LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Thursday 21st April 2022
DO NOT BE UNBELIEVING
Scripture Reading: John 20
And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”_ *John 20:26–27*
On the one hand, we admire Thomas for wanting personal experience; but on the other hand, we must fault him for laying down conditions for the Lord to meet. We cannot set conditions for God to fulfill before we believe Him.
A week after the resurrection, the Lord appeared to His disciples again – this time, with Thomas present. As He had done earlier, the Lord appeared to them even though the doors were shut. He spoke peace to them as He had done a week earlier. Jesus knew of Thomas’ unbelief, though He was not physically present when Thomas voiced his unbelief.
The Lord was gracious to Thomas. He addressed him directly. There is no record that Thomas ever accepted the Lord’s invitation to satisfy the conditions he had laid down. When the time came to prove his faith, Thomas needed no more proof! Whether he touched the wounds of Jesus or not, in that moment he settled all his doubts about Jesus.
According to church tradition, Thomas became so firm in his faith that he took the gospel of Christ to far away India. Tradition says he was persistent in presenting the gospel and became a martyr for the Lord Jesus.
Though Thomas eventually believed, Christ did not commend the path he chose to arrive at faith in the resurrection. He should have believed the report of those who had seen the resurrected Lord and not sought for his personal experience as a condition. Our Lord’s rebuke translates literally, “Stop being faithless and become a believer.”
If there is any redemptive value to Thomas’ request, it is that it showed the disciples that the resurrected body of Jesus was real.
*Prayer:* _Heavenly Father, help me to be a believing believer. I have settled in my heart that you are who you say you are. In Jesus’ name, Amen._