John 20:24-29 - Thomas Encounters Jesus
The Cloud of Doubt
Good evening, everyone. It is so good to be here with you tonight. It’s truly an honor for me. I’m Josh, if we haven’t met yet. I have a question for you, and I would love a response by a show of hands: Have you ever struggled with doubt in your life?
Looking around, I see many hands going up. Not everybody, but most. Let me ask a follow-up: How many of you have never struggled with doubt about anything you’ve believed since you became a Christian? My hand is certainly not going up for that one, and I’m actually glad I don’t see any hands up in the room. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if I did!
We may not like to talk about it, but if we’re honest, we all struggle with doubt in our walk with Christ at times. What is it that causes these moments? Why do we doubt? There are a number of potential reasons. Sometimes there are questions we just can’t answer—things in the Bible we don’t understand. Other times, we face situations that feel unfair. We see bad things happening to good people and good things happening to bad people, and we ask, “Where is God in this?”
We might have hurt or pain that we can’t resolve. Maybe a godly person you looked up to did something horrible and broke your trust. Maybe there is trauma that you just can’t make sense of. Or maybe you have prayers that aren’t answered. You think, “God, it would have been so easy for You to just snap Your fingers and change this. I would have given You the glory! Why didn’t You do it?”
I’ve heard it said this way: when the warm, moist air of our expectations collides with the icy cold of God’s silence, clouds of doubt inevitably begin to form. In our confusion, we momentarily entertain doubt. Then, we can feel like spiritual failures. Sometimes, as believers, we try to make things better for each other, but we end up making them worse. We say things like, “Well, just don’t doubt. Just have more faith. God said it, I believe it, that settles it!” The intentions might be good, but there’s often no attempt to thoughtfully answer a genuine question.
My goal today is to help us understand that doubts, when handled properly, can actually be a catalyst to a stronger faith. Our doubts don’t have to drive us away from God; rather, they can actually draw us closer to Him.
The Man Behind the Nickname
You’ve probably heard it said that the Christian life is a journey. It’s a journey filled with ups and downs—moments where we feel very close to God and others where He seems distant or even uncaring. But in your doubts, you are not alone. You saw the hands that went up in this room, but you’re also in good company according to the Bible.
Moses had doubts and wanted to give up. The Psalms are filled with expressions of pain. Elijah, the great prophet, had doubts so severe he wanted to die. John the Baptist doubted Christ’s ministry from a prison cell. Even the Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that he despaired of life itself.
Today, we look at John chapter 20 at an encounter Jesus had with a man best known for his doubts: a disciple named Thomas. In fact, he is so well known for this that his nickname is “Doubting Thomas.”
John 20:24-25 (NASB)
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.’
To give you some context, Jesus has already died on the cross, been buried, and been resurrected. He has appeared to Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John. A little later, Jesus appeared to the disciples while they were together—well, ten of them. Judas was gone, and Thomas was missing.
Like most people in that time, Thomas had two names. Thomas is Aramaic and Didymus is Greek, but they both mean “twin.” We don’t know who his twin was, but that was his name. Because Thomas missed that first meeting, he declared he wouldn’t believe unless he saw the evidence for himself. The Greek text suggests the disciples were telling him over and over, “We have seen the Lord!” and Thomas was responding on repeat, “I won’t believe unless I see for myself.” It’s a merry-go-round argument. We’ve all been in those, right?
A Defense of Thomas
Because of this moment, Thomas is forever labeled “Doubting Thomas.” I personally think he’s been given an unfair reputation. Think about your own life. If your weakest or worst moments were what you were nicknamed for, how would that play out?
When I was 16, I worked at Taco Bell. One day, I just decided to quit. I couldn’t take the beans or the guacamole guns anymore, so I just walked out without notice. That wasn’t my best moment. But what if I was forever known as “Job-Quitting Josh”? That would be terrible! I’ve been gainfully employed ever since!
I want to offer a defense of Thomas for a few reasons. First, he has a great track record before this. In John 11, when Jesus says He is going to Bethany where His enemies are, Thomas is the one who rallies the others.
John 11:16 (NASB)
Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to [his] fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.’
That isn’t doubt; that’s courage. Later, in John 14, Jesus is talking about going to prepare a place for them. He’s speaking as if everyone understands, but Thomas has the guts to speak up and ask the question everyone else was probably thinking.
John 14:5 (NASB)
Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?’
Thomas is thoughtful and deliberate. He wanted details because he wanted to be with Jesus.
