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TIME
WITH GOD FOR WHAT
THOMAS MISSED John 20:19-29
Jim Laws
The
parallel passage to our text is Luke 24:36-49. In these verses we find the
faithful apostles gathered on the evening of the first day of the week, and
as He had promised, Jesus was there among them. One of the apostles, who should have been
there, was missing. Where was Thomas? We
do not know much about Thomas. You
will recall the conversation Jesus had with His disciples in John 14, in
which He prepared them for His departure by stating, “where I go you know,
and the way you know."(vs. 4)
Thomas had asked, “How can we know the way?” He really did not want more information,
but he was offering an excuse (see John 14:4, 5). When the disciples learned Jesus planned to
go to Jerusalem and knowing He would face great opposition from the Jewish
leaders, Thomas told the others “let us also go that we may die with him”
(John 11:16). Of course, he became
famous as the one who doubted the resurrection of Christ and emphatically
declared, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my
finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not
believe." (John 20:25). I have
often wondered why Thomas was not present when the Lord appeared to the
apostles. Was he despondent over the
death of Christ? It is certain he did
not expect Jesus to be assembled with the disciples that evening. Think for moment what Thomas missed that
Sunday night. Thomas
missed the fellowship with the very brethren, who could have encouraged
him. One of the blessings of worship
is the encouragement we receive from each other. When someone misses worship services, we
often ask about them. We want to know
how they are doing. It is our way of
showing concern. Thomas missed seeing
with his own eyes the risen Lord. Paul
talks about the resurrection of Christ in a number of his books. Notice, he attributes the resurrection to
the power of God (Eph. Why
do you miss services on Sunday evening?
The Christian hungers and thirsts after righteousness (Matt.
5:6). He knows God has commanded we
study (2 Tim. 2:15), and we, as His people, are to search the scriptures
(John 5:39). We gladly obey the Lord’s
commands in order “to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord” (2 Peter
3:18). Remember, your children and
grandchildren are watching you; they will follow your example. As parents, we have a duty to “nurture them
in the chastening and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). We understand our influence on both our
family and our friends is a fragile thing.
We want our influence to count for Christ; not for sin and Satan
(Matt. Don’t
let Satan hinder you. If you have been
neglectful of the services of Christ’s church, repent and confess it; be
resolved to be “faithful unto death” that you may receive a crown of life.
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