There is a large chasm that lays between faith and doubt. But God’s transforming grace can bridge that gap. And when you truly encounter the Lord Jesus Christ, the doubt that once governed your mind will begin to fade.

In John 20, Thomas represents all the individuals who hear the testimony about Jesus and the Gospel message, yet doubt its reality. These people want to see real evidence of God’s transforming grace and new life. They want to see Jesus!

“So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

Many of the disciples were excited because they had seen the Lord, but because Thomas had not been present, he remained skeptical. Thus, his response was “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Thomas was demanding proof before he would believe and accept the witness of the disciples. He wanted to physically touch the wounds from the nails and spear. 

The world today is full of skeptics and doubters of Jesus and His offer for New Life. They desire evidence from His followers that Jesus is alive. So how do we, as His followers, give them this evidence they seek? Because at the base of it, we need to represent Jesus to a world full of skeptics. The Apostle Paul said it best, 

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:3–7).

How will the doubter begin to believe? Through the living testimony of the Believer that Jesus is alive, and through the life of the Believer that walks in the newness of life. The Believer’s life and testimony are the tangible evidence that Jesus is alive. Let’s give them Jesus!

Pastor Cary Wacker