Trinity Baptist Church

Making a Difference in the World

Thomas, the Disciple Who Was AWOL

John 20:19-29

 

We are now nine weeks into our study of the Twelve Apostles, and what we've been doing is looking at and learning from the strengths as well as the weaknesses of these men who walked with Jesus. This morning we come to one of best known of all of the disciples, and the sad thing about this disciple is that he is best known for his weakness and not his strength.  He's best known for his doubt and not his faith.  He's best known for where he wasn't instead of where he was.

 

John 20:19-29

 

I think it might be hard for us to imagine the how disillusioned and confused the disciples were after the crucifixion of Jesus.  Everything He had promised and taught and talked about in regard to a coming kingdom seemed to be gone.  IN addition to that, as followers of Christ, they very well could be next on the list for crucifixion.

 

So in this text we find them huddled away behind locked doors fearing for their lives.  And all of a sudden, without unlocking or even opening the door, the resurrected Jesus appeared there in that room with them.  Can you imagine what a roller coaster of emotions they must have been?

 

I think that scene is vastly underplayed when we read, "Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord."

 

What a time of excitement, what a time of encouragement they must have had as they worshipped the risen Christ.

 

But did you notice what the Bible says?  The Bible says that there were two disciples that weren't there.  Remember there were 12 men who were supposed to change the world, but only 10 of them were in that room.  Two of the disciples were missing.

 

Obviously, one of the disciples that was missing was Judas, and we know where he was. After betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, Judas went out and hung himself.  So his body is hanging out there in the Field of Blood and his soul was already in hell.  So, we really didn't expect to find Judas there.

 

But Thomas isn’t there either, and that is a little bit confusing because Thomas was a solid follower of the Lord. Why was Thomas absent? That's what I want us to focus on this morning as we look at and learn from this infamous incident that marked and marred the life of this disciple by the name of Thomas.

 

There are three things that I want you to see from this passage this morning.  First of all, I want you to see

 

 

Verse 25

 

Obviously the cause of his absence was doubt.  That's why he's gotten the nickname "doubting Thomas."

 

Now before we become too critical of Thomas, let me just remind you that doubt wasn’t all there was to him.  In fact, there are a lot of strong character traits and admirable qualities in this man named Thomas.

 

For example, if you'll read in John 11:16, you'll see where Thomas was willing to die with Jesus.  Thomas wasn't some sort of superficial saint; he was a deeply dedicated disciple.

 

So, that leads to an interesting question. Is it possible for a committed Christian to sometimes have doubts?  Obviously the answer is, “Of course they can”.  You see, every person who is a Christian can and may and will sometimes have doubt.

 

There are some who believe that a person who is committed to the Lord should never have a doubt, and if you do, you aren’t really a Christian at all.  I suppose it’s possible to never have a doubt, but I also think it’s possible to love the Lord and be committed to Him and still have some doubts from time to time.

 

And please hear me:  I'm not saying that doubts are good things and we should just ignore them as if they aren’t important.  In fact, doubts are to the spirit what pain is to the body.  It means that something's wrong, but it doesn't mean that you're dead, because if you were dead you wouldn't feel anything.

 

Let's suppose that you're having some pain down here in your stomach and you go to the doctor and he looks you over and then tells you that you've got a problem with your gallbladder.

See the proof I’ve got a gall bladder is the pain I’m experiencing.  That’s how doubt is.  In many regards, doubt is just faith acting up.  And in a strange sense, there is a bright side to doubt.  Think about it this way.  People don't doubt what they don't believe.  They just don't believe it at all.  But doubt means that you have believed, but now you don't know what you believe for sure.

 

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about directly from the New Testament.  Jesus said there was never a greater man born of a woman than John the Baptist.  John the Baptist was the one who stood out there on the banks of the Jordan River and preached the Word of God.

 

He trusted the Lord, preached the Word of God, stood toe to toe with rulers and called sin what it was. As the last prophet to announce the coming of the Messiah, he preached an uncompromising message of repentance and faith in God.

 

And he had the high honor of having Jesus say, “There was never a man born who was greater than John the Baptist”.

 

But John the Baptist was thrown in prison for his preaching, and while he was there he sent some of his followers to ask Jesus, "Are you the One we've been waiting for, or do we need to look for somebody else?"

 

Now think about that.  He was Jesus’ first cousin.  His momma had lived with John the Baptist’s family during her pregnancy.  John’s birth itself was miraculous.  They knew all about one another.

