When I was growing up, our family on occasion would pack up in the family car and travel to Ruidoso, New Mexico. The drive from West Texas to Ruidoso is not the most beautiful or exciting drive to say the least, especially when six people are crammed into a car along with luggage. Thankfully, we were a loving family, and we were able to bear with one another as we were smashed like sardines in our little car.
In order to keep our sanity, we would make frequent stops. On one occasion, we stopped in the town of Roswell, New Mexico. I remember getting out in the downtown area and gazing across the street at one of the most interesting and intriguing store fronts I have ever seen. Yes, I was looking at the Roswell museum of UFO sightings. I then began to look around at the city and everywhere I looked, I saw something related to UFO’s.
I admit I am fascinated with the idea of UFO’s and aliens. I grew up watching ET, how bad could the aliens be? While I am fascinated, I also am very skeptical. I will not argue with someone who says they have encountered an unexplained experience, but I will have to have an experience myself if I am to believe that this universe is inhabited by oddly shaped life other than us humans. I have no doubt that something happened many years ago in Roswell, New Mexico, but the theories and conjecture I have heard are not enough to make me believe. I have to see to believe.
We have somewhat unfairly labeled Thomas as “doubting” Thomas. Granted, Thomas did doubt the resurrection, but the title we have given him seems demeaning and critical of the fact that Thomas would not just take the disciples’ word that Jesus was alive.
The reality may be that Thomas was just like the other disciples. He was scared and confused about what was happening, and for whatever reason, he was not with the disciples when Jesus appeared to them the first time. He may have just gone out for coffee, and now we chastise him for his doubt.
Thomas wanted to believe Jesus was alive, but everything rational within him was telling him Jesus had been crucified, and there was no way he could have survived. In spite of his skepticism, Thomas continued to gather with the disciples even though he was not sure Jesus was alive. Thomas wanted the impossible to be true.
The next week, Thomas was with the disciples when Jesus appeared, and the scene had to have been powerful. Thomas demanded to see the nail marks in Jesus’ hands and put his own hand in Jesus’ side, but when he saw the risen Lord, he could only respond by proclaiming “my Lord and my God.”
Jesus specifically addressed Thomas’ doubts and offered Thomas the chance to feel his wounds. Thomas needed no more proof to overcome his doubt than to encounter the risen Lord. Tradition says Thomas took the gospel to India and told the people there about his relationship with the risen Christ and eventually was martyred. Thomas went from doubting the resurrection to being willing to give his life for the one who he knew overcame death. When Thomas encountered the risen Christ, his life never was the same.
Whether we have been Christians for many years or still are searching for what to believe, there will be some measure of doubt in regard to the resurrection. Everything in us says coming back to life after death is impossible. This doubt is not bad; in fact, our doubt can motivate us to find the truth. Thomas doubted, but he was motivated to find out the truth for himself. When we encounter the risen Christ, our doubts will be cast away and filled with an undeniable confidence in our Lord and Savior.
I know there are many people who struggle with believing in something they cannot see, and Jesus understands this as well. Jesus acknowledges there will be those like Thomas who need to encounter him in order to believe. He even says those who have not seen are blessed. I think the blessing Jesus is talking about is the fact that we can believe in what we do not see. Just as Jesus overcame Thomas’ doubt, he will overcome ours. The question becomes, how will we respond?
Will we respond by taking for granted what Jesus has done for us? Will we keep the truth of the risen Christ to ourselves, or will we share with the world the victory we have in Christ? Will we respond by giving our whole life to Christ and following him no matter what that may mean?
I tend to be a skeptical person, and there are many things I will have to see to believe, including extraterrestrials. I cannot see Jesus, but I have encountered the risen Christ in a way more powerful than if I saw the nail marks in his hands. He has changed my life. Have you allowed him to change yours?
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