What can we learn from "doubting" Thomas?
Jesus' disciple, Thomas, aka "doubting" Thomas, says 4 statements in the New Testament.
I was only familiar with one, when Thomas says I’m not going to believe (that Jesus was raised from the dead) unless I put my fingers and my hand in his wounds.
So we will answer: did he doubt and was he the only one? And what encouragement can we get from studying someone who doubted?
Statement #1:
In John 11, Jesus is told that Lazarus is sick, and waits 2 days and then he says let’s go to Judea. The disciples say "but the Jews were trying to stone you when you were there, and you want to go back?"
And Thomas says “let us also go with him, so that we may die too.”
I thought that Thomas was saying “let’s go to Lazarus so we can be dead too, like Lazarus”.
What he’s actually talking about is Jesus. if Jesus was going to be stoned and killed by those in Judea if they went back, Thomas says lets go too, so that we can also be stoned and killed as well. Brave?
Why he said that: it was a disciple [student’s] purpose to imitate and follow and copy everything their rabbi [teacher] did and how they did it. To think, speak, pray, act, eat, wash their hands, do everything their rabbi/teacher did ad how they did it.
That was the goal of being a disciple. Is that not our goal as well? Peter says in 1 Peter 2:21 "Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in his steps". Thomas is saying let’s follow his example, if he dies, let’s follow his example and die too.
Thomas is being a committed disciple
Statement #2:
Thomas says to Jesus “we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?
Why does he say this? Let’s read John 13:36 – 14:6. (after the Passover meal)
So why would Thomas want/need more details about where Jesus was going? Previously, Jesus had said let’s go to Judea. And Thomas said let’s all go too.
But Jesus doesn’t say where he’s going, and Thomas is thinking very literally, if you don’t tell us where (what city or town or place) you’re going to,, then how are we supposed to figure out the way to get there.
But Jesus is not going to a WHERE.
Jesus is going to a WHO. The Father.
Jesus told them previously in John 13, that He came from God and was going to God.
So that’s why Jesus says “I am the way”, because if you follow me, it will lead you to the Father. You stick with me, you’ll reach that destination.
If Thomas hadn’t asked, we wouldn’t have this very important declaration by Jesus and understanding of who Jesus is. That He is the way and the truth and the life.
If you read the first chapter 14 only, it looks like Thomas is the only one asking a question. My first thought when I read these first few verses of chapter 14 only was: was Thomas being rude by asking? Or out of place? Was it taboo to ask something like this or ask him to clarify?
But reading chapter 13 also shows that Peter also asks where he’s going. So they both ask.
I looked up: Was it ok for students to ask their Rabbi’s questions: yes, In Jewish culture, especially between rabbis and their students, it wasn’t rude to ask a question. Or ask for clarification. Dialogue was part of teaching.
Questions were considered a sign of being engaged and invitations to deeper learning. So through that dialogue between Thomas and Jesus, we have a clearer understanding of what Jesus meant.
Jesus said unless you become like little children, you won’t enter the kingdom of God. Children ask questions. Children are curious. That doesn't mean we should be dumb or ignorant, When Prov. 3:5 says “trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding”.
Children don’t lean on their own understanding, they depend on someone else to explain things to them. Thats why they ask questions, so they can understand.
If we lean on our own understanding we may not have the right answers, so we need to lean on God’s understanding and His wisdom to know what is true. so asking questions that prompt us to look deeper into God’s word - which is the truth- to help us understand things, is a good practice.
Thomas was Honest. Curious. Childlike (not relying on his own understanding)
Side Question: Was Thomas the only disciple that didn’t believe/ doubted the resurrection of Jesus?
Mat. 28:17 When they saw Him, they worshiped (proskyneo) Him; but some doubted.
This verse was always very confusing to me, until I understood that the Greek word here, proskyneo, means to bow down.
(most English translations say they “worshiped” but some doubted, but there are 7 versions that say “they ‘bowed down’ but some doubted” (that’s the Greek word proskyneo means, to bow down/prostrate one’s self).
Not just describing what they’re doing - also what they’re thinking/feeling. showing an internal conflict or contradiction.
It a human thing, that we can hold conflicting and contradicting ideas/feelings at the same time, sometimes our actions and our thoughts/feelings don’t completely match up. (similar to the passage they honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.
When it says “some” doubted, we don’t know for sure which ones it was that doubted, but we do know it was more than one because it’s a plural word.
If Thomas was or was not among those that doubted here in Matthew - we dont know. or how much they doubted, was it a little or a lot- we don’t know. So all we know is, physically the disciples were bowing down, but mentally some they were doubting ( that it was actually him, that he risen from the dead).
Matthew 28:9 the 2 Mary’s who saw the resurrected Jesus also bowed down (proskyneo) to him and held onto his feet
Most English versions say that when the two Mary’s) saw him, they held on to his feet and worshiped (proskyneo) him.
What this really says is they held on to his feet and bowed down to him . (you have to be physically bowing down or /prostrating yourself on the ground in order to hold on to someone’s feet.)
