John 14:1-7
Jesus is the Truth, the Way, and the Life
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
John 20:19-29
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
I do not think it is hard to believe that Thomas still doubted Jesus was alive, after His death...I think there are many believers who sometimes doubt some of the things about Jesus...I think it is hard to think about Jesus and not have some questions about Him...This is because Jesus is a different type of Man...But Thomas, the Disciple, had been with Jesus for three years and had seen some very amazing things...He saw many miracles...He saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, not so long ago...But after Jesus resurrected, he was not there when Jesus first returned from His death...Therefore, he did not see Jesus alive again, and he did not believe that Jesus had returned from His death...Thomas wanted to see the nail marks in Jesus' hands...He also wanted to put his fingers in the nail marks that the Roman soldiers had hammered into His hands and His side...The doubter could not get himself to believe such a thing had happened as the resurrection had, even though he had gotten to see other miracles by Jesus...After all, how could He still be alive after hanging from a cross for hours...But Jesus is different...And God has a Plan...But still, Thomas knew that the world does not work that way...When a man dies, he dies...He does not come back to be alive again...So Thomas wanted a visual answer to his questions about His Teacher...
Thomas' doubted, but he had to have hope...After all, the other Disciples told him, that His Teacher was alive again...So deep within himself he wanted to see Jesus alive again, so that his hopes and doubts would be completely erased...Life can be different...God had given everyone a sign that He had so uniquely endowed a new type of authority to Another One...He gave up His Son on the cross, but brought Him back to life...And on the cross where God's Greatest Loss had happened, comes our greatest gains...It is good when the doubts and questions like this end and are answered...Thomas' doubts ceased in those moments and maybe it was his soul that cried out, "My LORD and my God!"...Thomas must have realized now, that Jesus had the answer to all life's questions...
So when we look back and remember Thomas asking Jesus, “LORD, we don’t know where You are going, so how can we know the Way?”...I think Thomas now knew where He was going and he knew the Way was through and to Him...And through Him is the Way to God...