Baptist Preacher Ed Young, who broadcasts a weekly Gospel program called the Winning Walk, recently was talking about the Apostle Thomas. He commented that nowhere in the Bible do we find mention of Apostle Thomas’s twin.
“We are his twin,” he said.
Doubting Thomas? We doubt, don’t we?
In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI in his weekly audience spoke about Thomas. It later became a book, as he highlighted each of the Apostles.
We find Thomas in the Bible:
Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15 – where Thomas is listed after Matthew as one of the Disciples. We see him listed after Philip in Acts 1:13.
John 11:16 where Jesus is about to go and raise Lazarus from the dead. The threats to His life are real, and Thomas indicates he is ready to die with Him, demonstrating a closeness to Jesus, and a lesson for us to never move that far away.
Thomas has truly taken up his cross and followed Him (Matthew 16:24-26).
At the last supper, we see Thomas asking a question (John 14:5) that many biblical scholars believe he should have known the answer to. Jesus is telling His disciples He is going away, and they know the way (John 14:4). It allows Jesus to tell us, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).”
But Thomas asked. He wasn’t afraid. We should ask in prayer as well whenever something ever confuses us.
After the resurrection, in John 20:24, we see Thomas being told by the other disciples that they saw the Lord alive. Thomas was not present. In the next verse (v.25), Thomas indicates that “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.”
It is where the popular phrase “Doubting Thomas” comes from.
“My Lord and My God”
(John 20:25-29) – (26) Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” (27) Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”(28) Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” (29) Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
I often confess “My Lord and My God,” when thinking about Jesus.
Finally, we see Thomas listed second after Peter, when a group of the disciples were going fishing (John 21:2), and Jesus appears to them for the 3rd time.