John 20:24-29
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.”
When I suffer, I like to avoid it, get rid of it quickly, or somehow take my mind off it, or do something that will distract me from it...And I do not want to remember what has caused me the pain and suffering when it eases...
Jesus had risen from His death on the cross...It was a suffering, tortuous death...But now He was alive again, so shouldn’t He want to let go of the sufferings and wounds of what had killed Him on the cross?...Shouldn't He resurrect without any signs of the cross with its pain and sufferings?...But His death on the cross left its suffering-marks on Him...As we look toward Him, and that He has risen and is alive, we see that maybe we are to remember His sufferings, and maybe remember our own...Suffering is part of life...Everybody suffers at some point in their live in one way or another...It is and has become a part of us...
It is interesting to me that when Thomas saw Jesus, He still had His wounds and His nail marks in His hands, and His suffering-marks of His crucifixion...Jesus is Divine, He did not have to retain these past suffering reminders...But He did...These suffering reminders helped His Disciples and others identify Him...And I would say that His suffering reminders very much help us relate to Him...And I think that we are to remember our past experiences and learn from them as best we can, because they are a part of our lives...Jesus had suffered for us and our sins and into a New Life...
Job as He suffered and lost family, friend and his wealth, and then his health sufferings -he would have had his painful memories of those times...But he endured and carried on after these experiences...
With Jesus coming back and retaining His glorious wounds, I must rethink, why I do not want to remember my past history of certain things that have caused me pain...