John 14:4-6 “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” We call him Doubting Thomas. I think he was one of those rare individuals that just spoke his thoughts out loud. Many, if not most people do not want to seem not to understand ___________ what is being said. They will mentally puzzle over it until they come to a conclusion. Thomas just speaks out. “Lord, we know not whither thou goest and how can we know the way?” In this, Thomas is like the many types of people. What way is the right way?
TTie Philosopher says: Think your way out. The Indulgent says: Drink your way out. The Politician says: Spend your way out. The Sciencist says: Invent your way out. The Industrialist says: Work your way out. The Communist says: Strike your way out. The Fascist says: Bluff your way out. The Military man says: Fight your way out. The Bible says: Pray your way out, but Jesus says, “I am the way…”
This statement stilled the tongue of Thomas. I’m not sure he was fully convinced, but he had traveled with Jesus for a while now and Jesus always directed where they would go and where He would speak. Thomas was only a follower. He was uncertain what would happen when Jesus left this world.
Tradition holds that he built seven churches, was martyred during prayer by a a man spearing him on the “Big Hill” near Madras, and was buried in Mylapore, on the east coast of India. Since it is tradition instead of recorded history, I do not know if it is true, but if it is, then Thomas found “The Way” for Jesus came to call out a body of men and women to become the Church of God.
The Church of God is not a building, it is the saints of God. To become a saint of God, you must receive Christ as your Savior. See how Paul addresses the church at Corinth.
1 Corinthians 1:2 “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:” This verse takes us from a place and shows us the action of becoming a saint. Santified is a word meaning set apart from others. The Bible tells us that we are to separate ourselves from the world and cleave together as a body of believers.
2Corinthians 6:17 ’’Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” Thomas had heard His teaching for the years since Jesus called him to be a disciple. Yet he still doubted what his eyes could not see. After the resurrection of Jesus, Thomas was still Doubting Thomas.
John 20:24-25 “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
How many people are like this today? If I can’t see it, it doesn’t exist, yet they breath air they have never seen. “Except I…” In Sunday school many years ago a teacher told her class that the middle letter in sin was the problem that caused disbelief in the world. Obviously, that middle letter is T. We focus on things we can see or control. Spiritual things are foreign to us. We will not believe (like Thomas) unless we can touch, feel, or handle something ourselves.
Remember, Thomas had been with Jesus and now the eleven other disciples (not Apostles yet) told him that Jesus had risen as He had said He would. (See Matthew 28:6).
In all this, Thomas is proving his humanity. We are a world of doubters. We demand proof. What did Jesus say to Thomas when he came to confront him?
John 20:26-29 “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Let me take the last part of this scripture out for you to consider. “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
I have never seen Jesus, nor has anyone else on earth this day and age. History is filled with references to God, the father, Jesus, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yet humanity stubbornly clings to the ‘if I can’t touch it, it doesn’t exist’ way of thinking.
Again let me quote Jesus. John 14:1-4 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”
Yes, this takes faith. Hebrews tell us in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And again we find in Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Stop listening to Doubters like Thomas and listen to the Word of God. Go to church, hear the preacher explain that unseen world to you and as Jesus told Thomas, “and be not faithless.”
