ROLL AWAY THE STONE ~ Part 7: Thomas

ROLL AWAY THE STONE ~ An Easter series 
Part 7: Thomas [One final post tomorrow, Easter Sunday!]

The other disciples said to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails... I will not believe.”  - John 20:25

The Bible never calls this disciple "Doubting Thomas," but we certainly do. On that first Easter Sunday the other disciples were together, yet Thomas was not among them. He refused to believe that Jesus had entered the room to talk and eat with them. "Unless I see Him and touch Him, I will not believe," he said.

Far from being faithless, though, it seems that Thomas was simply so devoted to the Lord that he couldn't bear the thought that He was gone. A little while earlier, when Jesus had returned to the region of Judea, the knowledge that His enemies might kill Him had moved Thomas to say, "Let's go too, so we can die with Him" (John 11:8, 16). Now that the crucifixion had been final and certain, Thomas was empty.

But a week later, everything changed! Thomas's friends convinced him to join them, and once again Jesus arrived. There He stood, promising peace and reaching out His nail-scarred hands. "My Lord and My God!" Thomas declared.

This account reveals more evidence for the resurrection itself. First, not only Thomas doubted it-- they all did! There was no grand scheme to fool the public; every disciple believed Jesus was gone until they actually saw Him alive. 

And second, why emphasize a bodily resurrection? Some kind of "spiritual" appearance in a vision or dream would have been a much easier claim, since no one could prove otherwise. But Christianity claims that Thomas literally saw His living body, and every gospel writer records Jesus's physical, bodily appearance to His followers.  What's more, the first-century Christians talked about the resurrection all the time, and nearly every letter of the New Testament refers to it.

The transformation that took place in Thomas and the others requires an explanation of epic proportions. Only a literal resurrection really provides that kind of explanation. It was blasphemy to worship a man; but as Thomas looked upon Jesus, the stone of doubt rolled away, and he declared Him to be God.