Teacher or Master?

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’” New American Standard Bible: John 20:24–25.

Do we sometimes think that the truly blessed ones were the ones who got a chance to see Jesus in His day? Do we sometimes envy them because they could see Him? What about those that still walked with Him who still needed to see Him again before they believed? Sometimes we think since it was such a long time ago that we are disadvantaged compared to those who walked with Jesus. The truth is though in some respects, we are, but more blessed as a result. “Faith is more difficult for us than them. But then we must not forget that, in proportion as faith is difficult, it is meritorious, and precious to the heart. It is a higher attainment to be able to believe without seeing, than to believe because we have seen; and if it cost an effort, the trial of faith but enhances its value. We must remember further, that we never reach the full blessedness of faith till what we believe shines in the light of its own self-evidence. Think you the disciples were happy men because they had seen their risen Lord and believed? They were far happier when they had attained to such clear insight into the whole mystery of redemption, that proof of this or that particular fact or doctrine was felt quite unnecessary.” The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pp. 513.

If you think about it, even though Thomas had seen and walked with Jesus many times before, he still refused to believe Jesus had resurrected without seeing Him again and being able to confirm in his own mind Jesus was alive. Still a second proof was demanded… How sad.

When you think about this, consider this; his belief system of Jesus being the Lord of all things was not affirmed in his mind until Jesus showed Himself to him. Then he exclaimed not only, “My Lord and My God” but then realized the evidence of the true God who defeated death and was Lord of all things. What I am trying to say is this; he knew Jesus as a man, but never realized His Lordship over all things. Only then his theology came full circle. He heard the teachings before but never comprehended the magnitude of Jesus’ theological sovereignty (as God Himself). In simple terms, he came to grips with not just the teacher of the truths of the kingdom, but came into contact with the Maker of the kingdom!

Today, is your theology based upon the teachings of a man named Jesus? Or are they centered in knowing the Maker of the kingdom? I challenge you to think hard about this subject. Our world today needs the latter. With a world in chaos all around us, we as the church need to be the answer to the world’s cry for help. When we take the latter approach, we can share with the personalized God we worship and help others to make this world a much better place to live. Otherwise we teach the words of someone who gives us great insight on how to live morally, but never allows us to have the indwelling Spirit of God which equips us to change the world.

Is Proof Biblical?

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’” New American Standard Bible: John 20:24–25.

“Many Thomases have said, or could say, the same thing of themselves. The doubters have eventually become the soundest and even the warmest believers. Doubt in itself is a cold thing, and, as in the case of Thomas, it often utters harsh and heartless sayings. Nor need this surprise us; for when the mind is in doubt the soul is in darkness, and during the chilly night the heart becomes frozen. But when the daylight of faith comes, the frost melts, and hearts which once seemed hard and stony show themselves capable of generous enthusiasm and devotion.” The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pp. 510-511.

This statement by Thomas was probably the most advanced confession of faith ever made by any of the twelve during the time they were with Jesus (Bruce, pp. 510). Isn’t it strange how the greatest doubter becomes the truest believer? This statement was not one of surprise but of great faith at the moment he became a true believer, and not just an appreciator. His belief became one of belief in the doctrine Jesus taught, not just a good teacher and considerable friend whose teachings died when He did. He connected the doctrine which Jesus taught about the resurrection he witnessed some eight days after Jesus resurrection. His faith which started as “low” on the scale, demanded evidence, and eventually became one which was solidified by demanding proof.

Have you ever questioned your faith? I don’t mean that you question your salvation, although that happens to many people as well in their lifetime. Have you ever demanded somehow that God proof His love to you? I don’t think this means each of us should not take the time to consider things, but it is much more to believe without seeing. Bruce says this; “To believe without seeing is to be capable of being satisfied with something less than absolute demonstration, or to have such an inward illumination as renders us to a certain extent independent of external evidence. Such a faculty of faith is most needful; for if faith were possible only to those who see, belief in Christianity could not extend beyond the apostolic age. But to believe without consideration is a different matter altogether. It is simply not to care whether the thing believed be true or false. There is no merit in doing that” (Bruce, pp. 512).

If the need for absolute truth were necessary for everyone to believe, the world would no longer have a God. They would have a servant who is at their beckon command to prove Himself each time another lack of faith arises. Then we make the God of heaven our lucky rabbits foot; and He can’t be compared in any way to this. The need for each of us in the pursuit of our relationship with God is the essence of faith. We converse with a God who is supreme and sovereign. He is not bound by the human demands for proof of His existence, but encourages each human to pursue his/ her time in speaking to Him. Plus, if this were true, the gospel would have failed in the first century after those who had seen Jesus died.