 

He had gone public with the news that Jesus was God’s Savior.  And now he’s asking about whether or not he should maybe look for someone else to come as Messiah.

 

And I love how Jesus responds.  Jesus didn't condemn John.  As a matter of fact, Jesus was very kind and caring and sympathetic to him.  John had asked Jesus an honest question and Jesus gave an John honest answer and reassured and reconfirmed his faith.

 

So, I'm just saying that you shouldn't be too hard on folks like this doubting disciple named Thomas and this puzzled preacher named John the Baptist.  Sometimes good people can have honest doubts, but God will help those who have honest doubts.

 

After all, as we’ve been learning on Wednesday evenings, He is a sympathetic High Priest.  And just because you have some doubts and questions from time to time doesn’t mean God is through with you.

 

Now to help us move beyond the doubt, maybe it would be helpful to identify some of the factors that cause good people to have doubts. What are some of the things that cause disciples like Thomas to doubt?  Let me give you three things that may cause you to doubt if you're not careful. Sometimes it is

 

 

That may very well be the primary reason Thomas doubted.  He was discouraged.  And it's easy to see why Thomas could have been discouraged.

 

 

Look in John 20:9

 

You see, Jesus had told them over and over again that He had to die, but that after three days He would rise again.  He had told them, but somehow they had never fully and finally understood it.  They couldn't comprehend it.  They couldn't believe it.  They didn't understand the scripture that Jesus Christ must rise from the dead.

 

And then look in verse 19.  The Bible speaks of the awful fear that they were in.  They were afraid for their very lives.  So, there was a misunderstanding, there was fear, there was tension, and it was in this kind of a situation that Thomas doubted.

 

Think about the situation in which John the Baptist found himself.  John the Baptist was a rugged outdoorsman.  He wasn't used to being cooped up in a cold, dark, damp, dirty, dismal prison.  He must have felt trapped like a bird in a cage. He was preaching about a Messiah who would come and set things right.  And like many others, he expected it to happen immediately.  And instead of Jesus taking over, John is in jail.

 

Maybe he was like the little boy who said, "If God is God, why did He put all of the vitamins in broccoli instead of ice-cream?

 

He couldn't figure out why God was doing things the way that He was.  If God is God, then why doesn't He do something and get me out of this jail?

 

You see, John the Baptist had preached a victorious, militant Christ, but here was Jesus, meek and lowly.

 

Maybe that's the way some people are here this morning.  You say, "Well, pastor, you're talking about this big, great God who can do anything, but look at me.  Look at the troubles I've got.  My blood pressure's up and my bank account's down.  I've been to the doctors and they've said that there's no hope.  My kids are giving me fits.  That man I work for is driving me insane.  I don't know how I'm going to make ends meet."  That's the kind of conditions that doubt thrives on.  And when we are discouraged, doubt tries to sneak in.

 

 And let me just insert this while we’re passing by.  Misunderstanding and discouragement always go together.  If John the Baptist had understood that Jesus never promised to keep him out of prison, then he wouldn't have been so discouraged.  If Thomas had understood that everything that took place during the crucifixion was simply the fulfillment of prophecy and solely the will of God, then maybe he wouldn't have been so discouraged.

 

Do you know why some of you here this morning are so discouraged? It's because somehow you've gotten the idea that you're too good to go through bad times.  Hey, let me tell you something.  The same God that didn't keep John from the jail cell; the same God that didn't keep the three Hebrew children out of the fiery furnace; the same God that didn't keep Daniel out of the lion's den; the same God that didn't keep David out of the valley of the shadow of death is not going to pamper you either.

 

Listen, if you think that just because you're a Christian you're not going to have any troubles or trials or tribulations, you're wrong.  You are dead wrong.

Jesus said, "In this world you will have tribulation."  If you don't have it, then Jesus is wrong, because He said that you were going to have it.

 

So, you see doubt and discouragement go together.  Thomas was discouraged and he misunderstood and as a result he doubted.

 

So, learn this lesson this morning: Christianity is not the subtraction of problems from life.  It is the addition of power to meet those problems.

 

But don't you worry about it, God can turn every Calvary into an Easter and every tear into a triumph.  I'm telling you, God knows what He's doing.  God is in the business of making all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and who are the called according to His purpose.  Don’t get discouraged and end up in doubt.

 

Here’s the second thing:

 

 

I have the idea that Thomas was being disobedient when He wasn't in the worship service with those other disciples.  And the reason why I say that is because one of the precepts of scripture is that God's people are not supposed to forsake the assembling of their selves together.  But Thomas did, and when disobeyed, Thomas doubted.  Thomas skipped church and missed seeing and experiencing the Lord.

