One of the comments from my last blog, made me want to have a little fun with Thomas' resume. Thomas also has quite a Biblical history which I rarely hear abut save the doubting Thomas sermon every so often. How about you, are you like Thomas?Thomas (The Twin)
120 Upper Room
Jerusalem, Israel
ImTheOlderOne@His.net
5LO-AVES-2FISH
SKILLS:
- Logical
- Rational
- Relational
- Thoughtful
- Bilingual
EMPLOYMENT:
Worked with Messiah suggesting boldly that we die with Him. 3BC - 0 AD
Student 20 BC - 3 BC
EXPERIENCE:
- Fed 5,000 men and their families with a few fish and a couple of loaves of bread. (Wasn't my idea.)
- Witnessed Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus.
- Saw the demons cause the pigs to run into the sea.
- Sailed the Sea of Galilee
- Saw Peter walk on the water
- Amazed that Jesus could sleep in the midst of a storm.
- Jealous of my brother who believed when I didn't.
EDUCATION: Basic Hebrew
OBJECTIVE: Seeks apostolic position.
Thomas - most often called doubting Thomas, had an intimate history with Jesus. He was there for the events of His ministry from the water turned to wine, to the moment Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. Many times we Christians revere the experiences of the apostles, which were amazing, as some sort supernatural hyperbole. It is easy to forget these three simple facts about the recorded Word of God:
1) These events took place over a human lifetime, not in a week or a year. Certainly things intensified during the three years of Jesus' ministry here on earth, yet, a gospel which can be read in hours, seems to condense the time-frame. Add to that the book of Acts which could possibly have taken twenty or more years to unfold, and you see what I am getting at.
2) The disciples turned apostles did not have the benefit of the baptism of the Holy Spirit which came on Pentecost AFTER Jesus died and ascended to heaven. The indwelling spirit, the comforter, teacher, and bringer of revelation, was not available to Thomas and the rest at the time of Thomas's doubt-- even as it later was to Paul! No wonder Paul had such great revelation- he was the model of the "life in the spirit" which Jesus said would come.
3) We are no different in a human sense, then those described in the Gospels, but we have the Holy Spirit-- which actually gives us an advantage.
You can read more about that process HERE.
Back to Thomas. He saw Lazarus raised from the dead, and I am sure he was familiar with the following event at the moment Jesus died on the cross for the sins of all mankind.
Matthew 27:50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.
Thomas understood Jesus' mission on earth well enough to be bold in saying, "Let us also go, that we may die with him [Jesus]." (John 11:16) Our friend the "twin," however; misunderstood the Kingdom, along with Phillip and the others, wherein that He didn't comprehend who Jesus really was (John 14). Actually, it was only Peter that really understood that Jesus was the Messiah - Messiah! No on seemed to understand that He was 100% man, and 100% God.
For those of you that have believed, and in some cases a long time, that Thomas doubted, what do you suppose it was that he actually doubted? This "raised from the dead" concept was demonstrated more than once for Thomas, and at least one time in his very presence. The answer is the resurrection.
Being raised from the dead is a parlor trick compared to the resurrection of the Messiah. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. Everyone that Thomas saw raised from the dead, died again to become dust! Not Jesus! What Thomas did not get, and so many religious Christians also miss, is that Jesus is not only raised from the dead, but that the resurrection is the power to beat death for eternity. He didn't understand that Jesus was God - the I Am, the author and finisher of his faith. The Messiah was to be a savior, but not one of possessions, but one of souls. Jesus' defeat of death was to be eternal, not temporal.
The gospel message is that Jesus is alive, and involved with His creation inviting them to build His eternal Kingdom. That requires a resurrected savior- not someone raised from the dead that will die again!
Thomas, like so many other Christians today, did not know how to partner with a living, supernatural and eternal God. The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead was just the beginning of an eternal kingdom, an age where God would speak through His Holy Spirit, and empower His church-- not just in Scripture and religious ceremony, but by relationship and communion with he Holy Spirit.
With Jesus simply raised from the dead, Thomas only believed that He would die again-- but once He experienced the resurrected Jesus, could he could be certain of His eternal promises.
How about you?
Comments
You brought up a great point as to why Thomas doubted that had not occurred to me or heard preached on Easter Sunday. ;D
Also, the resume idea is pretty sweet and could easily become an amusing series.
daryl
In a way David, we Christians are the modern day apostles and need to take up the cross to bear witness to the current non believers of the grace awaiting them if they repent and accept Jesus as their Saviour.