Today, the Holy Spirit does this for us. The more we pursue God, the more He speaks to us through His Spirit. His Spirit leads us into truths which help us to know Him deeper each day. I encourage you to not demand proof from God like Thomas did, but experience Him in a way that you can say that you personally have touched God in your life by the reality of your relationship with Him. May God lead and bless you as you do…

Saving Power for Our Nation

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’” New American Standard Bible: John 20:24–25.

“It was the doubt of a sad man, whose sadness was due to this, that the event whereof he doubted was one of which he would most gladly be assured. Nothing could give Thomas greater delight than to be certified that his Master was indeed risen. This is evident from the joy he manifested when he was at length satisfied. ‘My Lord and my God!’” The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pp. 508.

In the process of his grieving, we see Thomas is not present at the time when Jesus appears to the disciples in His resurrected body. It is not known why he was not there. Perhaps he like many of us was in quiet mourning; conditions many of us find ourselves when someone very close to us dies. We choose to be alone and consumed by our emotions. Perhaps even when he heard of the resurrected Jesus one of the reasons he did not believe was his feelings got in the way of his thoughts based upon the truths Jesus taught all the disciples.

This last week produced some major tragedies with the shootings which left many dead. We often as Christians see the world as there is no longer any hope, as many have. There are talks about how to restore trust in each other. There are marches to express feelings about these senseless tragedies. I don’t think these are the answers folks.

The answer lies in the saving power and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see even if we could fix the world through better communication, more complete families, lack of hatred, I still don’t see a world changing without the Lord being in each family and leading the world to peace. You see, just because you have a family doesn’t mean the value system is intact with good morals. Believe me; I’ve seen my share of dysfunctional families who have never had someone show them the way. Some have stumbled their entire lifetime. As a result their dysfunctional lifestyle it is passed down to their children who inadvertently pass it along to their children in a further diminished state. And that pattern continues to get worse each generation. This is where America is today. We have fallen from our directed path.

When Thomas discovered Jesus was gone, he was consumed by emotion at the loss of his dear Friend. He even acted irrationally when confronted with the resurrection. It took seeing the Savior face to face before he truly understood. When he did, he was able to declare, “My Lord and my God!”

This is where the world needs to be today. Face to face with our Savior. When our nation is faced day in, day-out in the face of our Savior our country will change. When our nation begins to see Jesus face to face, they will see the love and teaching He is willing to share with them. When all this culminates our nation will change; for the best! It will change into something our founding fathers saw and deeply believed upon. Then we will act out of our thoughts which are honoring to our Lord, rather than emotions which carry us in a wave each time another tragedy hits. Pray for our nation’s salvation and direction from the only One who can lead us!

Expect the Unexpected

And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. (NASB, Luke 24:13–16)

Another story like this one is where the disciples are in a room and Jesus appears. They are frightened and think they had seen a ghost of Christ. Jesus took the time to authenticate and convince the men of His real presence.

“Both sorts of evidence are necessary to a perfect faith, just as both sorts of vision, the outward and the inward, were necessary to make the disciples thorough believers in the fact of the resurrection. But some begin with the one, some with the other. Some are convinced first that the gospel story is true and then perhaps long after waken up to a sense of the importance and preciousness of the things which it relates.” The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pp. 501.

In the story of the two men on the road to Emmaus, the two men commented about how their hearts burned within themselves when Jesus spoke to them about the Scriptures. This started a little light which began to pour into their souls of the hope; and now that hope was made manifest to the eleven in the upper room…

How far had the men on the road come to have their eyes opened to the Scriptures of the past to reveal the Son of God! If only men in this era could see this, would their lives be transformed into something wonderful! You see, it’s a totally wonderful thing to see the God of the Bible expositing His truths each day, But what would it be like to see the God of the Bible in your very presence? Do think that would elevate your view of Jesus?

For each of us every day and week, Jesus is waiting to manifest Himself in our lives. The sad part is most of us missing Him when He really shows up. We can become very good students of the Bible (which is awesome and inspiring); however, would it not be simply life transforming to see the risen Savior show up in your little world today? I believe this is possibly for every person who has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. So how do we see Him?

Let’s try by inviting Him... Then expect He will manifest Himself! Then let’s pray for unexpected things which according to His will are possible. Let’s ask Him to do the hardest things we never could have expected!

If we don’t, we may be like to the two men on the road not even recognizing the risen Savior, because let’s face it; in their minds He was dead. They needed time to mourn their loss and they didn’t have time for interruptions! We may also be like the eleven in the room; surprised and scared at the same time because a ghost had appeared!

Do the unexpected today. Expect Jesus to show up today!