John 20:18-23 – Jesus Appears to Thomas.
- “The good and the Bad of Doubting”
- The story of ‘Doubting Thomas’ is for some scholars as close as the NT gets to explicitly stating that Jesus is God.
- Interesting that a doubter is the one who appears to make the most convincing statement.
- Sometimes doubt can do that.
- In fact I think that is its purpose; it is used to make us dig deeper and so discoverer truths we may have previously skipped over. At the end of the process, we can become more trusting than others who never had any doubt in the first place.
- But the process of doubt requires belief.
- For the process to be successful we need to explore our doubts with faith. How we enter the question often determines how we exit it.
- Jesus says;
- “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
- I can see why He would value belief without seeing so highly.
- When I present Pais there are some who believe asnd invest because of its obvious intrinsic value and there are those who only partner after they see it proven elsewhere.
- Experience teaches me that those who partner with us for the former reason are far more loyal and honest. They believe because its tru not for what they can benefit from its truth.
- It leads to a different kind of partnership.
- I think this is what God is looking for from me.
- Relationship based on who I believe He is not what I get from Him.
- I’m not sure He minds doubt when we use it to pursue Him at a deeper level.
- I think it is doubt driven by “woe is me”, “how will I ever be blessed” stance that he struggles with.
- How we enter doubt determines how we exit it.
- Praying that I will believe in God’s love enough to pursue my doubts with a desire to find His truth and a faith to believe without having to see.
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