John 20
We are reading through the Gospel of John over 21 days at River Church. We are calling this 21 Days with John. I am posting a quick thought every day from my reading.
In John 20 we see Jesus rise from the dead. This event is received with great joy by Jesus disciples except for one. In John 20:24-29 we see Thomas who did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. It seems Thomas was a person who always saw "the glass half empty" as we can see from John 11:16. Thomas had the attitude of "I will only believe it when I see it" as seen in John 20:25. That is where we get the phrase "a doubting Thomas". A week later in John 20:26-28 we see Jesus appears to Thomas and encourages him to touch and see that he really has risen from the dead. It is interesting that Jesus did not rebuke Thomas. As a result Thomas responded to Jesus saying in John 20:28 "My Lord and My God!"
There are times we have to be patient with people who are like doubting Thomas until they can see more evidence that Jesus is alive. However, in John 20:29 we see Jesus say to Thomas "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed". Jesus says we are blessed if we believe him before we have all the answers. He wants us like 2 Corinthians 5:7 says "to walk by faith not by sight". Remember that Hebrews 11:6 says "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him".
My prayer for today is "Thank you Jesus that you have risen and are alive today. Thank you that you reveal yourself to people today. Help me to be one who has a faith that pleases you. Help me to be patient with people who are like doubting Thomas".
