Doubt! Or Not

Last updated on: April 23, 2017 at 8:06 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

Doubt! Or Not 2017-04-23T08:06:28-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

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The news was so good, he could not stand to believe it. If he did, and it turned out to be wrong, Thomas would not be able to stand the pain. The man he admired and loved was dead. He could go on living, maybe, but if they convinced him that his friend was alive again only to have him discover the lie, then that would be more than a man could bear.

Thomas loved Jesus and when His friends said He was alive, Thomas doubted. Why not? Who does not? I sometimes do. The news is so good.

Doubt is not a sin.

Thomas did not have faith, because he had not yet had the experience of Jesus or the chance to use his reason to clear his mind of reasonable doubts. This experience is necessary and at the time, before the Holy Spirit, the only way to have that experience was face to face. The Helper was coming to aid us to know God through the person of Jesus.

Thomas wanted to know and the only way you could know before the Holy Spirit was seeing Jesus face to face. Jesus came and Thomas touched him. He satisfied the demands of reason and knew beyond a reasonable doubt. Jesus gave Thomas faith and so it was reasonable, good, and proper for Thomas to believe.

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This has many profound meanings, but also a simple one. We have it easier (happier!) than Thomas. We can have Jesus within us by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can know in a way even more profound than seeing Jesus in the flesh. Seeing Jesus is necessary, however, one way or another.

I have met people who think that odd. Isn’t such a knowing less rational? It is not. We can experience God in the person of Jesus Christ by being born again. Like all our experiences, it is “just in our heads.” If we see a dead man alive, we should be no more or less dubious than if we experience God directly mind to mind. We might, of course, be mad or misunderstanding some weird brain spasm, but that is true of everything. It is true of the love I feel for my children. Is it real or just in my head? There is no good reason to go down that road at all.

Of course, Thomas stands as witness to the truth that Jesus is alive, but even my reading the Gospel “is just in my head.” I refuse to have irrational doubts and so I will not invent difficulties where none exist. I think, I examine the external evidence, and it fits, not all of it ever, but enough. I believe in order to understand: Jesus is alive. How blessed it is to experience Jesus in the body and blood of communion to feel and know.

Irrational doubt is a sin against the intellect and Thomas was a rational man. “My Lord and my God” he said and he was right to do so. Today is the day we recall and honor “Doubting” Thomas. Thank God, we too can say, with a special blessing, “My Lord and My God.”

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