A week ago we celebrated the discovery of the empty tomb signaling the resurrection of our Lord. But as Paul Harvey would say, now let’s look at the rest of the story…
After hearing the women’s exciting news of Jesus’ empty tomb I imagine the disciples spent their day in a flurry of activity. Mary said she had seen Him but the others had not. As excited as they were there was still a measure of fear that those who hated Jesus might still seek them out and arrest them too. By evening 10 of the 11 remaining disciples were together again behind locked doors.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:19-23
Jesus was there in the midst of them! What a sweet time that must have been.
Thomas was missing that night. Yes, that Thomas. When they told him they saw Jesus Thomas replied:
“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side,
I will not believe.” John 20:25b
We don’t know why Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples or what caused him to not believe them about Jesus. But this is where I think he gets a bad wrap. After all we know the whole story and it can be easy to judge Thomas when we weren’t standing there after losing one of our closest friends and Lord.
But how many times do we doubt God?
Sometimes I find myself in a place where I don’t feel like I have any control over a temptation. Whether it’s a doughnut staring me in the face or something I can’t live without at the store temptations surround us. And yet
1 Corinthians 10:13 says:
“And God is faithful;
He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.“
It’s not uncommon to doubt that we can stand up against pressures to stay in a situation that God is calling us to move on from or walk away from a temptation we don’t think I can resist. That doubt can cause us to not trust in God’s promise that if we turn it over to Him we can stand up against temptation.
Do you ever find yourself in a situation you can’t control? Perhaps you don’t know how you’ll meet a deadline or have enough money left at the end of the month. We may doubt that something good can come from a troubling situation. God’s word also says:
Philippians 4:19 promises:
“My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
God doesn’t say He will pick and choose what needs He will meet. He promises to meet all of them.
Doubting is part of our human nature. It takes faith and trust to set that aside and believe in the promises God makes to us. When we do we find a blessed peace in the midst of the puzzles life brings to us.
And it might make us think that Thomas got a bad wrap.
blessings & peace to you…
Paula
Paula Davis 