Dealing with Doubt

9.30am Sunday 15 April 2007

Readings: John 20:19-31; 1 John 1:1-2:2

 

Easter Sunday radically changed the plot-line of the human story. A new age was inaugurated. A new dynamic was released into the world for good, not evil. The tide has ebbed and flowed in the advance of the cause of Christ but the end, according to Scripture, is never in doubt. As Isaac Watts penned: "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun does his successive journeys run; his kingdom stretch from shore to shore till moons shall rise and set no more." It is not a question of 'if' but 'when.' 'Jesus is Lord!' and we are living in the new age of God's favour.

 

So why are we not seeing more evidence of his coming reign? Listen to Peter's counsel to the church about the end times. "Above all you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.' But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."[1]

 

We who live in the 21^st century have the advantage of being able to look at things from the vantage point of twenty centuries of church history. We need to understand what it was like for those first disciples of whom we read in John's Gospel this morning. The events of Good Friday shattered their hopes into a thousand pieces. Then when reports of the empty tomb reached their ears on Easter Sunday they didn't know what to think. With the finality of the events of Good Friday so fresh in their minds, little wonder they struggled to come to terms with what this meant. It was going to take some convincing for them to see things otherwise. And it was not only Thomas that had difficulty believing. The others did, too. John, the beloved disciple did not believe until he stepped into the empty tomb. Mary did not believe until she heard Jesus call her name. The other disciples were not convinced until they actually saw Jesus themselves. Only then did they believe he had risen indeed!. People have different needs and various routes by which their doubts are dispelled and faith is awakened. Jesus is aware of them all, as he is aware of yours, too.

 

Some of these paths to faith can be gleaned from the passage we read this morning from John 20. The first event it recounts took place on the evening of the first day of the week, that is, resurrection day. The day had begun before sunrise with the women going to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. On finding the stone rolled away from the entrance to the grave and the tomb empty, their first thought was that somebody had stolen his body. When Peter and John hear about this, they immediately seek to verify the women's story and find it exactly as they have been told. In John's account Mary then stays at the tomb weeping and only recognises Jesus after he calls her by name. She is the first person, at least according to John's account of the resurrection, to see the risen Lord. Mary rushes back to the other disciples with the news: " have seen the Lord!"

 

That evening as they waited behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders Jesus appeared to them. There was obviously something different about Jesus in that locked doors didn't stop him from entering where they were. He greeted them and showed them his hands and his side. In Luke's account he invites them to touch him and see that he is not a ghost. Even then Luke says the disciples couldn't believe it was Jesus, and so he asked for something to eat. Only then were they convinced that they were not seeing an apparition. It really was Jesus, and, as you can imagine, they were overjoyed.

 

However, when Thomas, who was not there that evening, was told by the others that they had seen the Lord, he was not going to be taken in by all this hype. You can almost imagine what is going through his mind. People do not come alive again after they die, and especially the kind of death Jesus experienced. Thomas flatly refused to believe he was alive. He wanted proof, absolute proof that it really was Jesus. He would 'by no means' believe until he had touched Jesus where the nails had pierced his hands and where the spear had been thrust into his side. Unless those requirements were met, he would not be persuaded to believe otherwise.

 

We should not be too hard on Thomas for all his hardheaded scepticism. The other disciples had needed to see Jesus with their own eyes to believe he had risen, so why should not Thomas also have proof as well? We can thank God for someone like Thomas, because he did a reality check that convinced him beyond any doubt whatsoever that Jesus was alive. This has been an encouragement for many who have had similar misgivings about the resurrection. They would have liked to be able to do what Thomas did, and the fact that Thomas was persuaded, has helped them to believe, too.

 

Thomas, we know from John's few comments about him had wholeheartedly followed Jesus throughout his three years of ministry. He was the one who encouraged the others to go to Jerusalem with Jesus and die with him if need be.[2] He had trusted Jesus implicitly. After the crucifixion when all his hopes had been shattered, it was extremely difficult for him to trust anyone again, especially a far-fetched story of someone rising from the dead. And for this reason Jesus showed great compassion and sensitivity to Thomas's needs, as he does for your needs as well. He knows the questions you have, the issues you want answers to before you can put your trust and confidence in him as the resurrected Christ.

 

When Jesus does return a week later, this time Thomas is there. When Thomas sees Jesus, his doubts immediately disappear. He doesn't even need to touch Jesus hands and side. He makes the most significant statement of faith in the whole of John's Gospel when he pronounces, "My Lord and my God!" His confession goes far beyond that of anyone else. The most obstinate doubter of the resurrection of Jesus utters the greatest confession of the risen Lord. Jesus says to him, 'You believe because you have seen me. How blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

 

What application does this passage have for us today?

 

1. After greeting the disciples as was customary at that time, "Peace (wholeness) be with you!" Jesus' first words were, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."[3] This is John's version of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28. The word 'sent' and 'send' in this verse carry with them the sense of sending an envoy with a special commission. It is used of both the ministry of Jesus and the apostles. The word 'apostle,' meaning 'one who is sent,' is directly derived from it. This points us back to Jesus words in John 17 where he prayed, "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world."[4] What was uppermost in Jesus mind was his mission. This was the reason the Father had sent him. Even as a twelve-year-old Jesus was aware he was here for a purpose when he said to his parents when they found him in the temple, did not you know "that I must be about my Father's business."[5] Throughout his ministry the dominant theme of his teaching is the kingdom of God. The stories he told were about the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. His healings were signs of the kingdom, and especially his authority over unclean or evil spirits. Now Jesus was commissioning his disciples to pick up where he had left off. Just as the kingdom had been his primary concern, so it was to be there's as well. And so after his resurrection and before his ascension Jesus continued to speak with them about the kingdom of God over a period of forty days.[6] And, as we saw in our reading last Sunday from 1 Corinthians 15, even now he is working and interceding to see the establishment of God's reign here on earth.