 

Jesus was getting the disciples ready for this time, and in John 14:21, the Lord Jesus said this, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.

And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."  In other words, Jesus said, "If you'll keep my  commandments, I'll be real to you."  "If you keep my commandments, I'll manifest myself to you."

 

Now I suppose that’s why church is so unimportant to so many.  Jesus isn’t real to you.  And if you doubt the reality and importance of Jesus, you’ll wind up being disobedient.

 

Doubt and disobedience are Siamese twins.  You can just mark it down:  when you sin you start to doubt and when you doubt you start to sin more and when you sin more you doubt more and when you doubt more you sin more.  It's a vicious cycle.

 

If you're having trouble with doubt, then try repentance.  You see, there is an order in the Bible that is never, ever broken and here it is:  repentance and faith.  Follow me?  Repentance always precedes faith.  It is never faith and repentance; it's always repentance and faith.  That's why I'm saying to you this morning that if you're having trouble with your faith, try repentance.  Repentance always comes first.

 

Sometimes it’s discouragement.  Sometimes it’s disobedience and sometimes it’s

 

 

Satan will do anything and everything that he can in order to get you to doubt. Don't ever discount a demon of doubt.  You say, "Pastor, are you saying that you believe that there are literal demons that I'll have to deal with?"  That's exactly what I'm saying.

Listen:  the devil hates the idea of a resurrected Christ, so all the big guns of Hell are aimed at the reality of the resurrection.  Do you know why that is?  It's because the demons in hell know what would happen if you and I ever really came to the conclusion that Jesus is just as alive today as He was two thousand years ago.

 

I heard about two demons that were talking one day and one demon looked that the other demon and said, "If those folks up there every really realize that Jesus is alive, then hell help us because all heaven will break loose."

 

That's true.  All heaven would break loose if we were to really believe in the power of His resurrection.  These are some factors that I'm sure that old Thomas had to deal with.  There was the discouragement factor.  There was the disobedience factor.  And there was the demonic factor.  So, that was the cause of Thomas' absence.

 

Then think about

 

 

What did it cost Thomas when he wasn't where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there?  What happens when you're not in the House of God?

 

Now, a lot of times you'll hear somebody say something like this, "Well, you don't have to go to church to be a good Christian."  Sounds good, but there's just one thing wrong with that statement, it’s not true.

 

And I know that there are some folks who can't come for one reason or another, but I'm talking about those folks who can come but don't come.  I'm talking about those people who are willfully, deliberately missing church.  They do so at great cost.  What did it cost Thomas when he missed this worship service?

 

For one thing,

 

 

Don't forget that there were two who were absent that evening -- Judas and Thomas.  Do you see what kind of a crowd that he put himself in?  Do you see how he associated himself?  Those were the only two who were absent and as far as the other disciples could know, Thomas and Judas could have been in cahoots.

 

To intentionally and deliberately skip church teaches a tremendous lesson to those who know you and are watching you.  In fact, there’s just one entity in all of creation that doesn’t like what happens here at the church and that is the devil himself.  That’s the company people keep when they intentionally miss.

 

After George W. Truett finished his sermon one Sunday at First Baptist, Dallas, a lady walked out and said, “I didn’t like what you preached today.”  He replied, “Niether did the devil.  Go home and classify yourself!”

 

Don't you realize that when you miss coming to church that you're casting a vote with the devil's crowd and against the House of God?

 

Don't you realize that when you stay away from church that you're casting a vote to close its doors?  How are you going to vote tonight?  How are you going to vote Wednesday night? Do you realize if the majority got their way we wouldn't have church on Sunday night or Wednesday night? God help us if the majority gets to have their way.  Thank God for those believers who are faithful to the House of God.

 

So, his influence suffered. I heard about a little confederate granny during the Civil War who looked out her kitchen window and saw some Yankee soldiers coming across the field.  Well, she grabbed her broom from the corner and started out across that yard waving that broom and screaming at the top of her lungs.  Her grandchildren caught here and said, "Granny what in the world are you doing?  You can't do anything against all of those soldiers guns and swords with just a broom."  She said, "I can show them what side I'm on."

 

Let me tell you something.  When you come to church, if you don't do anything else, when you put your clothes on and bring your family and your bible to church, if you don't do anything else, you're letting a lost, Jesus-hating world know whose side you're on.  You’re letting your neighbors who wonder about the vitality and reality of your faith know whose side you’re on.  You’re letting this pastor and this assembly know you can be counted on.

