{"id":88,"date":"2008-10-01T08:29:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-01T15:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbcbeacon.wordpress.com\/?p=88"},"modified":"2008-10-01T08:29:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-01T15:29:00","slug":"the-apostle-thomas-depression-not-doubt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2008\/10\/01\/the-apostle-thomas-depression-not-doubt\/","title":{"rendered":"The Apostle Thomas – Part 3 – Depression, Not Doubt"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Stephen Rodgers<\/em><\/p>\n

Part 3 of 4: John 20:24-25<\/p>\n

This is the classic passage that gave Thomas his undeserved nickname. \u00a0Even in secular circles, calling someone a “doubting Thomas” implies an unhealthy degree of skepticism and\/or pessimism in the face of evidence that should result in the doubter knowing better. \u00a0And yet, if we really examine this passage, is such a moniker warranted?<\/div>\n
First, it is interesting to note that Thomas was not with the others when Jesus first appeared to them that Sunday afternoon\/evening. \u00a0Scripture does not record where he might have been, but we can safely assume that he was not off running errands or getting a haircut. \u00a0The other disciples had locked themselves into a room (probably the same room that was used for the last supper) because they feared the chief priests and the religious leaders. \u00a0They were traumatized by the death of Christ; they feared further persecution. \u00a0And in their grief and fear, they turned to one another for comfort and company.<\/div>\n
But not Thomas.<\/div>\n
I think that Thomas was not among the others because he simply could not bear it. \u00a0He certainly knew these men; he probably loved and trusted them. \u00a0But it wasn\u2019t for their sakes that he had wandered the countryside for the past three years. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t Peter that he followed. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t Andrew that he built his life around. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t James or John who he feared the loss of most.<\/div>\n
This was the lowest point of Thomas\u2019 life. \u00a0His absolute worst fear had come to pass: Jesus was gone, and he was left behind. \u00a0At least when Jesus had made that cryptic remark earlier that he “knew the way” there was the implication of an eventual reunion. \u00a0But no one comes back from death. \u00a0Right? \u00a0And so Thomas was in no mood for company, and was shunning even the companionship of his closest friends. \u00a0You know the personality type: “leave me alone,” they say. \u00a0“I just want to be by myself now,” they say. \u00a0“I don\u2019t want to be around anyone else…they don\u2019t understand.” \u00a0Pessimists. \u00a0Loners. \u00a0The Broken.<\/div>\n
The disciples were not superstitious men, nor were the people of their day. \u00a0This is a common fallacy that opponents of the Gospel message often fall into. \u00a0We like to think of any people prior to color television as being superstitious, gullible, and stupid. \u00a0“Of course those idiots thought that Mary was divinely impregnated,” they scoff. \u00a0“They were too stupid to know the difference!”<\/div>\n
Then why does it say that Joseph was of a mind to divorce her quietly? \u00a0He knew where babies came from. \u00a0He didn\u2019t consider divine providence as a likely or even possible solution until Gabriel showed up. \u00a0And believe me, there must have been something remarkable about Gabriel\u2019s presence, because Scripture is pretty clear on the subject of home invasion! \u00a0If someone calls my name from next to my bed one night, my first reaction in the absence of evidence attesting to their divine messenger status is to come up blasting. \u00a0It\u2019s a win-win situation: presumably angels are immune to physical violence, and psychotic home-invaders are not. \u00a0Just like the people back then, we reach for a rational answer first.<\/div>\n
Thomas was no different. \u00a0He knew that dead people didn\u2019t rise again. \u00a0Well, to be more specific, he knew that dead people didn\u2019t rise again unless Jesus told them to. \u00a0After all, he had a front row seat when Lazarus walked out of the tomb. \u00a0But this was different, Jesus Himself was dead now. \u00a0And so Thomas reasoned that they others were either deluded, or perhaps playing a cruel joke on him.<\/div>\n
So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”<\/div>\n
And so he despaired\u2026at least until the following week. \u00a0But that\u2019s getting ahead of the story.<\/div>\n

