Moving From Doubt To Faith
MOVING FROM DOUBT TO FAITH
John 20:24-29 (ESV)
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.”
Time and again, I have been approached by parents who are so worried because their son or daughter who grew up in church has expressed some doubts regarding their faith in Christ or others had expressed that they no longer believe in God. And their questions were always, “What should I do?” or “How can I keep them from leaving the faith?”
Unfortunately, this crisis of faith is growing among the next generations. In one of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk broadcasts, Lee Strobel shared some statistics that his team has gathered about this. Here is what he said:
“The truth is we have a crisis of faith among the next generations . . . Just 56% of millennials consider themselves Christian. General indifference, we talked about apathy, general indifference to religion is rising as well. One out of three Americans under the age of 35 are now religiously unaffiliated. I did my own study. I hired a research firm to do a scientific poll of Americans and I found that only 62% of millennials are sure that God exists compared to 82% of baby boomers. That's a huge drop in a short period of time. Barely a quarter of millennials attend church on any kind of regular basis. Only four out of 10 millennials say that religion is important to their lives.”
Hearing these statistics, you might be asking, “Why is this happening to our kids?” This might come as a surprise to you. When some early college students were directly asked why they left their faith, the most common response they gave was – “It was because no one answered their doubts and questions; and they felt that their church was not a safe place to answer their tough questions.”
Now, with their response, I feel the need for us to go back to our church and our discipleship groups as to whether or not we are doing a much better job of answering the doubts and tough questions of the next generation. How should we relate to them if they have doubts? Are we open and willing to respond to their doubts and questions? I believe these are just some questions we need to be asking ourselves. Of course, we also have to acknowledge that doubts can happen not only to the next generation, but also to believers regardless of age.
Well, if there is someone who can teach us on how to deal with believers who are going through a period of doubts, this would be our Savior Jesus Christ. The text we have this morning would allow us to examine how Jesus responded to one of His disciples who expressed openly his doubts concerning the resurrection. Prior to our text, the other disciples had the privilege of seeing the risen Lord. Unfortunately, Thomas was absent when that happened. So, when he came, they were really excited to share to him the good news of seeing Jesus Christ. However, instead of believing their story, Thomas insisted on seeing Jesus first before he starts believing in the resurrection of Jesus. I believe this story is worth studying this morning because the times we are living in today can easily lead some believers to some doubts or crisis of faith. As we examine this narrative, allow me to highlight at least three important lessons from it:
I THE PROBABILITY OF DOUBTS (vv. 24-25)
When we read our text, perhaps, we would not expect that one of the 12 disciples of Jesus would be the one to express some doubts towards the resurrection of Jesus. I’m sure we could understand if the doubting came from someone who has been hostile to Jesus Christ. But to Thomas, this was really unexpected.
I believe this the reason why this account is worth looking at because it allows us to see that if it happened to one of Jesus’ disciples, someone who has been with Jesus for three years and have seen Him do so many extraordinary miracles, then, it can happen to anyone of us, right? Think about it, “If you had been there, would you have believed or would we have doubted?”
Let me also point out that this is critical especially during these days because of the difficulties we are gong through due to the Pandemic. Often, as I said earlier, an environment like this can trigger the crisis of faith. It has been said that Christians who have gone through times of desperation like losing a loved one, financial disaster, a job loss, a relationship break-up, or even a disease in the family had been the root causes for crisis in faith. Often, when they were in their tough situations, they prayed to God and asked for help; and they felt that God was not there for them. So, they begin to wonder if God really exists or if He really possesses the power to help them.
Considering Thomas, it’s unfortunate that he is often remembered as the “Doubting Thomas.” But this one occasion of doubting should have not defined him as if he was not a sincere follower of Jesus Christ. The reality is that he was a loyal disciple as portrayed in John 11:11-16 (ESV):11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
If you read this passage, the background was that Jesus received a word from Mary that Lazarus, who was a dear friend of Jesus, was really sick; and she wanted Him to travel right away to Bethany, so He can pray for him. But Jesus delayed His visit for about two days until Lazarus was already dead. And when Jesus told His disciples that it was time for them to go travel to see Lazarus, His disciples discouraged Him because some religious leaders threatened to kill Him by (vv. 6-8). Nevertheless, Jesus has already decided to travel back, so Thomas said in verse 16 - “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Isn’t that a courageous statement? Thomas was actually saying, “If they kill him, they’ll have to kill me as well.” Clearly, he loved the Lord Jesus Christ that he would willingly die and sacrifice his life for Him. So, he was not a shallow or casual follower of Jesus. Why is this important? Again, if Thomas can doubt, then, the probability of any one of us doubting can also happen. Once Dr. Oswald Sanders said these words:
“Doubt is not always a sign that a man is wrong; it may be a sign that he is thinking.”
I totally agree. If you examine the demand of Thomas for some tangible proofs before believing in the resurrection of Jesus, it was not really unreasonable. If you go back to the previous incidents where the other disciples first heard about the resurrection, they only believed after they all actually saw Jesus. In fact, they did not immediately believed even after the women who saw the empty tomb told them about it. The only difference was that Thomas openly verbalized his doubts.
