One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he replied, "I won't believe 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." (John 20:24-25, NLT)
Instead of calling him Doubting Thomas, maybe we should call him Rational Thomas or Realistic Thomas.
Thomas was still reeling and heartbroken over the events that took place a few days before. And now his friends were telling him Jesus was alive? It was all too much to bear.
Did Thomas think their grief had driven them insane? Were they grasping at straws to continue this movement? Or (though he'd never admit this) was Thomas hurt that he missed out on seeing Jesus? Did he feel left out? Did Thomas say, "I won't believe it!" in the same tone we say, "I really didn't want to go to that party anyway!" after everyone else receives the invite except for us?
It's interesting that for Thomas, seeing Jesus wouldn't have been enough. He needed to touch Jesus. Thomas needed to feel the wounds that had brought him so much sadness. His request showed how much he missed his friend.
Thomas's skepticism wasn't unreasonable. Sure, when you're around Jesus, you're used to amazing things happening, but this? This was too wonderful to be true. If I were in Thomas' shoes, I'd be thinking the same thing. I just don't know if I would have the courage to say it out loud.
Because Thomas was right—or at least, he should have been right. Dead people don't walk out of graves. If this were Vegas, we'd place our bets with Thomas. He'd be right 99.9999999% of the time.
He'd be right if the person in question were anyone other than Jesus.
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