DR 23
December 23
John 20:24 to end. Christ convinces the unbelieving apostle.
Much benefit has often been lost by absence from the assemblies of the saints. Thomas, by his absence, lost an opportunity of seeing the risen Savior. While his brethren were rejoicing in the thought of the glory of their Lord, he was suffering the miseries of unbelief.
There is something daring and repulsive in the expression he used—"Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." Thomas little thought when he spoke thus that Jesus heard his words. How many speeches that we have uttered must have grieved the heart of our ever-present Savior! Were he to appear and remind us of them, we should feel overwhelmed with shame and sorrow.
It was just one week after his resurrection that the Lord came the second time to visit his assembled people.
He entered the room in the same wonderful manner as before, passing through the fastened doors. By two signs he showed that he was God. The manner of his entrance displayed his divine power; his repeating the words of Thomas manifested his divine knowledge.
When Nathanael was brought to Jesus, he was astonished to hear him say, "When you were under the fig-tree I saw you;" and he cried out, "You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Thomas felt in the same manner when he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God." He did not say, (as Israel once had said,) the Lord he is the God; but "My Lord and my God." He loved Jesus, and he knew that Jesus loved him; therefore he could say, "My God." Those wounds in the Savior's hands seemed to cry out, "I loved you, and gave myself for you."
The sin of this apostle was the occasion of a blessing being pronounced on numbers then unborn. "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed." Thomas ought to have believed the promise that Christ would rise, before any witnesses had declared that they had seen him; but he not only doubted Christ's promise, but rejected the testimony of all his brethren. His unbelief was very great; yet it was not that fatal unbelief which reigns in the unconverted, for it was accompanied by sincere love. The Pharisees dreaded lest Christ should rise. Thomas regarded his rising again as too joyful an event to be true. They tried to shut their eyes to all the proofs that were pressed upon them. He sought to obtain stronger proofs than he had yet found. Still Thomas would have been more blessed had he believed the word of Jesus before he had seen it accomplished.
Among those who sincerely believe in Jesus how much unbelief may be detected! How often they fear that He has forgotten them, though He has promised that He never will! If they would always trust him they would always taste that peace which passes all understanding. Jacob, though an eminent saint, in the midst of his fiery trials was tempted to exclaim, "All these things are against me;" but the Shunamite was enabled in the depth of her trouble to say, "It is well." he depth of her trouble to say, "It is well."