John 20:19-31
Do You Know We Can Doubt Away, With God’s Blessing?
Think about this for a minute: We Can Doubt Away, With God’s Blessing!
This first Sunday after Easter in the Protestant religion is called ‘Low Sunday’, maybe because of the feeling of coming down from the mountaintop experience of Easter, or it’s the slump clergy feel as we look out and see more empty seats than were there last week. To the Roman Catholic tradition, it is called ‘Divine Mercy Sunday’ – we hear why in this week’s scripture reading.
This gospel reading is one of the best-known Eastertide gospels – that of “Doubting Thomas.” No matter how non-religious, most people have heard about “Doubting Thomas.” We almost never hear the name of this disciple without the label of “Doubting.”
You may be interested in knowing that the first three gospels contain absolutely nothing about Thomas. He is just a name in a list of the disciples (Mark 3:18, Matthew 10:3, Luke 6:15), a faceless man among the twelve. In John’s Gospel, he emerges as a distinct personality, but even then, there are only 155 words about him.
Bishop John Shelby Spong, in his book, The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, stated that the writer of John created Thomas as a metaphor with a unique personality of ‘doubting.’ His story has entered the vocabulary of the world and is even used in everyday conversation. People who doubt or question the status quo are called “Doubting Thomases.”[2]
In the reading, Jesus admonished Thomas:
“Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27)
Jesus told Thomas to believe and accept His resurrection as actual – to have ‘faith.’
What then is this ‘faith’ we are supposed to have?
Faith is ‘a complete trust or confidence in someone or something. It is a strong religious belief in God or certain doctrines, based on spiritual acceptance, rather than proof.’
Jesus goes on to tell Thomas:
“Blessed are those who believe and have not seen.” (John 20:29)
Not only Christians but all human beings live every day by faith.
- We go to sleep assuming faith that we will wake up.
- We kiss our loved ones goodbye with faith that we will see them again.
- We drive to the grocery store with faith that we will return home safely with our groceries.
- We plant our gardens in the fall with faith that they will blossom in the spring.
And most crucially, we live every day knowing at some point that we will die and that somehow it will be alright. But we cannot prove that, nor can we understand what happens. These are all elements of ‘having faith.’
But does faith mean we do not doubt?
No, indeed, faith does not preclude doubt. If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we are troubled from time to time with doubts if what we’ve been taught is true. Even Saint Mother Teresa wrote of her doubts in her diaries, saying:
“[But] as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great,
that I look and do not see,
listen and do not hear,
the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak.”
Even this holy woman had doubts, yet her faith was strong.
Doubt is defined as a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction; a hesitancy to believe; not being sure about something, especially about how good or valid it is.’
Doubt is one of God’s most effective tools for producing mighty men and women of faith.
The writer, Frederick Buechner, put it this way,
“If you don’t have doubts you’re either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants-in-the-pants of faith; they keep faith alive and moving.”
I submit that being a “Doubting Thomas” and questioning life, especially its significant events or problems, is not bad. We should do it. When we ask ourselves difficult questions, we get answers that can deepen our faith and provide us with the tools we need to move to a more purposeful life and a closer relationship with God.
Indeed, we can learn a valuable lesson from Thomas: We must doubt and then move beyond doubt to faith. It is all right to question, but we must move beyond doubt.
Jesus told Thomas that those:
“who believe even if they have not seen are blessed. (John 20:29)
Certain Christian doctrines and biblical stories seem illogical and flawed; they ignore all reason and go against much of what we now know for sure, through science and experience.
So, what if we find ourselves with serious doubts. What should we do?
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- All people, sometime during our lives, have doubts, questions, and skepticism. We can accept that doubt is normal and healthy. That is the way that God made us: to ask questions, inquire, think, to sort things out.
- Doubts, questions, and skepticism often lead to greater faith. Centuries ago, Copernicus doubted that the earth was the center of the universe. Christians of his era used and quoted the Bible to prove that the earth was the center of the universe. Copernicus doubted the validity of those peoples’ interpretations. His challenging their interpretation of the Bible led him to a larger and deeper understanding of our place in the world and the wonders of God’s creation. Galileo took this further to his excommunication from the church, but a strengthened faith in God.
Doubt often leads to deeper faith.
So, when we doubt, we begin to examine our lives to determine what is true, right, and good for us. That is the human process – it leads to a better understanding of ourselves, our world, and our relationship with eternity. And each one of us must travel that journey at our own pace and in our own time.
So, is there a real purpose for doubt in our Christian faith?
ABSOLUTELY!
Doubt is what enables our faith to grow. Today’s gospel passage tells us this. At the beginning of the text, Jesus appeared to the disciples, and they believed. They had to share it with others. Thomas was not in the room when Jesus first appeared, and when he heard what happened, he did not believe what they were saying. Thomas had little faith in what the disciples were saying because it was unbelievable, and he needed more proof.
Jesus was dead – Thomas had seen him brutally tortured and murdered. He saw his lifeless body placed in a tomb.
We don’t know why Thomas was not with the others when Jesus appeared for the first time. But indeed, he was despairing – the one in whom he had put all his faith was dead. Yet, today we should be glad for his doubt, for we, like Thomas, did not see Jesus appear resurrected, and our doubt can be much like his.
When Jesus appeared to the disciples a second time, Thomas was there and declared for all to hear,
“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and place my finger where the nails were, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)
Did Jesus chastise Thomas for his unbelief?
No! He understood the reason for his doubts and said:
“Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” (John 20:27)
And Thomas believed!
Doubting Thomas was very much like each of us, wanting to believe and still unsure that Jesus had risen. He wanted to see the scars and touch them to assure himself that it was true – Jesus was alive and had overcome death!
Just as Thomas doubted, we feel compelled in our doubts to see for ourselves. Just as Thomas wanted tangible proof, we need to know that what Jesus promised us is still a reality in spite of our complex and cruel world. We need to know that
- life is eternal,
- that to live as He did,
- to follow His example of love, compassion, service, and forgiveness
- will lead us to true life, here on earth and beyond
- and that where He is eternally, there we will also be.
Like Thomas, we all must seek, experience, meditate, and question until we come to understand, through confidence in the word of Jesus, that He is faithful. His promise is eternal, and we can believe in Him with all our hearts and minds.
I leave you with this poem, ‘Thomas, Undone,’ by Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes:
The un-ease you feel is not doubt.
It is hunger to go deeper.
You are not done yet.Learn from Thomas,
who, when Jesus planned to go to Bethany
where they had tried to stone him,
said, “Let us go die with him.”You want to see the scar of your betrayal
and how love bears it.You want to touch the
wounds and enter the heart of
The One Who Suffers for the world and lives.Now, more than before,
you are ready to come and die with him,
let love undo you and begin again.Don’t belittle your restlessness.
Let it lead you.
Reach out.
Even now he is saying your name. [3]Let us pray:
Almighty and ever-living God, who strengthened your apostle Thomas with sure and certain faith in your Son’s resurrection: Grant us the faith to truly and deeply believe in Jesus Christ, that someday our faith may never be found doubting. Empower us to be carriers of that faith to others. Give us the ability to share it so others can know the grace of your salvation, your gracious gift of Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.
[1] Cartoon by Joshua Harris
[2] John Shelby Spong, The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, HarperOne, 2014
[3] Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes, ‘Thomas, Undone’, Unfolding LightDelivered at Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Columbus, OH; 24 April 2022
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