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!