Father, You have come to mind several times today. It is surely comforting, and it readily reminds me of our relationship and there’s nothing better to keep me on track! Blessed be the name of the Lord!
John 14:1-7 (<<click here to read the passage)
The Apostle Thomas’ name is often joined with the moniker “doubting”. But if you really think about it, I would say that he was just a transparent person. He didn’t try to hide anything – he was who he was. He wasn’t out to impress anybody. And I don’t think he had foot-in-mouth issues as did Peter. If he had thoughts of importance, he spoke his mind, not really caring who thought he was silly and should have just kept his mouth shut. If anything, he probably just asked what everyone else was thinking.
Three times in John’s Gospel we find a record of what Thomas said.
As we spoke about in the post, A Clearer Perspective, traveling to see Lazarus in Bethany was a dangerous sojourn. It was just on the outskirts of Jerusalem and the religious elite were looking for any excuse to take Jesus out. In the midst of this situation, Thomas said,
“Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.” John 11:16 NLT
In today’s passage, Jesus stated that He was going to prepare a place for them and that when everything was ready, He would come and get them, so that they would always be with Him where He was.
He wrapped it up by saying, “And you know the way to where I am going.”
Thomas’ response?
“No, we don’t know, Lord. We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” John 14:5 NLT
It was an innocent, heartfelt reply. It was short-sighted considering all they had experienced with over the last three and half years interacting with Jesus day in and day out, but Thomas wasn’t being problematic so much as honest and straightforward. And we can be pretty sure that everyone else, being in the same spot Thomas was, was thinking the same thing.
His third statement occurs in John 20:24–29.
Jesus had been crucified. He was dead. He had been buried. But then almighty God resurrected Him, and Jesus then appeared before them behind locked doors…but Thomas wasn’t there. No matter what the other disciples said, Thomas just couldn’t process it, …he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” John 20:25b NLT
He just said what he felt. Would any of the others if they had not seen it with their own eyes, would they have so readily accepted it? Probably not, and I would dare say that neither would we.
Thomas was your ordinary, run-of-the-mill person. He was not perfect in his thoughts and how he processed things, but he most definitely was forthright. Jesus corrected him, as it should be. But we know exactly where Thomas was, we know what he was thinking, and most importantly…we can relate.
Lord Jesus, You may set us straight when we are out of line, but we are never rejected for being open and honest. You welcome our questions, our proclamations…and even our doubts with open arms. May be we always transparent and moving forward in our relationship with You. Amen.
Sept 8th, 2021, Wed, 12:52 pm
