According to Peter in Acts 10: 41-42 Jesus made Himself visible after His resurrection—not to all people but to those God had chosen beforehand and He ate and drank with them and commanded them to testify of Him and proclaim that He is the Son of God. For 40 days Jesus continued to teach them and prepare them for His ascension into Heaven. Last week we looked at His first appearance to His disciples. It was on the eighth day that He appeared to the disciples again. This time Thomas was present.
Let’s glean lessons from Jesus’ interaction with Thomas. We have all heard many references to him as “Doubting Thomas.” First of all, we are made aware that Jesus knew everything that Thomas had said to the disciples concerning his unbelief as He knows every detail of our life. Earlier we see in John 11: 15-16 how Thomas had showed his devotion to Christ. Jesus had told them that Lazarus was dead and said “For your sake I am glad that I was not there; it will help you to believe (to trust and rely on Me)… Then Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us go too, that we may die (be killed) along with Him.” In John 14 Jesus had revealed to His disciples about His departure from them assuring them that He would appear to them (v. 21). Yet, Thomas doubted. There is a very important lesson for us in John 20: 26-29. Jesus knew Thomas’ intense love for Him even when he was struggling with unbelief. Let us consider the blessedness of Thomas as something very wonderful—Christ manifesting Himself and allowing Thomas to touch His hands and His side. He was so overwhelmed by the manifestation of Christ’s divine nearness that he could find no words except those of holy adoration: “My Lord and my God!” This stands out in history as the first acknowledgement by a Jew of Jesus’ Deity as Lord and God! Jesus used this as an opportunity to speak not only to Thomas but to all future believers: “Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” This is indeed the heavenly blessing, filling the whole heart and life—the faith that receives the love and the presence of the living Lord. “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” (Mark 9: 24)
All of us can identify in one way or another with Peter who was enthusiastic, strong-willed, impulsive, and at times brash but on the other hand was an outspoken and ardent disciple, one of Jesus’ closest friends, and an apostle instrumental in establishing the early church. Peter was an ordinary fisherman who left everything behind to follow the Lord. Peter was the first to confess Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter was a part of the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples and along with James and John were allowed to experience His transfiguration on Mt. Hermon. Peter and John prepared the final Passover meal. Throughout the Gospels Peter showed himself to be impetuous—jumping out of the boat to walk on the water to Jesus; rebuking Jesus for speaking of His death; wanting to build three tabernacles to Moses, Elijah, and Jesus; drawing his sword and cutting off the soldier’s ear. It was Peter who boasted that he would never forsake the Lord, even if everyone else did (Matthew 26: 35). However, it was Peter who would deny Christ three times before the cock would crow.
The Lord who chose Peter continued to mold him into exactly who He intended him to be. On the third appearance of Jesus to His disciples recorded in John 21 we learn valuable lessons in forgiveness and restoration. In verses 15-17 Jesus asked him three times. “Lovest thou Me?” It was to remind Peter of the terrible self-confidence in which he had boasted that he would never forsake Him. Jesus wanted Peter to experience deep heart-searching before he could be sure that his love was real and true; of the need for deep repentance and the reality of how little he could trust himself; and then of love being the one thing needed for the full restoration to his place in the heart of Jesus which was the first condition for feeding His sheep and caring for His lambs. The lesson we learn from Peter is love is not in our power to offer. But such love came to him through the power of Christ’s death to sin—the power of His resurrection life, of which Peter became partaker. Peter said in his first epistle, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” (1 Peter. 1:8)
Thomas exhibited doubt and Peter exhibited fear which are both sins resulting from a lack of faith and trust. Essentially it is saying “I will not trust where I cannot see.” In Luke 6: 5 the apostles asked the Lord to increase their faith. We too need to ask the Lord to increase our faith as we trust an unknown future to an all-knowing God. When we become a disciple, we cannot be as independent as we used to be. Jesus was teaching His disciples to depend on Him and lean not to their own understanding and strength which leads to failure. Jesus demonstrated this to Thomas and Peter as examples to us today. The lesson is that God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him, because Jesus has prayed to the Father on our behalf “that they may be one, even as We are one.” Are we as close to Jesus Christ as that? Christ restored Thomas and Peter to a right relationship with Him and He will certainly work the wondrous change in us, too, and will manifest Himself to a loving heart in all the fullness of His precious word: “Lo, I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20) Such love, to which Christ will reveal Himself, is the only preparation for feeding His sheep and tending His lambs. God, help our unbelief and increase our faith to trust and serve You at such a time as this. In Jesus Name. AMEN