Was Thomas right to doubt?

Thomas, who was referred to as ‘the twin’ in the gospel accounts, is known by Christians today as Doubting Thomas.  This isn’t what you might call an accolade, a positive mark of distinction, quite the opposite in fact.  Of course, he did doubt, as we are told very clearly in John 20:25, where he refused to believe that Jesus was resurrected until he could actually see him, and more than that, touch and feel the wounds in Jesus’ body.

Doubts

This occurrence may cause us to feel that Thomas was in some way inferior to his companion disciples, but is this the case?  Was Thomas wrong to question what he had been told?  It must be admitted that there is an inference of a gentle rebuke from Jesus, as we read in verse 29:

“Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”

I am not sure that we should write Thomas off as setting a bad example; that to doubt is negative in itself.  The thing is that many Christians have occasional doubts of some sort concerning their faith.  I want to suggest that it isn’t doubts that are the problem, but rather what we do with them.

Convinced

We should recognise that Thomas seems to have a history of being negative, in that we see him speaking in a similar way in John 11:16.  This is the occasion when Lazarus was reported as being ill, and subsequently died.  Jesus said that he would head down to Bethany, very near to Jerusalem, at which the disciples pointed out that the Jewish leaders there were seeking to stone him, and questioned whether Jesus was wise to go.  It was Thomas who suggested that they go there too, so that they might also die with Jesus.  Not necessarily a doubting comment, but hardly a faith-filled one either.  Maybe Thomas wasn’t what we would consider to be one of the more positive of Jesus’ disciples, but he did have his high points.  When Thomas did finally meet the risen Jesus and saw and felt his wounds, he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God”.  He may have doubted, but once convinced, he was wholehearted.

Offence

Let’s think about how we might identify with Thomas.  I have already suggested that we are all liable to have doubts from time to time.  Perhaps we might put ourselves in Thomas’s shoes.  He was at a disadvantage when it came to believing in the resurrection.  Jesus had appeared to other people on three previous occasions, and Thomas could have felt left out.  He didn’t visit the empty tomb with Mary, or Peter and John, he wasn’t one of the men on the road to Emmaus, and neither was he present when Jesus met with the gathered disciples in Jerusalem.  We can all take offence if we feel excluded, reacting emotionally as a result. 

Scepticism

I admit to finding Thomas’s scepticism strange in that he wasn’t prepared to believe the testimony of those with whom he had been in fellowship throughout the previous three years; his comrades in arms, you might say.  Even if he felt more dejected than the others at the death of Jesus, one might expect that their conviction would convince him.  Maybe Thomas was simply prone to doubt, and that he deserved his title.  But, as we have seen, the ‘Thomas’ story doesn’t end there; he came to believe in the end, when Jesus reached out to him and met him in his need.  Where we are open to being convinced, God is very willing to meet us as well.  I sometimes tell people whom I witness to that they can ask God to make himself known to them, so long as they are genuine in wanting to know him and have the intention to respond positively.  I think that the same applies to our own doubts.

Unbelief

God knows our weaknesses, just as Jesus did for Thomas.  Our weaknesses are not a problem to God, who seeks the genuine over and above the compliant.  God far prefers that we admit any doubts and bring them to him, rather than pretending to ourselves and others that we have none.  If we hold on to them and push them to one side, they are liable to build up and form an avalanche that sweeps us off our feet, thereby precipitating a crisis of faith.  Doubts are OK.  What matters is how we deal with them.  This is illustrated in the story of the boy with an unclean spirit, in Mark chapter nine.  Seeking his help, the boy’s father asks Jesus for compassion ‘if he can do anything’.  Jesus picks him up about that expression of doubt, to which the man declares: “I believe; help my unbelief!” (v 24). 

Seeking

Let’s be those who, while still believing, ask for help with the things with which we struggle.  Who should we seek help from?  We start by placing our concerns, our doubts, before God’s throne – laying them down as things that we don’t know how to handle.  In a similar way to the man who asked Jesus for help with his son, we ask for guidance, for clarity, for wisdom that we might understand aright, trusting him to reveal truth to us.  This is basic, but there are other things that we can do as well.  We can actively seek what we are searching for.  Thomas doubted, but he was willing, and probably also deeply wanted, to be convinced.  He knew what it would take for this to happen and placed himself in a position where that could come about.  When Jesus appeared again to his disciples, Thomas was there with the others.  If we want to hear from God, then we also need to be ‘there’.

There …. ?

Where is ‘there’?  It entails meeting together with other believers as we find the writer to the Hebrews exhorting us:

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24

However, ‘there’ is more than physical.  It also entails being open, ready to receive, and actively seeking an answer to our difficulty.  It is an attitude of heart that is reflected in actions.  When we are seeking truth, the obvious thing that we can do is to read the Bible, and maybe relevant Christian books too.  Seekers look, they don’t sit still just wishing, they act.

Another means of help is our fellow Christians.  Find out someone trustworthy and spiritually alert, and ask for their help and counsel.  The body of Christ is there to support one another and not just to be complicit in papering over cracks.  If we can’t be honest with each other, then maybe that is a big problem in itself!

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