Thought for Today
Deuteronomy 28:66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you; night and day you shall be in dread, with no assurance of your life.
Psalm 119:66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.
John 20:27 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."
1 Timothy 3:16 Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.
Easter morning has come and gone. The tomb was empty. On the cross, Jesus said, "John 19:30 It is finished." Thankfully, that part of it was finished. Equally thankfully, the story of God’s love for Creation was not finished and still is not finished. That story continued on in the gospels, in Acts and in the epistles. That story continues today in Christendom. Everyone reading this is part of that story.
In the New Testament the story continues after that first Easter morning in the post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus. That verse above from the Gospel of John is the focus of this morning’s devotional in These Days. The phrase ‘doubting Thomas’ is a common idiom applied to anyone who insists that “seeing is believing.” That idiom is generally credited to the story in John 20 about the disciple. Thomas had missed out on seeing Jesus the first time and famously said, "John 20:25 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."
Of course, no one can actually, totally demand physically demonstrative proof for everything in which one professes belief. I’ve never seen an atom; I believe in atoms. I’ve never seen gravity, only its results; I believe in gravity. I’ve (thankfully) never seen the oxygen in the air; I believe there is oxygen in every breath I take. I can sympathize with Thomas, however, because the reality of the Resurrection is truly amazing. So, today, the Thursday following Easter morning, I am thinking about doubt.
Doubt is easy. We see doubt demonstrated before our eyes every day. For the Israelites fleeing slavery in Egypt, forming a new society and community in preparation for entering into the land God promised them, it was important to have commandments and to understand the consequences of disobedience to God’s commandments. That verse above is part of a long series outlining those consequences. The series begins with “Deuteronomy 28:15 But if you will not obey the LORD your God by diligently observing all his commandments and decrees, which I am commanding you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you: . . .” Disobedience left their lives hanging in doubt. Later, the psalmist wrote about belief in God’s commandments.
Was Thomas wrong in his insistence for physical, demonstrative proof? That insistence is certainly understandable for most of us. Although the apostle Paul is rarely accused of understating things, his words to Timothy about “the mystery of our religion is great,” sometimes seems an understatement. Paul was, of course, writing about the Incarnation, Ministry, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. That is a topic fresh on our minds this week following Easter.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare has Hamlet say, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy . . .” (Act 1, Scene 5). That is as much true in religion as in philosophy. How can the minds of the creatures fully comprehend the mind of the Creator? Can any of us fully understand the love revealed in John 3:16-17? Can we really understand our belief that God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent? We use those words to attempt to encompass the reality of our Creator God.
Science demands proof. Science explains through mathematics and experiments. God offers us the Incarnate Creative Word of God, crucified, dead, buried and resurrected. The love of God incarnate in the Son of God. “Do not doubt but believe." To which I can only pray, "Mark 9:24 I believe; help my unbelief!" God answered that prayer on Easter morning.
Stay safe, believe, trust God,
Pastor Ray