When you see *fall down and worship (proskyneo) in your Bible = fall and bow down -so now you can understand the context!
(bowing down is one of the 5 Greek/Hebrews words commonly replaced with "worship" in our English Bibles)
Mark 16: after Jesus rose from the dead the disciples did not believe Mary or 2 of the disciples that said that they had seen Jesus. 11-2 = 9. 9 disciples that didn’t believe that Jesus had risen
Luke 24: women went and told the 11 disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead, but their words seemed to be idle tales and they did not believe them. (women were not seen as credible witnesses)
Jesus later appeared to them and they were terrified and thought they were seeing a spirit. (i.e. a ghost, not an actual person).
Verse 38-39: And He said to them, “why do doubts arise in your hearts? “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me [touch me/feel me] (psēlaphaō), and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
41: they still did not believe because of joy, and marveled (so they were in happy shock)
This Greek word is also found in John 1:1
1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard and seen and our hands have felt/touched) (psēlaphaō), the Word of life.
(John is saying that he and others, touched and felt Jesus - not only saw him and heard him they touched him.he was a real, actual person before and after his resurrection.)
*Thomas was apparently not there when Jesus came to them and showed them his hands and feet and they touched him..John’s account is the only one that gives us more detail on what happened in the situation and specifically mentions Thomas and that he wasn’t there.
Statement #3: back to Thomas
John 20:19-20 Jesus appeared to disciples and showed them His hands and His side.
V .24 Thomas was not with them when this happened.
They said to Thomas: we saw the Lord! But Thomas said “unless put my finger in the nail prints in his hands and put my hand in his side I’m not going to believe.”
Thomas is being honest. He’s not pretending. Skeptical. Wants proof, the same proof that the other disciples got.
Statement #4:
Read John 20:26-31
Jesus knew what Thomas had said.
Thomas says: “My Lord and my God!
This makes Thomas the first person in the New Testament to directly address Jesus as God. John says he’s God in John 1:1 but Thomas is the first recorded person to say it to Jesus
Temporary doubts and unbelief were transformed into belief and understanding. His doubt turned into delight!
Final thoughts: on the 4 statements of Thomas.
Yes, Thomas temporarily doubted the resurrection, but he wasn’t the only one. So is it really accurate or fair to single him out “doubting”? We don’t call Peter “disowning Peter” or Paul “persecuting Paul”. I think it’s even more significant that “Doubting Thomas” is the first person recorded to address Jesus as God. That’s significant!
each one of the gospel writers - records that doubt and unbelief was a part of the resurrection story. It’s easy to imagine all of the interactions with a resurrected Jesus to be joyous and triumphant and celebratory with no doubt or unbelief. But these accounts do not hide the human-ness of those involved or our complex emotions.
- doubt, - unbelief - Fear - Amazement - Joy
What encouragement can I bring:
I have recently been studying 1 Corinthians chapter 14. It's a chapter that says a lot about what we are to do when we are assembled together. Verses 26-31 explain that all things should be done for edification/building up/encouraging and strengthening one another, taking turns "so that all may learn and be encouraged". So I asked myself, what encouragement can I provide from this topic?
The thing I learned from studying this lesson is that Thomas was a committed disciple and he asked questions, but he wasn’t perfect. His and the other disciples’ doubting and unbelief wasn’t held up as an example, it wasn’t celebrated, Jesus rebuked them in Mark 16 for this. But, their doubting and unbelief wasn’t hidden either. It would be very easy to leave that part out, wouldn’t it?
When Jesus said to Thomas in John 20:27 “Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” That’s not always easy to do. A man in Mark 9, who asked Jesus to heal his son, he said to Jesus with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief.”
There is a kind of doubt is a genuine, sincere struggle that says ‘Lord, help me believe’. It can make us seek God and his wisdom. There’s another kind of doubt that uses questions to avoid obedience and says’ I will keep asking questions so I don’t have to agree or obey.’
Another question I asked myself: Do I have doubts and struggles that I try to hide -hide from others and from God and keep to myself - instead of being honest about and praying about? We all have struggles, why do I (we) pretend not to have them? Are we ashamed or embarrassed? Do we not want others to know about our weaknesses or that we have them?
I’ve been trying to be honest with God and ask for his help when I’m feeling like I’m having a hard time trusting Him or not understanding things. Instead of hiding it from him. It’s taking some getting used to, but it’s a good thing and it’s helped my relationship with God.
I hope this will be encouraging to you to know that God is the kind of God that we can bring our struggles to. We don’t understand everything, and that’s ok, because that can cause us to seek God’s understanding and God’s wisdom.
If we do have doubts or struggles or questions, we don’t have to let those things distance us from God, they can bring us closer to God (and our Christian family) if we ask for help and prayers, trust God, lean on His understanding and study his Word, casting all our anxieties on him because he cares for us . 1 Peter 5:7
Thank you for reading, I hope these words have been encouraging or helpful to you! Have a wonderful day!
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