He went on a little farther

He went on a little farther

“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.”

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”-John 20:24-29

There is one disciple, whom, although he would go on to give his life proclaiming the gospel, would unfortunately be remembered more for a momentary lapse of faith rather than his sacrificial missions work. We commonly hear him referred to as Doubting Thomas. 

Thomas was not in attendance with the other disciples the first time that Jesus appeared to them just after His resurrection. When they told Thomas of the encounter they had with Jesus, Thomas refused to believe. He declared, “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 on in his side.”

Thomas had been a disciple of Jesus for 3 1/2 years. He witnessed and experienced Jesus feed the five thousand, walk on water, heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead. He had sat under all of Jesus’ teaching and was given authority by Jesus to heal the sick and cast out demons on occasion for himself. It is evident that he was fully aware what happened to Jesus at the crucifixion and what Jesus suffered by his description of the event. Yet, his statement leads us to believe that even after weighing all of that, it still wasn’t enough to make him believe. It begs the question…How far does Jesus have to go to make you believe?

“He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion,

crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”-Isaiah 53:3-5

At anytime along this painful journey to the cross Jesus could have stopped. He could have stopped at Gethsemane, but He chose to lay aside His will for God’s will (Matthew 26:36-39).  He could have stopped at the palace where they beat Him, robed Him in purple mocking Him, just before crushing a crown of thorns onto His brow. He could have stopped there instead of bearing the shame (Matthew 27:27-30). He could have stopped at the whipping post after securing our healing (John 19:2, 1 Peter 2:21-25). He could have stopped at the cross and came down like everyone kept insisting He do to prove He was the Son of God (Matthew 27:39-44). 

However, He would have never secured our forgiveness. He could have went directly into the presence of God, but instead He vanquished hell and came out with the keys of death, hell and the grave so that we would not have to live in fear (Revelation 1:18). 

Nevertheless, He went on a little farther and came out of the tomb three days later and secured for us eternal life with God! How much further do you need Him to go before you will believe?

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church