Articles
Doubting Toward Greater Faith (John 20:24, 25)
The following article is an excerpt from Charlie Brackett's We Have Seen the Lord, (2007), pages 228-229, Clarion Word Publishing, Chattanooga, Tenn. Copyright 2007 Charlie Brackett. All rights reserved.
It was Sunday evening, and Jesus was assembled with the disciples in a private place. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles who was called Didymus, was not with them. John doesn't tell us where he was. When Christ was crucified the disciples had all gone to their own homes, no doubt, in a spirit of dejection and defeat. It is possible Thomas was still at home depressed over the death of the Lord, but we don't know. The rest saw Jesus. They saw the nail prints in His hands and the gaping wound in His side and they were convinced that the One who was dead had arisen and was alive.
Later, when the other disciples saw Thomas they said, "We have seen the Lord!" But Thomas said to them, "Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." There are a couple of other places in the gospels where Thomas is mentioned, but always with distinction for his courage and loyalty to the Savior. This mention of Thomas, however, is the one remembered by history. We know him as "doubting Thomas." In fact, many who don't know of this incident in the Bible might say about someone, "Oh, he is a doubting Thomas." This is where that phrase came from. Thomas doubted the testimony of others. He had to have firsthand knowledge else he would not believe.
Thomas heard the testimony of others, but that wasn't enough. He had to see for himself. I wonder if Thomas handled all information in the same way? Suppose someone came up to him and said, "Rome is a beautiful city. There are wonderfully designed buildings there and paved highways that stretch out from the capitol to all parts of the empire. Why, they even have water piped into their homes, and many homes have lavish baths right inside." Do you suppose Thomas would have said, "I won't believe until I go there!"?
We have people like Thomas today, at least about religious matters. They didn't personally see the Lord raised from the dead, so they won't believe. But many of them have not seen the Taj Mahal in India or the pyramids of Egypt, yet they believe. None of us personally knew George Washington, but who doubts that he lived much as the history books record? Must we personally see and touch everything in order to believe it exists? I hope not. I believe dangerous sharks lurk in the depths of the seas. I believe the middle of the Sahara Desert is unbelievably hot and dry. And I believe Siberia is colder than I want to experience. Why do I believe? Because of the testimony of credible witnesses.
Life would be barren for lack of knowledge if I had to experience everything I believe. Surely you do not disagree. But here is the clincher: Did you realize that no fact of history is more attested to by credible witness than the life and death of Jesus Christ?
