Doubt?

Thomas, who is called Didymus, gets a fairly bad rap from most of us.  We hung him with the “doubting” moniker after all.  We do not have a lot of data on him; we have less on others of the twelve.  John records three things that Thomas said in his gospel.  The one most of us know is John 20:25, thus the “doubting” label.  But there are two more.  John 11:16 and John 14:5.

Focus for a minute on John 11:16.  When I read this again just now, I was challenged out of my socks.  Look at the context.  Jesus has just told the twelve that Lazarus has died and that He is heading to Judea to deal with Lazarus’ “sleep.”  The twelve remind Him, unnecessarily, that those folks are not real fans.  Jesus is not deterred.  Going there is walking into a maelstrom of hate, with probable death as an outcome; this is not a casual trip.  All of them knew the danger.  It is into this reality that Thomas speaks, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”  Doubt?  I am ashamed that I rarely have that attitude.  Most of the time I am more concerned with how an action is going to affect my reputation, or my bank account, much less my life.  The commitment to go with Christ wherever He is leading without regard for my well being but rather living out a passion to be with Him is not my default response.

I would do really well to be more like Thomas.

PS. It looks to me as if Thomas is “all in.”  The thing that is intriguing to me is the journey that took him from here to what he says in 14:5 and finally to the scene in 20:24 – 29.  It is interesting that his questions were setups for some highly significant statements by the Savior.  The other thing that is causing me to expend brain time is how Thomas’ statements contribute to John’s purpose in the gospel.  How does Thomas reflect both the undercurrent of love and reveal that Christ is the Son of God?

Food for thought.