 

Old Thomas let his doubts cost him his influence.  Here’s something else. 

 

 

 

Not only did his influence suffer, but the group he was a part of suffered as well.  I want you to look right here and listen to your pastor.  Not only do you need to be in God's House on God's day, the church needs you to be here as well.  The Bible says that you're not supposed to forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but so much the more as you see the day approaching.

 

This church will never be any stronger than its weakest member.  If you want to be part of a half-committed church, then go ahead and lollygag around like it doesn’t matter how you serve the Lord.  If your commitment to Him is no better than that, after all He’s done for you, I guess that’s your business.

 

But I want you to know I want to be a part of a hot-hearted, God-honoring, gospel preaching, people-loving congregation that burns with passion for the Savior who rose from the grave to purchase my salvation.

 

And the early church was that much less than what it should have been because old Thomas doubted.  And then we ought to think about this:

 

 

Listen:  He was in bad enough shape already without missing church.  If there ever was a man who needed to be in church, he needed to be in church.  If he'd been there he would have met the Lord Jesus because even though Thomas didn't show up, Jesus did.

 

 

Let me give you something to think about this morning.  Just because you don't show up doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't show up.  He’s here and you need to be.  In fact, it is the epitome of arrogance for a child of God to intentionally lay out of church and skip Sunday School and miss prayer meeting.  Do you really think you’re strong enough and big enough and tough enough to deal with life without the presence and power and teaching of the Lord?

 

You say, "Well, I stay home and watch some preacher on TV and that's my church."  No, it's not.  Listen, no television service can ever replace the gathering together of God's people in one place to worship Him.   And no TV preacher is going to be there for you when you need a man of God.  And no TV audience is going to rally to your side when the bottom falls out of your world.

 

As a child of God you need what only the church can provide.  God designed it that way.  It’s His church and it’s His command for us to be there when the church gets together.

 

Nowhere in Scripture do you find any example of the lone-ranger Christianity that some folk embrace.  If you're sick, disabled or shut-in, that's one thing, but folks if you don't have enough faith to get you out of bed on Sunday morning and to church I wonder if you've got enough faith to get you to Heaven.

 

And

 

 

Look at verse 20

 

I’ll tell you something:  I hate to miss church.  And the Lord's blessed me so much!  In my 28 years as a pastor, I've never missed one Sunday morning due to sickness.  For that matter, I've never missed a Sunday morning in my home church for any reason other than to preach in a revival somewhere.  I’ve never taken a Sunday off for vacation.  I just hate to miss church.  I'm afraid that I'd miss something.

 

What if God shows up and does something or says something or shares something and I’m not there to receive it?  I don’t want to miss what God has for us!  Wouldn't you hate to have been Thomas?  He missed that first service when Jesus showed up and the disciples came running to him and said, "We've seen the Lord."  And it’s forever recorded in Scripture that he missed it.

 

I heard about a man who was in a revival service one night when the spirit just moved in a mighty way.  People were getting saved and lives were being changed.  The next morning this guy was just still overflowing and rejoicing.  He said, "O Lord, it was so wonderful.  It was so glorious.  All of those people getting saved and lives being changed -- you should have been there."

 

Well, He is here.  And when He's here there's joy.  I know there are some Brylcreem Christians around.  You know who I’m talking about?  Those that “a little dab will do ya’”?  They don’t need much to get them through the week.  

 

W.A. Criswell pastored the FBC of Dallas for almost 50 years.  One morning after the sermon, Dr. Criswell encouraged the people to be back Sunday night.

After the service a little lady who wasn't a Baptist met Dr. Criswell at the back door and said, "Dr. Criswell, you Baptists must be really wicked people.  Where I attend, we only have to go to church one time a week and that's enough for us." Dr. Criswell looked back at her and smiled and said, "If I had to listen to what you have to listen to, once a week would be enough for me too."

 

But when the Lord is here and you’re not, then there's power and joy and you miss it.  Don't you feel sorry for Thomas?  The Bible says, "Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord."  But he wasn't there.  He missed it.  It cost him his joy.

 

O, the cost of the missing disciple. It cost him his influence. It cost his church.  It cost his faith.  It cost his joy.

 

So what’s

 

 

Notice what happened with Thomas.