This is the classic passage that gave Thomas his undeserved nickname. \u00a0Even in secular circles, calling someone a “doubting Thomas” implies an unhealthy degree of skepticism and\/or pessimism in the face of evidence that should result in the doubter knowing better. \u00a0And yet, if we really examine this passage, is such a moniker warranted?<\/p>\n

First, it is interesting to note that Thomas was not with the others when Jesus first appeared to them that Sunday afternoon\/evening. \u00a0Scripture does not record where he might have been, but we can safely assume that he was not off running errands or getting a haircut. \u00a0The other disciples had locked themselves into a room (probably the same room that was used for the last supper) because they feared the chief priests and the religious leaders. \u00a0They were traumatized by the death of Christ; they feared further persecution. \u00a0And in their grief and fear, they turned to one another for comfort and company.<\/span><\/p>\n

But not Thomas.<\/span><\/p>\n

I think that Thomas was not among the others because he simply could not bear it. \u00a0He certainly knew these men; he probably loved and trusted them. \u00a0But it wasn\u2019t for their sakes that he had wandered the countryside for the past three years. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t Peter that he followed. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t Andrew that he built his life around. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t James or John who he feared the loss of most. <\/span><\/p>\n

This was the lowest point of Thomas\u2019 life. \u00a0His absolute worst fear had come to pass: Jesus was gone, and he was left behind. \u00a0At least when Jesus had made that cryptic remark earlier that he “knew the way” there was the implication of an eventual reunion. \u00a0But no one comes back from death. \u00a0Right? \u00a0And so Thomas was in no mood for company, and was shunning even the companionship of his closest friends. \u00a0You know the personality type: “leave me alone,” they say. \u00a0“I just want to be by myself now,” they say. \u00a0“I don\u2019t want to be around anyone else…they don\u2019t understand.” \u00a0Pessimists. \u00a0Loners. \u00a0The Broken.<\/p>\n

The disciples were not superstitious men, nor were the people of their day. \u00a0This is a common fallacy that opponents of the Gospel message often fall into. \u00a0We like to think of any people prior to color television as being superstitious, gullible, and stupid. \u00a0“Of course those idiots thought that Mary was divinely impregnated,” they scoff. \u00a0“They were too stupid to know the difference!”<\/span><\/p>\n

Then why does it say that Joseph was of a mind to divorce her quietly? \u00a0He knew where babies came from. \u00a0He didn\u2019t consider divine providence as a likely or even possible solution until Gabriel showed up. \u00a0And believe me, there must have been something remarkable about Gabriel\u2019s presence, because Scripture is pretty clear on the subject of home invasion! \u00a0If someone calls my name from next to my bed one night, my first reaction in the absence of evidence attesting to their divine messenger status is to come up blasting. \u00a0It\u2019s a win-win situation: presumably angels are immune to physical violence, and psychotic home-invaders are not. \u00a0Just like the people back then, we reach for a rational answer first.<\/p>\n

Thomas was no different. \u00a0He knew that dead people didn\u2019t rise again. \u00a0Well, to be more specific, he knew that dead people didn\u2019t rise again unless Jesus told them to. \u00a0After all, he had a front row seat when Lazarus walked out of the tomb. \u00a0But this was different, Jesus Himself was dead now. \u00a0And so Thomas reasoned that they others were either deluded, or perhaps playing a cruel joke on him. <\/span><\/p>\n

So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”<\/span><\/p>\n

And so he despaired\u2026at least until the following week. \u00a0But that\u2019s getting ahead of the story.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Stephen Rodgers Part 3 of 4: John 20:24-25 This is the classic passage that gave Thomas his undeserved nickname. \u00a0Even in secular circles, calling someone a “doubting Thomas” implies an unhealthy degree of skepticism and\/or pessimism in the face of evidence that should result in the doubter knowing better. \u00a0And yet, if we really […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gospel-and-culture"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}