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"Without a Doubt" — Many people refer to him as “doubting Thomas,” but the truth is that he was no more a doubter than any of us.								ISO

Without a Doubt

It is always moving to me when I read the confession of Thomas. As one of the original twelve disciples, Thomas lived with and witnessed the humanity of Jesus for three and a half years.

Many people refer to him as “doubting Thomas” but the truth is that he was no more a doubter than any of us. Only God can resurrect the dead. I imagine that if any of us saw Jesus after his death and burial, we would wonder too – “Is that really him?”

John 20:26-28 describes the scene this way:

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Isn’t this the same thing Jesus is saying to all of us?

Because Jesus is God in the flesh, he not only makes God known, but he also does the work of God. His words and deeds are the words and deeds of God in the world. His love and compassion is the love and compassion of the Father. When he forgives, it is the very forgiveness of God.

The words and acts of Jesus and the Father are identical. Jesus declares to us:

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

God cannot be seen or measured, no matter how powerful we make our telescopes and microscopes. He transcends time and space. We can only see him and know him through the person of Jesus. Jesus makes him known in time and space.

Through Jesus, God reaches down to us, embraces human life and reconciles humanity to himself, drawing our hearts into fellowship with him. To know and hear Jesus is to know the word and mind of the Father. We can know nothing of God other than what he makes known in Christ.

As John Calvin put it, Jesus makes known to us the will of God as it was from the beginning.

In Thomas’ expressing of the truth of who Jesus is in John 20:29-31, we can all find comfort and inspiration.

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The resurrected Jesus is still with us. We have never seen him, but we are among those blessed ones who believe in him anyway, and by believing, we have life in his name.

I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking of LIFE.