“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!
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