Lord, Increase My Faith

 

 John 20:19-31

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “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.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

We may be in the boat with Thomas, especially these days with senseless shootings multiplying randomly, the on-going wars in the Ukraine and Gaza, scandals exposed in governments and businesses, more and more churches closing and polls revealing increasing numbers of people with no faith or church affiliation..  Yet, even "Doubting Thomas" came to believe when challenged by a fearless, loving Jesus who did not want to lose this apostle with so much potential. Thomas believed and his unbelief opened the door to those on the threshold of similar doubts.  And amazingly, the numbers of people attending Holy Week and Easter Services were astoundingly high in many places this year..  It's not over yet, and, no doubt, Thomas who went on to be the Apostle of India is still at work helping doubters to find and accept the Truth, that Jesus is alive and ready to help us come out of our unbelief..

Bro. Rene

Dear Jesus, increase our faith and help us to confess, "My Lord and my God!" Amen.