Daring to Believe

            Perhaps my favorite of the twelve disciples of Jesus is Thomas.  Maybe I’m a little biased about this particular disciple because of his cool name (Thomas, like mine). Furthermore, he was given a nickname by Jesus that I can relate to, "Didymus.”  Didymus is the Greek word for twin.  I am a twin.  Thomas has also been labeled as “Doubting Thomas,” and I can understand dealing with doubts and questions.  The moniker, “Doubting Thomas,” was not given by Jesus.  I wonder if it was first thought up by a creative preacher sometime in the centuries following Thomas’ life.  I am not denying that Thomas did have his doubts.  The Scriptures tell us as much.  They tell us that when Jesus appeared to His disciples (after His crucifixion and death) Thomas questioned the authenticity of the story of Jesus rising from the dead. 

            There was more to Thomas' questioning of Jesus' resurrection than a simple lack of faith.  I believe it was due more to Thomas' lack of imagination. There were many things that Jesus said and did that challenged Thomas’ thinking.  Consider the time Jesus told the disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them (John 14).  As Thomas was trying to understand Jesus’ strange discussion, Jesus said, “You know the way I am going.”  I’m sure Thomas blinked in confusion a time or two and looked to see if the other disciples understood Jesus.  Thomas then replied, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  Thomas was quick to speak his mind.  His imagination could only stretch so far.

            Then there was the time that Jesus told the disciples that He was going to visit Lazarus.  This made no sense.  Lazarus was already dead and buried.  Bethany, the town Lazarus lived in, was a hop, skip, and a jump away from headquarters for those who wanted to kill Jesus.  Thomas had waited his whole life for the Messiah.  Once Thomas started following Jesus and understood that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, he was willing to die with Him.  Again, we see that Thomas lacked imagination but was a loyal follower.  Perhaps it is this trait of loyalty that explains why Thomas was not in the Upper Room when Jesus appeared to the other disciples (after His resurrection).  You see, I think Thomas took the death of Jesus pretty hard.  Even though he couldn’t quite comprehend all the metaphors that Jesus employed, he was still willing to follow Jesus to the end.  The hardest part for Thomas was that the end came so suddenly and with such finality when Jesus was crucified.

            Thomas was filled with questions after he saw Jesus killed.  Thomas had great difficulty sorting through all the riddles and confusion that filled his mind.  Yes, Jesus predicted His death and resurrection.  Yes, these predictions baffled Thomas’ thinking.  Perhaps Thomas thought about Jesus being the Messiah and His power to raise people from the dead; this blew apart the common assumption that dead people stay dead.  But when Jesus was killed, who could or would duplicate the deed of raising the dead?  Thomas knew that neither he nor any of the other twelve had such power.  Thomas’ limited imagination left little wiggle room for the resurrection story that the other disciples were now sharing.

            As Thomas struggled with the resurrection story, he blurted out to his fellow disciples his now famous statement, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my fingers in the wounds, I will not believe this story.”  This is where I want to direct our attention.  Most of us are the same way, aren’t we?  In our “seeing is believing” world, don’t we find it hard to trust the unbelievable?  As a result, we, like Thomas, find it hard to believe that God can do what He is best at - God can replace death with life.  Often our tiny imaginations struggle to hope that the improbable can or will take place.  We, like Thomas, let our dreams and faith fall victim to doubt.  Let us not make the same mistake that Thomas made by forgetting that “impossible” is one of God’s favorite words.  How is your imagination these days?  Has it been a while since you found peace in God’s promises?  Do you remember and believe God’s grand statement, “I can do more than you can ask or imagine”?  Keep looking up!