 

If you are a follower of Jesus, his words, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you," apply to you as well. Jesus enlists every follower of his to be engaged in his mission. It is part and parcel of what it means to belong to the one holy, catholic and apostolic church, 'apostolic' meaning, those who are 'sent.' Baptism is the sign of being commissioned to be about our heavenly Father's business just as Jesus was. We are to seek first his kingdom and righteousness. We are envoys of the kingdom in our homes, places of employment, and in all our other involvements. Wherever we are we are ambassadors of the kingdom. This is why we are to pray for opportunities to speak about kingdom matters with people, and to pray for prepared hearts to receive what we share. This is why we are to have a concern for those who are lost, who are unaware of, or have not yet submitted to God's rule in their lives. The kingdom of God is to be foremost on the church's agenda. Its furtherance is to be the objective of all its activities.

 

Note also that Jesus prayer identifies where this is to take place. We are sent "into the world." His command is to go to where people are just as he did, and not to wait for them to come to us. It is an outward focus, like the shepherd searching for his lost sheep. Jesus' mission is the dominant theme in all of the Gospels, and is given as a pattern for we who follow him today. We are being unfaithful to the vows of our baptism when we fail to do this. This is the first thing of significance in this passage. It shows what was uppermost in Jesus' mind as soon as he rose, and he wants it to be uppermost in our minds, too. We are people of the kingdom of God, and we are to be diligently working together to see his kingdom established on earth.

 

2. Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Jesus does not give his church a task to do without providing the wherewithal to do it. John's Gospel contains more teaching than any of the other Gospels on the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church and the believer. This passage in John 20 is John's version of Pentecost. The word "breathed" brings to mind the passage in Ezekiel where the prophet was given a vision of a valley full of dry bones, very dry bones.[7] Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy to the bones, and the bones came together, bone to bone and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but they had no life. Ezekiel was then commanded to prophesy for breath to come into these corpses "that they may live." And as he did so they came to life and a vast army stood up on their feet. The Holy Spirit is the One who makes us alive in Christ. He is the dynamic of God's kingdom. Jesus told his disciples to wait until they received his power and then they would witness to him to the ends of the earth.

 

It is impossible to carry out God's work in our own strength, nor are we meant to. God's calling always brings with it his enabling. Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you..."[8] Without this dynamic we cannot accomplish his mission in the world. It would be absurd to try. God has given us all we need to continue and complete the work Jesus began.

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3. The third point we can learn from this passage is about Thomas. Thomas was so disillusioned after the crucifixion of Jesus that he does not gather with the others on the evening of the Easter day. Just when he needs the encouragement of others to help his faltering faith he does not show up. That is always a dangerous thing to do. The time when you want the fellowship of other believers least, is when you need it most. See what Thomas missed out on by not being with the others on the first resurrection day, and as a result he had to endure another eight days of uncertainty and despair. It is exceedingly unwise to cut yourself off from the fellowship of other believers, even if their faith is not much stronger than yours. This is why the Scriptures say, 'Don't give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching.'[9]

 

But the story does not end there. Thomas does return to the fellowship, and he is there when Jesus appears a second time. Like the morning mist that disappears when the sun breaks through to reveal a glorious day, Thomas steps out of the darkness of his despair into the light of the presence of our risen and living Lord; and becomes the first disciple to put into words the truth that Jesus is both Lord and God. 'Doubting Thomas' as he is sometimes called, utters the greatest confession of faith recorded anywhere in Scripture. Never does he doubt again.

 

History has it that he became an outspoken advocate for his Lord. We are told that he preached in ancient Babylon, near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, where Iraq is today. From there he traveled to Persia, present day Iran, and continued to win disciples to the Christian faith.

 

 

 

He then sailed south to Malabar on the west coast of India in 52 AD where he preached, established churches, and won to Christ high caste Brahmins, as well as others. When the Portuguese landed in India in the early 1600s, they found a group of Christians there - the Mar Thoma Church established through Thomas' preaching a millennium and a half before. Finally, Thomas travels to the east coast of India, still preaching, and is killed near Mylapore about 72 AD, near present day Madras. Tradition has it that he was thrown into a pit, then pierced through with a spear thrown by a Brahmin. He who had so fervently proclaimed his unbelief, carried the Christian message of love and forgiveness to the ends of the earth in his generation.

 

Thomas still speaks to doubters today, to those of us who have seen our hopes and dreams destroyed. He would tell his story of how Jesus' life intercepted his own. He would tell us of his deep disappointment and grief when Jesus died, and of his fears and doubts at that time. But then, with a radiant, joyful face, St Thomas as he has come to be known, the Apostle to India, would recount his joy at seeing and knowing the risen Jesus himself. "My Lord and my God!" he would say, "My Lord and my God!"

 

Two things in closing:

a.       Honest doubt can lead to a greater relationship with Jesus. The testimony of others can only carry you so far; ultimately you have to have your own experience with the Lord. And you can! Thomas started out doubting Jesus, but ended up dying for his cause.

b.      Honest doubt can lead to a new level of trust. When the bottom drops out of life, when pain becomes unbearable, when some shattering event occurs, doubts march in unannounced. Do not deny them but acknowledge them. Those times of doubting become schoolrooms of learning because they drive us to God for answers, and as we work through them, a new level of trust is reached.

 

Prayer:

Lord, like Thomas, I still struggle with some doubts. I haven't got my life all altogether yet. Not until I am with you will that happen. Thank you for accepting me in my struggles and not ignoring my questions. Help me, like Thomas, to come to the place where I can say with complete confidence, 'My Lord and my God.' Thank you for being patient with me in my journey of faith.[10]