is terrible.

At this point you may reason, “I know He has saved my soul from death and Hell but does He care that my finances are dwindling, my health is deteriorating, or my marriage is failing?” The answer is yes. “³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”  (Romans 8:32) God cared so much that He gave His Son to the cross for us, why wouldn’t He care about what we’re going through?

Maybe one of the reasons He allows us to go through storms time and time again is to deepen our knowledge of how much He does care. As many storms as I have flailed my way through, I realize in hindsight that the one constant in the storm was the Lord’s care for me. I lived to write about it.

Yes the Lord does care. Next time you go through the storm, and you will, take the question of whether He cares off of the table. Matter of fact do what the Bible says--cast all your care on Him because He does care. (1 Peter 5:7) For the disciples it wasn’t long before Jesus rebuked the storm and “there was a great calm.” The storm is raging now. Trust Jesus--a great calm is coming!