Secondly, imagine the trauma Thomas had experienced. He saw Jesus arrested, tortured, and crucified. He saw the spear go into His side and the nails through His hands. Maybe Thomas just wanted to be alone that Sunday. Have you ever felt that way? When you’re miserable and everyone around you is super excited, it can actually make you feel worse. Thomas just wanted the same evidence the others had already received.
Thirdly, Thomas wasn’t the only one who struggled. Even at the Great Commission, we see this.
Matthew 28:16-17 (NASB)
But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped [Him]; but some were doubtful.
Some doubted even as they beheld the resurrected Christ! That makes me feel better because it shows they were just as human as I am. I have moments where I feel so confident in Christ, and then later that same day, I’m asking, “Is this real?”
The Encounter with the Risen King
The biggest reason we shouldn’t be too hard on Thomas is how Jesus responds to him.
John 20:26-29 (NASB)
After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace [be] with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed [are] they who did not see, and [yet] believed.’
Jesus appears behind locked doors and immediately offers Thomas exactly what he asked for. Thomas’s response is the exclamation point of the Gospel of John. He declares Jesus to be both “Lord” and “God.”
To say Jesus is Lord is to say He has sovereign authority over everything. To say He is God is to recognize His divine power over death. Thomas, the one we call the “doubter,” gives the clearest and simplest confession of the deity of Christ in all of Scripture.
Jesus then says something very important for us: “Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed.” He’s talking about us. For two thousand years, believers have followed Him without seeing His physical form. But this isn’t a call to blind, unthinking faith. Throughout John, the invitation is to “come and see.” Investigate the claims. Look at the evidence for the resurrection. Don’t base your faith on your pastor, your parents, or your feelings—base it on the firm foundation of God’s Word.
Thomas’s doubt drew him to Jesus, and Jesus drew near to him. Tradition tells us Thomas went on to preach in Persia and India. In India, he is remembered as a hero of the faith who was martyred for the Gospel. They don’t call him a doubter; they call him the one who brought the light of Christ to their nation.
Doubt vs. Unbelief
So, what can we learn from Thomas? First, we must realize that doubt is not the same thing as unbelief. Doubt is a matter of the mind—we don’t understand what God is doing. Unbelief is a matter of the will—we refuse to obey or believe regardless of the evidence.
Doubt can still have a soft heart; unbelief has a hard heart. As G. Campbell Morgan said, the doubter may debate God, but they don’t abandon God. Sometimes you have to go through doubt to get to certainty. Look at the prophet Habakkuk. He starts his book by crying out to God.
Habakkuk 1:1 (NASB)
The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
He expresses total doubt in God’s goodness. But by the end of the book, after he has processed those doubts with God, he concludes with a beautiful statement of faith.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NASB)
Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, [Though] the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ [feet], And makes me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.
The Power of Community and Honesty
Secondly, we need to openly express our doubts and allow others to do the same. Thomas didn’t keep it inside. If you are struggling, talk to God and talk to trusted believers. Bringing doubt into the light keeps it from becoming dark and secret.
Parents, let your kids express their doubts. Don’t panic when they ask hard questions! It doesn’t mean you’ve failed; it means they are learning to think. The church and the home should be the safest places in the world to ask hard questions.
Notice that Thomas never fell out of community. For eight days, he stayed with the disciples even while he disagreed with them. If you have doubts, that is not the time to quit church or your life group. Lean in.
Drawing Near in the Darkest Seasons
Finally, go to Jesus with your doubts. Thomas’s core desire was simply to see Jesus. We can pray, “Lord, I doubt You right now, but help me see how You are at work. Help me know You are near.”
James 4:8 (NASB)
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
God is willing to draw that near to us. He invited Thomas to touch His wounds, and He invites us into that same intimacy.
I’ve had seasons of doubt in my own life. One was in college, and another was about twenty years later when I went through a period of “exogenous depression.” It was the worst season of my life—filled with depression, fear, and despair. But paradoxically, it was also a time of the most beautiful intimacy with the Lord. I spent months just sitting in His presence in tears, clinging to His Word because I had nothing else.
What I learned is that our doubts don’t have to drive us away; they can be the very thing that draws us into His arms.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, I thank You that You are a God who is with us and open to us. You allow us to come to You with all our brokenness and our doubts. I pray that as we open our hearts to You, we would emerge with a stronger faith and a closer walk with You. May this be for the glory of Christ and for our good. In Jesus’ name, amen.