Doubt?
What do you do with doubt?
I don’t know if you’ve noticed this trend like I have. But I’ve seen this in my kids. I think this is true for their generation. It wasn’t true for our generation. But it’s definitely true for their generation and I think it will be true for every generation after them.
They don’t know what commercials are.
If they happen to see a commercial on TV because we’re watching some kind of live show, which rarely happens unless we’re watching sports, and a commercial comes on the TV, they don’t call it a commercial.
You know what they call it?
They call it an AD.
And it may be semantics but it’s interesting to me because there has been a shift in how their generation has been marketed to. Their first exposure to marketing, to people trying to sell them stuff they don’t need in order to impress people they may not even know, hasn’t been through commercials on TV, it’s been through ADs on their devices.
They don’t know the little song,
“After these messages we’ll be, right back!”
They don’t know a world where you can’t pause live TV, skip the commercials, or just stream your favorite show or movie on an app.
Every game they play on their devices has ads. Every social media platform they look at has ads. And for the most part they’ve learned to ignore those ads BECAUSE they’ve learned an important lesson from us adults. They’ve learned to…
DOUBT.
Early on, they didn’t know how to doubt. But they showed us that ad about some toy that could fly, or some new tech that would help them with their sport, or music, or whatever they’re into, they showed us the ad and whatever it was, whatever it promised that it could do, we took one look and you know what we said…
“I doubt it!”
A World of Doubt
We live in a world of doubt. An age of skepticism.
We’ve learned to doubt and we’ve taught our kids to doubt. We know we can’t trust the commercials and the ads and what they’re trying to sell us.
Sometimes we do and we buy whatever it is they want us to buy and then whatever it is eventually falls short of what it promised and we remember to doubt again.
We doubt what we read online, we doubt people in authority, people in politics, people in leadership, and we doubt people in general.
We’ve learned to doubt because in some way we believe doubt protects us. Doubt protects us from getting hurt, from being disappointed, from being let down, from being embarrassed.
We doubt.
But doubt doesn’t protect us. Instead, doubt leads to fear, disbelief, distrust, confusion, frustration, uncertainty, indecision, and the list goes on and on. If you doubt something, you have no faith in it to do whatever it is it is supposed to do.
And that’s the real heart of the issue. We live in a world without faith.
And the way we got here was through doubt. In fact, doubt may be one of Satan’s greatest weapons.
Doubt is one of the ways he blinds us. If he can get us to lean more towards doubt than faith, choose the illusion of certainty over the fear of uncertainty, put our trust in what we see versus what we cannot see, hope in ourselves instead of in Him, then the enemy wins.
If he can get us to doubt, then he knows we will surely give up on faith.
Disciples Doubt
And shortly after the resurrection of Jesus, the first temptation was to DOUBT.
It was Sunday morning after the darkest Friday the world had ever known. Jesus, the one many thought was God’s Messiah, the one they had been waiting on for centuries, the miracle worker, the teacher, the one who entered Jerusalem just a few days before on a donkey while everyone sang, “Hosanna,” and laid down palm branches before Him, he’s been crucified.
Some of those same people who sang the song, “Hosanna,” not long after were shouting, “Crucify Him!” The people had turned on Jesus. The Jewish leaders had gotten their way. The Roman soldiers were ordered to crucify Jesus with two other criminals right before Passover. And they did.
Friday
That Friday, they led Jesus to a hill outside the city. For part of the way, they made Him carry His own cross. How he had the strength to do that after two days with no sleep, after having been beaten and flogged to within an inch of His life, after being mocked and jeered and spit at, I’ll never know.
When they got to Golgotha, they put the nails in His hands and His feet. And there on that hill they crucified the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
That was Friday. About noon.
And something happened that day that doesn’t happen midday in Israel. The world went completely dark. The sun stopped shining. The Light of the World went out. And then, Jesus died.
He was quickly placed in a borrowed tomb by friends because the sun was about to set and Passover would begin. But at that point, as far as anyone knew, the story was over.
After all, we know how death works. No one comes back from crucifixion. When you’re dead your dead. That’s why we grieve when those we love die. It’s final. There is no happily ever after when the funeral is done. It is the end to every story. At least it was.
Saturday
Saturday came. The followers of Jesus didn’t know what to do. They were together, but they felt alone. They knew where they were, but they felt lost. They had had faith, but now all they have is doubt.
Sunday
And then came Sunday. Women had gone to the tomb to finish the burial process. They didn’t have time on Friday to finish. But now they’ve returned with news that the tomb is EMPTY! That Jesus has RISEN.
And do you know how everyone responded to that news? One word: DOUBT!
A couple of disciples ran to the tomb to see what had happened.
Why?
Because, they had their doubts.
Sunday Evening
And then came Sunday evening. It’s the first Easter Sunday the world had ever known, but no one knew it was Easter Sunday. At least, not yet.
The disciples of Jesus were gathered together in an upper room with the doors locked. Why? Because they were full of doubt and fear.
One of them had seen the resurrected Jesus. A few of them had seen the empty tomb. But doubt and fear still captured the hearts of those disciples. Just like it holds many of us hostage today.
And then, it happened. The doors were shut. Locked tight. But all of a sudden Jesus entered the room.
They were full of doubt and fear but now they see the resurrected Jesus in front of them. They see where the nails pierced his hands and his feet. Where the spear pierced his side. They hear him say, “Peace be with you! Shalom.”
And then Jesus breathes on them the breath of God and they receive the Holy Spirit! And in that moment, all doubt is gone. They believe. Jesus is alive!
But there’s a PROBLEM.
One of the disciples wasn’t there. One of the disciples missed Easter Sunday! Thomas was out. And by the time he got back to the upper room Jesus was gone.
