The text: John 20:24-29
24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them
when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen
the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the
nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my
hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was
with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood
among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to
Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your
hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him,
“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those
who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Many people say: ‘seeing is believing’.
In fact, they don’t just say it, they live it. Perhaps you do too. This means if someone
told you something remarkable, you’d want to see it for yourself.
Perhaps this means we reckon the sense of sight (and perhaps also the sense of
touch) is the sense by which we judge truth. If we see it, or can touch it, we’ll
believe it.
But this may also mean we won’t always believe what we hear (unless we can
confirm by the senses of sight and touch that what we’ve heard is actually true).
But what if seeing is not believing? Or to put it another way: we often want to see
things because we don’t believe them.
For example, imagine you’re Thomas. For some reason you weren’t with the
apostles on that night when Jesus came. You meet up with them later and they
joyfully tell you of their experience of seeing the risen Lord Jesus among them. But
you weren’t there! You didn’t see what they saw. So instead of believing the words
of the apostles through your ears, you say you’re not going to believe unless you
see him for yourself. You don’t believe your ears and want your eyes to confirm this
truth.
In fact, you’re not going to believe your ears and eyes unless you put your fingers
on the nail marks on Jesus’ hands and thrust your hand into his speared side. Until
you see and touch this news you’ve heard, you’re not going to believe. After all,
don’t people say: ‘seeing is believing’!
But that’s the twist. You want to see because you don’t believe.
I wonder if you can relate to Thomas. Of the remaining apostles, he was the only
one not there. But you weren’t there either. You and I haven’t had the chance to
witness our risen Lord for ourselves and use our senses of sight and touch to confirm
the good news of his resurrection. None of us were in that locked room and saw
the risen Jesus standing among us.
This is why we have this story in St John’s gospel account, because we weren’t
there. This true story was written down for all who, like Thomas, weren’t in that
room. In some ways, Thomas was fortunate in so far as Jesus came to him so he
could confirm this truth of the resurrection eight days later, but what about us?
We still haven’t been given the opportunity to see Jesus in the flesh and place our
fingers into his wounds, and so we continue to struggle with our doubts and fears.
No matter what we hear in God’s Word, we still demand to see or experience
certain things before we believe.
In this way, you and I are Thomas in this story. We’re Thomas whenever say or think
such things like:
“Unless God answers my prayers the way I want him to, then I won’t believe.”
“Unless I get something special out of worship today, then I don’t think this church is
any good for me.”
“Unless I feel something when I’m baptised, confirmed, or when I receive the Lord’s
Supper, then I’ll question its validity.”
“Unless I get what I want or expect, and can confirm it with my own senses of sight
and sound and touch and taste and even with my emotions, then I won’t believe.”
But these types of questions or statements means we only want to meet God on
our own terms. It shows we’re struggling to believe. It shows we’re like Thomas. So,
while we may believe, we ask God to help our unbelief!
The strange thing about faith is it never stops in one place. While we’d like to think
our faith will always increase and get better during our life; it doesn’t. It often
wavers between faith and doubt; trust and suspicion. Some people expect that
once you’re baptised, once you’re confirmed, once you’ve made a decision for
Christ, or once you’ve received faith, then everything’s ok from that time on. But
this isn’t true. At times we’ll be strong in our faith, but there will be times of doubt.
For this reason we can also learn a lot from Thomas.
When he doubted or struggled to believe, he didn’t dismiss or ignore the fellowship
with his fellow disciples. He didn’t stay away, but came back into their little
congregation to hear, see, and touch.
We’re encouraged to do the same.
We’re encouraged to hear the Word of God read and explained. We use our
sense of hearing so we may listen for God speaking to us through the bible
readings and the sermon.
We’re also encouraged to attend the Lord’s Supper where we use our senses of
touch and taste as we receive our risen Lord’s body and blood on our fingers, on
our lips, and on our tongue. But, while our senses of sight and touch and taste will
tell us ‘this is simply bread and wine’, the Holy Spirit will ask our sense of hearing to
be the more powerful sense so we may believe what we hear: That this is Jesus’
body and blood, given and shed for you and me.
The fact is, a faith which doesn’t constantly look to our Lord Jesus Christ, and listen
to him, will slowly die. A faith which refuses to come into his presence and receive
his spiritual benefits will shrivel up. A faith which makes demands for proof of God’s
love outside of the written Word, the cross of Christ, and his holy Sacraments, is in
danger of leading to despair.
This means if we want to see and experience Jesus on our own terms, or if we want
to keep away from the place where his people meet, then we’re becoming an
unbeliever. Then, just like Jesus said to Thomas, he says to you and me, ‘Stop
doubting and believe’, or literally, ‘Stop becoming an unbeliever and become a
believer’.
This is why Thomas, in his time of doubt, went to the place where Jesus promised to
be – with his people.
In our own times of doubt we need to do the same, after all, we know Jesus
promises to be wherever his people gather in his name. We know his Holy Spirit is
present as we hear the Word of God read and proclaimed. We know Jesus
promises to wash, adopt, forgive, and give new life to those who are baptised. We
know Jesus promises his true body and blood is present on his holy Supper.
Seeing isn’t always believing, because the demand to see is a sign of unbelief. On
the other hand, believing is seeing. Faith instead gives us a greater sight so we may
believe what we hear, despite what we see and don’t see.
By believing what we hear, we see Jesus is our Lord and our God. We stand beside
Thomas and see Jesus is more than just a man. By faith, we see Jesus is also the Son
of God who came to suffer, die, and rise again for us so that, by believing, we may
have life in his name.
By believing what we hear, we can see God truly comes to us, hidden in times of
simple worship to grant forgiveness, peace, and hope. He comes to challenge our
unbelief and comfort us through his Spirit-filled words. He comes to wash us and
claim us as his own people who will live with him forever. He comes and wraps his
body and blood in humble bread and wine and offers them for us to eat and drink.
He comes, hidden in the people joined to him through faith to love and care for us.
He comes, sometimes despite our best efforts to lock him out.
Yes, Thomas was blessed to see his Lord and Saviour in the flesh and use his senses
of sight and touch. On the other hand, blessed are those who haven’t seen, yet still
believe because they trust their sense of hearing.
You and I are blessed because we believe what we’ve heard. Jesus is our Lord
and God even though we haven’t seen him with our own eyes or touched him
with our own fingers. And through faith in Jesus’ word our bodies will also be
resurrected and we will see Jesus in heavenly glory forever. Amen.