Today’s Reading: John 20:24-31
Hearing God’s Voice for Today:
“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.’ 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 believed.’”
* * * * *
This is Jesus’ second resurrection appearance in John’s Gospel. During the first one, Thomas was not present. The disciples told him of the first appearance. Thomas was incredulous and said that unless he placed his finger into the mark of the nails in Jesus’ hands, and in the place of the wound in his side, he would never believe.
So when Jesus appeared the second time, he invited Thomas to place his finger in his hands and side. He then lovingly exhorted Thomas not to doubt, but to believe. He wanted Thomas’s unbelief to be destroyed and his faith to be strong.
Thomas responded simply, “My Lord and my God!” He chose faith. He chose to worship Jesus.
Thomas’s response is a statement about Christ’s deity. He proclaimed Jesus Lord and his personal God. He worshiped him. And Jesus accepted that worship. Thomas’s conclusion was accurate. Jesus was his Lord and God. He was worthy of his worship.
Some people who try to disprove Jesus’ claims to deity have suggested that Thomas’s exclamation was simply one of astonishment. How unthinkable! If that were the case, then that means Thomas, a faithful Jew who knew the Ten Commandments, was using the Lord’s name in vain.
Moreover, that suggestion is inconsistent with the flow of the story. Thomas’s words were spoken to Jesus as a confession of faith in him as his resurrected Lord and personal God.
Jesus then adjured Thomas to walk by faith and not by sight. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Indeed, Jesus’ earthly followers who saw him alive and believed in him had a distinct advantage over those who have never seen, yet still believe. Because you believe without having seen Jesus, you are more blessed than they are. You understand fully what it means to walk by faith.
Walk by faith and not by sight. Trust that Jesus is who he says he is. Believe that his words do hold the key to eternal life.
Believe that Jesus is not only Lord and God over the universe, but he is also your personal Lord and God. He is closer than a brother. He is your intimate life companion.
His resurrection proves that he truly does rule over everything in the universe. Nothing is outside his dominion, power, and authority. All authority in heaven and on earth has been granted to him. Nothing happens to you that he doesn’t oversee.
That means you don’t need to worry about anything. The world is in his hands. Your day is in his hands. Don’t be concerned about tomorrow. It has enough worries of its own.
Jesus is the resurrected Lord and God of all—including you!
[from “Hearing the Voice of God” by Pastor David Chadwick, Moments of Hope Church, Charlotte, NC]