The Doubting Apostle? 

A. Thomas' name occurs 12 times in the New Testament.

1) Matt. 10:3; 2) Mark 3:18; 3) Luke 6:15; 4) John 11:16; 5) John 14:5 6) John 20:24; 7) John 20:26; 8) John 20 27; 9) John 20:28; 10) John 20:29 11) John 21:2 12) Acts 1:13

B. Aramaic for "the twin".

1. Three of the 4 passages John mentions him as "Didymus" which is Greek for "the twin."

2. Most believe that was his nickname because he was a twin, some think that may have been his actual name.

C. In Matt 10:3, Thomas is paired with Matthew.     Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;

1. In Acts 1:13, he is paired with Philip.

D. In John 21:2-6, we see him listed second to Peter; perhaps in prestige and influence.

1. Thomas may have also been a fishermen.

2. Perhaps 7 of the 12 apostles were.

E. Thomas is never mentioned apart from the 12 in the other gospels, but John gives him a prominent role.

            1. He may have been a much more important apostle than we usually consider him.

2. He definitely shows us some traits that we need to consider and shows to us something about his character.

3. When we mention Job, we immediately think of the "patience of Job"

4. When we mention Thomas, we immediately think of "doubting Thomas."

a. But I'm not sure this is a correct or proper way we should think of him.

b. Let's look briefly at the passages that reveal some things about Thomas.  

II  A "Courageous Thomas"   

A. Jesus wants to go to Bethany, near Jerusalem. Jesus' life has been threatened and all the apostles know of the danger to Jesus if he returns to that area.

1. cf. John 10:22 at the feast of Dedication in Jerusalem  

John 10:22-39   Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."   Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?   If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),   do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;  but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.   

2. cf. John 10:31 the Jews took up stones to stone Jesus

3. cf. John 10:39-40 Jesus eluded them and escaped to the east side of the Jordan River with his apostles.

From the time in John 9 after Jesus healed the blind man in the temple, the Pharisees and Sanhedrin sought to kill him- (John 9 - 10 )  

B. Now Jesus hears the news about Lazarus - John 11:1-8; esp. note verse 8.  

John 11:1-16  Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."   Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"   

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.   But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well." However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."   

Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."   

C. Courageous Thomas recognizes the threat to Jesus if he goes back to that area,

Thomas becomes a TOWER OF STRENGTH, and leads the way, saying

"Well, if they are going to kill him, let us go and die with him!"

a) Courage and leadership.  

III.  A "Searching, Seeking, and Learning Thomas" - John 14:5-6     Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"   Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

        A. Note the context of the famous, comforting remarks make by Jesus, John 14:1-4. "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  2 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.   3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  4 And where I go you know, and the way you know."   

B. But Thomas says to him, "Lord we don't know where you are going, [so] how can we know the way?"

a) Thomas is not the only one puzzled.

b) None of the apostles grasped what Jesus was talking about.  

C. Some people, when they don't get it, remain silent and look puzzled,

Thomas again leads the way in wanting to learn what Jesus was talking about, and where Jesus was going.

a) So we see Thomas as a diligent student, inquiring and searching for the truth, wanting to be sure he understands his teacher.

b) Isn't this a remarkable and commendable trait?  

IV. "Slow-to-be-Convinced Thomas" - John 20:19-24  

John 20:19-29  Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.  So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."  And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."  Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord."  So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."  And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!"   Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing."  And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"  Jesus said to him,  "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."    

A. Instead of calling him "Doubting Thomas" I want us to look at him from a different prospective.

B. Thomas was not present at the first appearance - we don't know why!

1. Many good lessons can be given on what Thomas missed when he missed meeting with the disciples on that first Sunday.

2. I'm not going to try to accuse or excuse Thomas. We just don't know why he was not there.

a. Many good people have to miss some services today, sick, or some family member desperately sick, etc.

b. We shouldn't try to find fault with him, but it is true that because he was NOT there, he missed a good many things that could have blessed his life.

3. But instead of calling him "Doubting Thomas," let's think of him as being one who was not going to be deceived, or who didn't want to be mislead; he is not gullible.

a. He was not any more "doubting" than the other apostles had been before Jesus appeared to them.

b. He is one wanting proof!

c. He wants to see the evidence with his own eyes!

d. And while we admire his position of wanting proof, and wanting evidence and not being deceived - he is mistaken in one very important way!

4. The mistake of Thomas was not that he wanted proof, but that he failed to realize the evidential value of eye-witnesses.

a. If Thomas did not want to trust the eyes of others, how could he be sure he could trust his own eyes?

b. It becomes a matter of what kind of evidence one is going to accept.

5. Jesus, however, provided the exact proof Thomas asked for.

Question: Who told Jesus what Thomas had said?

a) Well, Jesus had been there all the time. Jesus knew.

b) Jesus did not scold him, but did remind him that the evidence he had rejected should have been enough.

c) Jesus gave his blessing and commendation to those who should believe because of the testimony of these apostles who were eye-witnesses! John 20:29-31

Jesus said to him,  "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."  And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

d) And Jesus was talking about us who read their inspired testimony!  

6. John makes Thomas a very real person - and the passage in 20:25 reveals another great characteristic.    John 20:25  So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."   

V. "A Loving & Committed Thomas" - John 20:25  

A. We know Thomas spoke of putting his fingers in the wounds of Jesus, and Jesus showed him the wounds, but we are not told if Thomas put forth his hands and touch him.

a) We believe the apostles did touch Jesus - he was real - 1 John 1:1-4  

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life —  2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us —  3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.   

B. This passages is one of the great climactic passages in John.

1. John has been systematic leading his reader through a series of seven witness who bear their testimony to Jesus (you can outline the gospel of John just that way!)

2. And this passage is the great climax!

C. John knew the importance of this confession of faith - and this commitment to Jesus.

1. I think this is why John has been giving Thomas the recognition before this of the important role he played in the apostleship of Jesus.

1. Where he reveals us the courage of this Thomas John 11:16  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

2. And the honest searching, seeking Thomas in 14:5.  Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"

3. His important position among the apostles in given in 21:2-6 when he is linked with Peter himself as one of the leaders.

D. The key passage here however is Jesus, reply to Thomas in vs. 29....

1. Jesus says that the testimony of trustworthy eye-witness should be sufficient to make believers, and that such would be blessed.

a. If we can't trust this great number of reliable eye-witness- it is not likely that we would even trust our own eyes.

b. This is almost parallel to Jesus' statement in Luke 16:31

Lazarus and the rich man when tells the rich man they have Moses and the Prophets.  

E. John tells us his own purpose in writing this gospel in the next verses -

1. ... to make believers, 20:31 READ

2. And from the Lord's own statement, those who believe the written testimony of the credible, trustworthy testimony of these eye-witness apostles can have eternal life. John 20:30-31  

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Conclusion:   

1. Tradition of Thomas' ministry in India and death as a martyr there for Jesus.