 

verse 24

 

Now apparently this early group of disciples had a visitation program.  Somebody was absent and they went after him.  They found Thomas and they told him all of the exciting things that had happened in the service.  They didn't say, "O, Thomas, you should have been there.  Mary Magdalene wore the prettiest dress you've ever seen."  That isn't what they said.  They didn't say, "You sure picked the right day to miss.

 

Jesus preached for over an hour, I didn't think He'd ever get done, and the Methodists beat us to the restaurant."  That isn't what they said.

 

They came out of that room filled with the Holy Spirit and said, "Thomas, we have seen the Lord."  He was there in the next service.  He still might not have believed completely and fully, but I'm telling you that there was something about their testimony that piqued his curiosity.  

 

You know, there are a lot of debates and arguments about Jesus and the resurrection and all that.  But I still believe that one Christian that has seen the Lord is worth a library full of arguments.  One person who says, "You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart" can quiet the mouth of the critics and skeptics.

 

And it is my conviction that this church or any church in America could be filled if those that are there on Sunday would go out excited on Monday to find those who weren't there and say, "O friend, you should have been at church yesterday because Jesus showed up!  He's real.  He's alive.  You ought to be there."

 

verses 26-28

 

There we find the cure for his doubt.  Thomas was convinced because not only did he have the testimony of his friends, he had the testimony of the facts.  He could see the nail prints in Jesus' hands with his own eyes.

 

 

 

Now obviously we don't have the privilege or opportunity to see the physical body of Jesus like Thomas did, but does that mean that we don't have any facts?  Not at all.  There are facts today that can be seen and studied.   The Bible says that after the resurrection Jesus showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs.

 

“The Testimony of the Evangelists, Examined by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice” is an 1846 work by Simon Greenleaf, a principal founder of the Harvard Law School.

 

Greenleaf came to the conclusion that the witnesses were reliable, and the resurrection of Jesus.  In fact, the summary statement of his work says,

 

“All that Christianity asks of men on this subject, is, that they would be consistent with themselves; that they would treat its evidences as they treat the evidence of other things; and that they would try and judge its actors and witnesses, as they deal with their fellow men, when testifying to human affairs and actions, in human tribunals. . .The result, it is confidently believed, will be an undoubting conviction of their integrity, ability and truth ... Either the men of Galilee were men of superlative wisdom, and extensive knowledge and experience, and of deeper skill in the arts of deception, than any and all others, before or after them, or they have truly stated the astonishing things which they saw and heard"

 

Now, if you choose not to believe, that's your business, but it will not be because there are no facts to believe and it will not be because you cannot believe.

 

There is more proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead than there is that a man named Julius Caesar ever lived.  The Bible says that He showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs.

 

Thomas wanted proof that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.  And it’s hard to blame him.  Can you imagine seeing someone die, knowing he was buried, and then hearing from friends that they had seen him alive? That was the situation for Thomas.  He didn’t have two thousand years of church history to call upon.  He couldn’t open up his New Testament and read the story of Christ.

 

And I would be willing to say that most of us, found in the same situation, would have felt the same way as Thomas.  But Thomas didn’t live in his doubts.

Thomas was transformed, saying, "My lord and my God!"

 

That probably doesn’t hit us as hard as it would have hit the original disciples. Before that day, they called Jesus rabbi, meaning teacher. They called him Christ, meaning the anointed one. The even called him the son of the living God. But no one, before Thomas, had called Jesus, "God."

 

And to the Jewish leaders of the day that was considered blasphemy and punishable by death.  It was an incredible and dangerous thing to say.

 

And yet the Bible says that the one who had been most honest about his doubts was the first to call Jesus, "God." There are traditions that say he was the disciple who traveled furthest to tell others about Christ.

 

Tradition teaches that he proclaimed the gospel in Babylon, Persia, and all the way to India. There are Christian churches in southern India claiming to trace their heritage to Thomas.  Most historians place his death in the year 72 A.D. in India where he was run through with a sword by his enemies.

 

And you know, that’s quite a testimony for someone who is known as “Doubting Thomas”.  Now come all the way awake and zero in on verse 29 because here is where the story of Thomas gets very personal.

 

verse 29

 

Jesus said, "Thomas, I've got a better way for people to believe than this."  What is it?

 

Verse 30-31

 

Jesus said, "I'm going to give you something better than signs and wonders.  I'm going to give you something better than even seeing me with your physical eyes.  He said, "I'm going to give you my Word."  And God has given us this book to prove the supernatural resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And you can accept it and believe it, or you can let history record your name as a doubter.

 

Let’s pray