Thomas

Introduction

John 20:28-29 "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

In the above verse we see when Jesus met his disciple Thomas, he was put in the state of awe. Thomas submitted himself to Christ. When we talk about the submission of Thomas, our eyes will be filled with tears. Due to the immense love that he had on Jesus Christ, Thomas traveled miles and miles to spread the divine gospel of Christ. Today we are going to meditate upon Thomas and understand the impact of resurrection of Christ in his life.

I LOSS

John 20:24 "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came."

We see Thomas was seen missing when all the disciples are gathered in the place. This is the place where Thomas loses his blessing as he was present when Jesus visited them. Even in our lives, we tend to miss out the blessings of God when we do not make it up to spiritual gatherings. But our Lord Jesus did not forget Thomas, he came back again to visit him. We read in the above verse that Thomas was called Didymus. The word Didymus means twins. Though there was a loss seen in the life of Thomas as he was not there with the disciples. Yet, Jesus does not seem to have forsaken him. Same way, we might have lost many blessings in our lives due to many excuses, today the resurrected Christ is going to restore all what was lost and bless us abundantly.

II STATEMENT

John 20:25 "The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe."

The above passage we can notice a statement of unbelief uttered by Thomas. Though Thomas travelled with God and he did learn many things from Christ but his statement was a sheer statement of disbelief. We see there were people who believed on Christ and exalted his name in the Bible. For example, Nathanael in John 1:50, the people of Samaria in John 4:31, the king in John 4:50, the blind man John 9:38, Martha in John 11:27, Lazarus in John 12:10. Despite having a strong disbelief over Christ, Thomas did believe in the later end. He spreads the gospel of God and he died for Christ. Even in our lives, though we come to church we utter few statements of disbelief. Today, let us all make it a point to completely stop being filled with doubts and disbelief. May the grace of God fill us with his faith and bless us.

III VISITATION

John 20:26-28 "And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God."

In the above passages we read, Jesus visits Thomas after eight days. Our Lord Jesus was so much in love with Thomas and that is why he came to meet him. Though there were few conditions that Thomas had, the very moment when he saw Jesus he could not speak of anything except 'My Lord & My God'. When we saw the stripes of Jesus, he submits himself to God and that moment transforms Thomas. This is the divine visitation of Christ. In John 20:29 'Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.' We the children of God are more blessed than those people live with Jesus. Therefore, let us all beseech God to give his divine visitation for us so that our lives are blessed and changed into a new one.

IV RESULT

John 20:28 "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God."

We see the resurrection of God brought in many results in people's lives. In John chapter 20, we see three kinds of visitations of Christ.

Mary:
In John 20:15 'Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.' We see the reason why Jesus came to meet Mary was the kind of love he had on her. The love of God stands as a reason behind the Christ's visit.

Disciple:
John 20:19 'Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.' Here we see Jesus visits his disciples because they were filled with fear and they were hopeless.

Finally Jesus visits Thomas as he was filled with disbelief. Same way, even in our lives when we are hopless, fear filled and weak, the love of God will comfort us. Our Lord Jesus will come and visit us. In I Corinthians 15:19 'If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.' As the life of Thomas was changed after the visitation of Christ, so will our lives be changed when we submit ourselves to the hands of God.