Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

John 14:1-6, John 20:19-31

One of Jesus' disciples, Judas, has captured the headlines this holy season. Talk shows and television specials suggest that the "Gospel of Judas" calls into question everything Christians have believed over the centuries. Those who enjoy conspiracy theories flock to such news. It is titillating to consider that perhaps the evil betrayer, Judas, was the only one who knew the real truth about Jesus. Did Jesus need Judas' to help him fulfill the scriptures?

Of course this "tempest in a teapot" will pass just as the other so-called "secret gospels" have been found to have significant historical problems. Just a few years ago it was the "Gospel of Thomas." After all, if Judas the betrayer is the worst of the disciples, then doubting Thomas holds a close second when it comes to failure to believe in Jesus.

Let's be fair with doubting Thomas. We have been quick to label him as a doubter without taking the time to analyze why he doubted. Was Thomas a doubter simply because he was willing to ask questions? I do not think he was any more of a doubter than most of us. Yes, he struggled with faith, but then who doesn't? At least Thomas was willing to voice his doubts.

Thomas sat at the Last Supper with Jesus and spoke up when nobody else would. When Jesus told them he was departing and they would follow later, Thomas asked, "We don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?" I suspect other disciples were thinking the same thoughts, only Thomas was willing to voice the question aloud.

Perhaps we can gain some insight by recalling that before he was nicknamed "doubting Thomas," he had another nickname. The familiar nickname by which his friends knew him was "Thomas the twin." How does it help us to understand Thomas when we discover that he was a twin? Can the fact that Thomas had a twin brother give us insight into how he experienced the Easter events?

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.' When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them, 'Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.'

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.' Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.'

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

John 20:19-31

A mother was frustrated by the pranks of her twin boys. One day she called the pastor on the phone and asked if he would come to the house to straighten out her two boys. The pastor was unsure how to handle this situation but willingly headed over to the house. The boys saw the pastor coming up the steps. So they ran for cover, assuming they were in trouble. The mother barely caught one boy as the other disappeared down the hall. She introduced the first boy to the pastor and told the boy to sit and listen to what the pastor had to say while she went looking for the other twin.

The pastor tried to decide how to approach this boy. The pastor finally came up with an idea. He leaned toward the boy and asked, "Where is God?" The boy remained quiet, but his eyes grew large. The pastor repeated the question, "Young man, where is God?" The boy began to shake all over without making any attempt to respond. The pastor repeated a third time, "Where is God?"

The boy leaped up and ran out of the room. He ran down the hall, through his bedroom and into the closet. He burrowed down into some dirty clothes and then after a moment whispered to his twin brother. "Boy are we in trouble! God is missing and they think we took him!"

Twins can be pranksters. I have only known a few twins, but I have noticed their ability to fool others. It is common for twins to have stories about tricking people. I wonder what stories Thomas could tell about tricking people when he and his twin brother pulled off a humorous stunt?

I had a friend in college who was a twin. Scott used to tell stories about getting free ice cream. Do you recall years ago how some ice cream parlors had a huge ice cream plate that was intended to feed a family of ten? It was this huge platter with ice cream mounded high and toppings dripping everywhere. Some ice cream parlors offered a challenge. If anyone could eat the entire thing, it was free. Scott went into the ice cream parlor about an hour ahead of his brother and hid in the bathroom. His brother then ordered the huge ice cream platter. The crowd watched as the brother ate half of the dish and then asked if he could go to the bathroom. The manager laughed at the idea that one person could eat the whole thing and let him go to the bathroom. The twins traded places and Scott finished off the dish to everyone's amazement.

I wonder what stories Thomas could have told about tricking people? In fact, I suspect this is why he was so adamant about not believing until he saw Jesus' wounds for himself. How did he know whether Jesus might have a twin and it was all nothing more than an elaborate prank? If he and his brother could pull off tricks, perhaps Jesus had a twin that was pulling a trick as well.

The gospel of John does an interesting thing with Thomas. He is introduced as a doubter. However, by the end of the gospel, he turns out to be one of the heroes of faith. Thomas asked for equal evidence. He doubted until he saw the evidence. But once he saw it for himself he believed. Thomas' last words in the gospel are these: "My Lord and my God!"

I like Thomas's clear thinking. In fact, I consider Thomas to be clearer in his thinking than many today. He realized that he had only two alternatives. Either Jesus was who he claimed to be, "the Son of God," or Jesus was a trickster trying to pull off a prank. Thomas realized that Jesus was either a liar or the Lord.

C. S. Lewis, the author of the Narnia chronicles, years ago gave a series of radio messages explaining his Christian faith. Lewis, a professor at Oxford, narrowed the choices regarding Jesus to three options which might make sense of the data. According to Lewis, Jesus' claim to be the only way to God forces us to choose one of three options. Either Jesus was a liar who was intentionally trying to deceive people or Jesus was a lunatic who did not know what he was saying. The third option is that Jesus knew exactly what he was saying, meant what he said, and proved that he had the right to say it by conquering death.

Lewis draws the logical conclusion that we must choose what we believe about Jesus. Was he a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord? Let me quote Lewis' thoughts on the reasonable options for who Jesus is. Lewis wrote, "You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

I was eighteen years old before I realized that believing Jesus was nothing more than a good religious teacher was not an option for an intelligent person. Even though I grew up in church, it was not until I was a college student that I became a Christian.

When I was a freshman in college I fell in with a group of friends who spoke of Jesus as though he was a real person. They did not seem to be talking about a good man who lived and died a long time ago. They sounded as though they knew him as an intimate friend. Hearing them talk this way forced me to make a choice. Could Jesus really be who he said he was‹the Savior of the world and also my friend? I decided to try a prayer experiment. I prayed to be open. "Jesus, if you are alive and real, show me." I do not recall today the specifics of how he answered that prayer. The important thing is that I discovered Jesus is not only alive but he was willing to stay close to me and guide my life.

Here is the truth for each of us. We are not that different from Thomas. We all have doubts. Few of us find faith easy. This is why Thomas can be our Easter hero. When he encountered Jesus the risen Lord, he was willing to follow him wherever that might lead.

Have you encountered Jesus, the risen Lord?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What evidence do you need to believe in Jesus?

2. What have been the doubts with which you have wrestled?

3. What has convinced you to become a follower of Jesus?

4. What do you think of C.S. Lewis' assertion that the position that Jesus was a great human teacher is patronizing nonsense?