The others, they tried to tell Thomas that Jesus is alive. That they had seen the resurrected Lord. That He had just been there and that Thomas had just missed Him.
But you know what Thomas said? “I DOUBT IT.”
Here’s how the story unfolded according to John, one of Jesus closest friends and followers. John writes the following in John 20.24-28.
Doubting Thomas
24 One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied, “I won’t believe it [I DOUBT 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.”
Post resurrection, this is the first problem we run into: The problem of DOUBT.
How can someone believe in the unbelievable? Think the impossible is somehow possible? And by the way, why would we criticize anyone who found it hard to believe that someone came back from the dead?
Yet that’s what has happened when we meet Thomas after the resurrection of Jesus.
Thomas was one of Jesus’ closest disciples. He’s been with Jesus over the past 3 years. Thomas heard Jesus teach, saw the miracles he performed, spent night after night with Jesus by the camp fire. He ate meals with Jesus, walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus. Thomas knew Jesus as well as anyone. And Jesus knew Thomas better than he knew himself.
8 Days Later
26 Eight days later…
One day passed, Thomas is still doubting. Two days passed, he still can’t believe.
And you know how this works… the more time that goes by, the greater the distance between the event and the present moment, the easier it is to NOT believe, to doubt, to dismiss something as unimportant or even believe it didn’t happen, or at least that it happened differently than everyone said.
Three days pass, then four. And then, a whole week has gone by and all Thomas has is his DOUBT.
But then John tells us that…
26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.
So far, it sounds like the same story. But at least one thing is different, this time Thomas is present.
Jesus looks at Thomas. Thomas looks at Jesus. And I want you to hear what Thomas says. But before that, I just want you to imagine yourself in this moment.
Have you ever doubted Jesus?
Ever felt uncertain about his resurrection? Ever wonder how Jesus would respond to your own lack of faith?
If so, you might have a sense of what Thomas felt in this moment.
Thomas looks at Jesus. Jesus looks at Thomas.
But before Thomas can speak, before he can say, “I’m sorry.” Or, “I never should have doubted you.” Or, “I’m so glad to see you, could you ever forgive me…” Before Thomas can say anything Jesus speaks.
And listen to what Jesus says.
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
This is the grace of God. Jesus isn’t angry. He’s not disappointed. He doesn’t scold Thomas. He doesn’t give him the cold shoulder or the silent treatment.
Jesus doesn’t call Thomas “Doubting Thomas.” That’s a name we gave him, not Jesus. Never mind the fact that every disciple doubted Jesus before they saw Him.
Jesus calls Thomas to come & see.
Jesus invites Thomas to touch him, to see for himself what the others have already seen. Come and see my hands, my feet, my side. Come and see. And believe!
Jesus Is… God
And when he does, just listen to what Thomas says…
28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
Did you hear what Thomas, what Doubting Thomas, said about Jesus, about who Jesus is!?
He says God Is… JESUS!
He calls Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”
Thomas, the one we know as doubting Thomas, is the first to declare that God is JESUS! That Jesus is GOD!
So today I just want to encourage you.
You may have doubts and fears. You may find it hard to believe sometimes in the One you cannot see.
You may find it difficult to trust in the One ancient witnesses said rose from the dead.
You may find it hard to find faith in a God who sometimes seems so far away.
And if that’s you, I just want you to know, Jesus will not scold you because of your doubt. He’s not disappointed in you because you find it hard to believe.
No, just like Thomas, He is going to keep finding ways to come to you, reveal Himself to you, so that you can find faith. So that you, too, will choose to believe.
The fact is, there are a lot of people in the room today dealing with the difficulty of doubt.
And if that’s you, I want to tell you why you can believe today in the resurrection of Jesus. Why you can put aside your doubt and choose to believe.
Why you can trust that this testimony about the resurrection is true.
Why you can believe that God is for you, God is with you, and that God raised Jesus from the dead so that He could give you eternal life.
You Can Believe Because…
You can believe for this reason… You can believe because Thomas believed.
In fact, Thomas believed so deeply, so emphatically, that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead and that Jesus then ascended to Heaven where He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, he believed that so deeply that he died for that truth.
Tradition tells us that after the ascension of Jesus, Thomas went on to preach the gospel in Persia, Parthia, and then into India. It was in India that Thomas was taken and tortured, ran through with spears, and then thrown into a blazing furnace where he was burned alive because of his faith.
You don’t die that kind of death as a martyr if you have DOUBTS!
Beyond Any Doubt
In fact, every one of those disciples who had doubts but then saw Jesus in that upper room died a martyrs death.
James & Matthew were beheaded.
James the Less was thrown from the Temple Tower and then clubbed to death.
Simon the Zealot was sawn in half.
Philip, Bartholomew, Thaddaeus & Jude were all crucified.
Andrew was crucified on an X shaped cross.
Peter was crucified upside down.
Only John died of natural causes. But he too suffered when he was exiled on the island of Patmos.
These early disciples and many others who had seen the resurrected Jesus all died because of their faith.
Would you give your life for something you didn’t really believe?
They believed so deeply that they spent the rest of their lives telling as many people as possible about the Good News of the great love of God revealed in Jesus.
And what they believed came down to these three words:
God is JESUS.
And Jesus is alive!
They believed that what Jesus said was true, that…
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3.16, NIV
And today, I want to ask you to believe it, too.
After Thomas had that encounter with Jesus in the upper room, Jesus said this…
“You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” – John 20.29
And today, we are blessed when we put aside our doubts and choose to believe even though we cannot see.
We choose to believe in faith. We choose to believe because of the eye witness testimony of men and women who died because they believed. We choose to believe because Jesus is God and God is Jesus. And Jesus is alive.
And if you believe in Him here’s the promise, you will not perish, you can have eternal life.
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