Let me ask you, how do you feel about the Christians who openly verbalize their doubts and ask questions? Do you have the tendency to question their spirituality? Let us all be careful with how we respond, lest we begin isolating these believers or unintentionally make them feel like they’re being judged. Just like Thomas, he was certainly a loyal disciple who simply was not going to be satisfied with a second-hand faith.
II THE PATIENCE OF THE LORD (vv. 26-28)
The next verses beginning in verse 26 are so precious because we would find a patient and tender Savior who was willing to meet Thomas where he really needed help. Reading the text, after a week from His last appearance, Jesus once again appeared miraculously to His disciples. This time, though, Thomas was already present. And as soon as Jesus showed up and greeted them, Jesus invited Thomas to prove the reality of His resurrection by putting his hand into the spear-wound on His side. I really love this scene! Jesus knew exactly what was going on in the heart of Thomas, so He came and dealt with him personally. Imagine, the All-powerful God appearing in their midst without a hint of anger, no words of rebuke or condescension. He simply came gently and patiently dealing with His struggling disciple.
You know, we should see this as very comforting, especially during times that we are struggling spiritually. About two weeks ago, I remember watching the video of the funeral service for Mrs. Lois Evans, who died late last year. She was the godly wife of Dr. Tony Evans. During this service, the youngest son, Pastor Jonathan Evans had the honor of giving the sermon. One of the things that stuck with me in his sermon was his personal struggle seeing his mom go through so much pain because of her cancer. He said that there was a time that he was really questioning the Lord why He still had to allow her to suffer so much pains. And he was arguing with the Lord saying that she was a good mom who served Him faithfully and that all of them, from his dad and his other siblings, were all serving Him. He was really heavy-hearted! But then, the Lord gently responded to him through His still small voice, and showed Him how He has been working in everything that was happening.
Just as Jesus was fully aware of the spiritual struggle of Thomas, He definitely knows everything that is going on deep down in our hearts. In fact, the author of Hebrews has this reminder to us:
Hebrews 4:15-16 (ESV) 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Beloved, we have in Jesus the Great High Priest who knows and feels our pains. We should never be afraid to go to Him when we are struggling in our faith. He is never threatened or intimidated by our doubts and questions. And if we really seek for some honest answers, I really believe that He will find a way to give us the answers we need. Of course, we just have to be prepared for the answers He will give us. I believe this is where we have to make a distinction between doubt and unbelief: a doubter is someone who says, “I will not believe unless I get the answer;” while unbelief says, “I won’t believe, even if I get the answer.”
Well, as long as what we have are some honest doubts, I can guarantee you that Jesus will help us sort through them just like how He helped Thomas.
Before we move to the last point, it is also worth emphasizing how Thomas responded in verse 28 saying, “My Lord and my God!” There is no word to us whether or not Thomas even bothered to touch the side of Jesus to satisfy his doubts. But it seems that with the address he gave Jesus, he was content in simply seeing Him personally. With his address to Jesus, he provided one of the clearest declarations about the deity of Jesus Christ. There are some people who want to undermine the deity of Jesus Christ; and they say that Thomas was merely startled when Jesus appeared, so he mistakenly mentioned those titles to Him. That’s absurd! He perfectly understood that Jesus could not have resurrected from the kind of death He suffered if He was not God. Besides, he was a disciple who would not really believe anything unless there is strong evidence. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that he knew exactly the meaning of those two titles. He is definitely Lord and God at the same time!
III THE PREFERENCE OF THE LORD (v. 29)
Lastly, we need to call attention to the words of Jesus in verse 29 saying - “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Here, Jesus puts an emphasis on the blessedness of believing in Him even without seeing Him. In terms of the faith of Thomas and the early disciples, it was definitely faith by sight. They all believed Him because they had seen Him. But Jesus also looked to the future when there will be people who would also believe Him without seeing Him. The reality is that after Jesus ascended back to heaven, all the people who have believed Him would have done so without the privilege of seeing Him.
Does this, in any way, make our faith a bit inferior? Not at all! In fact, Jesus refers to our “faith without sight” as more blessed! In other words, our faith is much more richer, far more excellent than those who saw Him. Today, it is safe to say that the Lord prefers “faith without sight.”
This type of faith is truly a great challenge for us. Yes, the possibility of doubts will always be there, but I trust and pray that we won’t let our doubts keep us away from Christ. Instead, we should look to the testimonies of the apostles found in the Bible as solid and reliable. The reality is that we should not separate our faith from the Bible. The apostle Paul clearly declares in Romans 10:17 (ESV): 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Clearly, our faith comes from our willingness to believe what we have learned from the Bible. So, let me encourage you. If you want to be stable in your faith, don’t neglect your time in hearing and studying the Word of God.
As I close, I would like to continually challenge all of us to keep trusting the Lord, especially during these difficult and trying times. Let’s not allow ourselves to be discouraged and move to a place of doubts. If you are already there, go to the Lord and ask Him to help and guide you. Also, I pray that you will find a brother or a sister in the Lord who can come beside you to pray with you and answer your questions. From the New Testament until today, it is interesting to notice that the greatest doubters have turned out to be the strongest believers. May God continue to solidify our faith in Him and use us to strengthen other people’s faith as well!
-Dr. Jeremiah Lepasana