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| Having Doubts |
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| Written by Doug Craven | |
| Wednesday, 22 April 2009 | |
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Having Doubts” John 20:14-31 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.” John 20:25 NRSV Recently, I was sent this story in an e-mail but, I don’t know its original source: A young man named Ron, had a high school science teacher who announced to his class a few days after Easter Sunday: “The Easter story is nothing but a myth,” “Jesus not only didn’t rise from the grave but, there is no God in heaven who would allow his son to be crucified.” Ron protested, “Sir, I believe in God and I believe in the resurrection.” The teacher then said, “Ron, you can believe what you wish to but, the scientific world excludes the possibility of miracles like that. Then the teacher proposed an experiment. Reaching into his refrigerator, he removed a raw egg and held it up. “I’m going to drop this egg on the floor,” he said. “Gravity will pull it to the floor and the egg will most certainly burst.” Looking at Ron with a challenge, he said, “Now Ron, I want you to pray a prayer right now and ask your God to keep this egg from breaking when it hits the floor. If he can do that, then you’ll have proven your point, and I will admit that there is a God.” After pondering the challenge for a moment, Ron slowly stood up to pray: “Dear Heavenly Father,” Tom prayed, “I pray that when my teacher drops the egg, it will break into a hundred pieces. And also, Lord, I pray that when the egg does break, my teacher will have a heart attack and die. Amen.” The class sat silent in expectation regarding what might happen. For a moment the teacher did nothing. At last he looked at Ron and then the egg. Without a word he carefully put the egg back into the refrigerator. “Class dismissed,” the teacher said. Apparently the teacher did believe in God’s existence more than he thought. Even though Thomas was one of the twelve disciples, he could not accept what the others told him about Jesus having appeared to them; he relates that he must see for himself. Many people, like Thomas and the teacher in the story, deny that Jesus is alive and exists, yet run from him, and attack belief in him whenever they get the chance. These same people in times of deepest trouble will often call upon the Lord for help. The teacher wasn’t willing to bet his life that God didn’t exist. Many people doubt how something like the resurrection took place. Some might say: “I have never seen someone rise from the dead!!!!” Jesus showed the disciples that he wasn’t a ghost, but that he was the same Jesus they had known. However, Thomas wasn’t there. When he returned, the disciples told him that Jesus had appeared to them. But Thomas didn’t believe: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” Thomas was a practical person, attempting to live in the “real” world. Yet many theologians and historians tell us that of all the events that took place in the first century of the present era, no historical event has been better documented than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In verse 29 of our text Jesus says to Thomas: “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed.” Jesus is talking about us. We have not seen him with our own eyes like Thomas. But we have believed. We have believed by having Jesus come to us in the Spirit and speak in and through us via scripture, witness of others, and the sacraments. Prayer: God grant me the same heart you granted to Thomas, a heart that says “My Lord and my God.” Amen. ...Doug Craven |
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