Why Do You Think Thomas Doubted?

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This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Johnathan Hernandez and Gary Schick.

Garry Schick
So, this is one that came to you, Jonathan. Somebody asked you the other day, "why do you think Thomas doubted?" And we were just talking this morning that this could even be a good springboard to talk about all 12. I mean, obviously Jesus is the center point. He's the focus of the gospels. But we do read about these other 12 guys who we get quite a bit about. Others only have their name, really. And then there's guys like Thomas that, and he kind of has this nickname, Doubting Thomas. Actually, if you're reading the gospels, he had a different nickname. He was also known as, "the twin." So he had a brother. But we're going to dig into all that a little bit today. But anyway, Jonathan what have you got?

Jonathan Hernandez
So, we see this right after the resurrection. The disciples were all together and Jesus comes. And unfortunately, or fortunately, I don't know how we want to look at this, but Thomas wasn't there. This is what? John 20:24, "One of the 12, Thomas, was not with the other disciples when Jesus came. And so the other disciples told him, 'we have seen Jesus." And this is where we see that whole, where we have given Thomas this nickname of, the doubter.

Garry Schick
But he didn't just doubt. He said, "I don't believe it." That's a little different.

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah. And he's like, "unless I see the nail marks, if I not only see it, but I want to put my hand on, so maybe my eyes won't deceive me. I have to be able to touch it and feel it." And, you know, that's intense. I think, as we look at the story, there's a lot of things that jump out to me. Like, why was Thomas not there? Right?

Garry Schick
Yeah.

Jonathan Hernandez
Thomas, he was a huge part that we see throughout different parts of scripture. He's a leader in a sense. He's part of this group, and so why is he not in the room at that time? And we can read into it and have some, I think I was reading one commentary. They said that they think he was out running errands doing some things like that and just missed it.

Garry Schick
Did he work for DoorDash?

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah. Maybe Uber or picking up the Walmart order, going to grab the fish. Who knows, right?

Garry Schick
Something fishy about that.

Jonathan Hernandez
And it's sad to think that he wasn't there. I think of another story---

Garry Schick
But it wasn't like Jesus said, "by the way, guys, I'm going to be here at six."

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah, and then Thomas just missed it. Right. But he did miss it. He wasn't there. There's a story in John 11 when Lazarus was sick. And, you know, Jesus, they haven't gone there yet. Cause he said, "let's wait. And then we'll go." And all the disciples are like, "whoa, wait. Let's not go. Because last time we went, they tried to kill you Jesus." And Thomas goes, "if he goes, I want to go. If he's going to die, then I might as well go die too."

Garry Schick
Yeah. But that's the way you phrase it. We might as well go die with Him.

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah. So we've dubbed him, "Doubting Thomas," from that later event, but we also see where he didn't doubt anything in this moment. He's like, "Jesus. If he's going there, I'm going there and I'm going to go and die with him. I'm going to be part of this." And so we know that Thomas is just like, "I am going to do this. I'm going to be a part of this." And then we find him later on not being a part of it. And the question is, why do we think that he wasn't there? And to me, I always wonder, is it because of the hurt that he experienced at the cross? Thomas gave up his whole life to follow Jesus. He gave up everything to be a part of this group of people with Jesus. And maybe his expectations weren't met. And I think about us, like there's many times that we become hurt. And what do we do? We put up a wall. And I'm wondering if, from the moment of Jesus dying on the cross, did Thomas put up a wall? And was he walking around with hurt and pain and depression or whatever it may be that he was dealing with in that time. And then the disciples, obviously, they know where he's at, because they go and tell him, right? And they go, "Thomas, we've seen Jesus." And he's like, "oh, there's no way. It's impossible. There's no way that you've seen Jesus." And then we're like, "he totally missed it. He missed everything." And to us it feels like it should be the end of the story. And yet Jesus says, "no, that's not the end of the story. I'm going to come back and I'm going to show him." And He comes and he shows Thomas, and Thomas is able to see and everything, right? And he gets that extended grace that God gave him in that moment for him to be able to experience that breakthrough moment again for him.

Garry Schick
Well, and the breakthrough is not just that Jesus is alive, but also his statement as he falls at Jesus' feet. And, "my Lord and my God," he saw more clearly than anybody what this means. Jesus is not merely a man. I mean, we know this because we're looking at it from the other side. We've already seen the end of the book. But we have to remember, these guys are coming in to him. To them, I mean, the beginning of the gospel, he's called Rabbi. In fact, Mary Magdalene even calls him after the resurrection, 'rabbi,' which means teacher, an ordinary human teacher. But over time, well, "but this teacher does miracles. But this teacher teaches stuff that we haven't heard before that is clearly of God." It brings the scriptures together like we've never heard it brought together. What does this really mean? I mean, when he stilled the storm, the question of the disciples was, "who is this man?" Even with the wind and the waves, they still didn't know. But in Thomas, at that resurrection moment, "put your hands in my nail-scarred hands and in my side." And, you know, my thoughts on Thomas were exactly yours. One of the things about this that I love is it reminds me, and it reminds us. When we're reading the gospels, we're not reading good fiction. We're reading the real story about real people in the real world. I don't know if some of our listeners are fans of fantasy fiction, but in the fantasy world, in those stories, people always assume whatever the fantastic is---if you read a Greek myth where there's, what do they call them? A centaur or whatever, that's half man, half horse. Nobody is freaked out by this creature that is half man, half horse. They don't go, "did you see that? They're real?" No, they assume it. In fantasy, centaurs are real. Magic is real. Unicorns are real. Whatever it is that the fantasy is about; flying horses. I guess I'm tapping into a lot of Greek myth here, but nobody is surprised when a Pegasus flies into the room with his wings, because that's part of the reality of the fictional. But if it happened while we were broadcasting, where a faun, like Mr. Tumnus from Narnia. He comes in, this bare chested guy with the legs of a goat comes clomping into the room. I'm not sure what we would do with that, Jonathan, because this is the real world. And in the real world, people who are dead, stay dead. People in the biblical era, were far more aware of death than we are because all of our meat comes packaged from the grocery store. Where does milk come from? "Well, it comes from a bottle." No! These guys grew up on the farm. They drank it from the cow. They slaughtered the animals that they ate. They caught the fish, and they filleted them. They cooked them on the fire, and they saw the life go out of them. And one thing they knew, once it's dead, it's dead. And that includes those they loved. He was such a realist. "Well guys, let's go with him." Or even, you didn't mention that right before Jesus dies, Jesus is trying to comfort them. "Guys, do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me and my Father's House. There are many mansions, so I've told you. I'm going there to prepare a place. And if I go, I'll come back and take you to be with me. And you know the way to the place where I'm going." But Thomas is the one who speaks up. "Lord, we don't know where you're going. How do we know the way?" Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." And that was actually the last thing he hears Jesus say personally to him that we know of before the crucifixion. "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by me." And then the next day, Jesus is on a cross and dead. How does Thomas deal with it? I think you're right. I think he was grieving. I think he needed to be alone. He needed to be by himself. And when first he first heard the story, "Jesus is alive!" He thought, "Oh, come on, get on with your lives. This is over. And feel the pain. It's real." But then Jesus stood before him. And so we live in that real world. And Jesus is real, guys. You can embrace him. You know, Jesus said, "blessed are you who've seen and believe. Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe." That's us. But we've seen the testimony. And the first testimony that we're talking about is Thomas'.