Mensa Otabil - Do Not Be Unbelieving
- Watch
- Donate
John chapter 20, verses 26 to 27: «And after eight days, His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, 'Peace to you.' Then He said to Thomas, 'Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.'»
Jesus shows up again. Now, when we look at Thomas, on the one hand, we admire him for being curious, for questioning, and for interrogating instead of just believing something he has no evidence for, and we admire him for that, as it has some value. On the other hand, we fault him for establishing conditions for faith. If God doesn’t do this, then I will not believe in Him. That’s not how Christianity works; we don’t give God ultimatums and conditions. We believe in Him for who He is.
So, one week after this event, after the resurrection, remember the first appearance was on the night of the resurrection; this is a week thereafter. The Lord appears to His disciples again, under similar conditions: the same place, doors shut. This time there is no indication of fear, but the doors are shut. Jesus comes in, and the Bible notes that Thomas was with them. Isn’t it amazing? Jesus was not present when Thomas spoke about his unbelief; He wasn’t physically present, but He heard it. This tells us that, at this time, Jesus is omnipresent; He can be everywhere at any time, and He can hear things even when He’s not physically present.
The Lord is gracious to Thomas, and He is merciful to him. That’s the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s no bitterness, no anger, and no frustration because some other leader would be very frustrated with Thomas, his follower, who has been following Jesus for a very long time. Now he’s been told Jesus is resurrected, and he can’t believe it.
So, Jesus said to Thomas, «You want proof? Okay. My hands: reach and touch it. My side: reach and touch it.» The Bible doesn’t tell us whether Thomas reached to touch, but he saw the evidence. The evidence was so clear to him that it transformed him from the person we sometimes call «Doubting Thomas» to «Believing Thomas.» Church tradition has said that this same Thomas eventually took the Gospel to faraway India, preached the Gospel there, labored in it, and eventually died for the truth he discovered that day in the upper room.
Jesus showed up to him, but then He says something: «I don’t want you to be unbelieving, but believing.» So, Thomas, you’ve seen it and you believe, but that’s not what I’m looking for. I want you to be a believing believer, not an unbelieving believer. Unfortunately, there are unbelieving believers who go to church, have their names on church registers, and participate, but nothing they do evidences that they believe in what they are doing. They attend as a routine; it’s nominal. It’s all head knowledge, but there is no heart involvement in what is happening.I pray your belief system will not be like that; that you’ll be a real believing believer who believes in the crucifixion, believes in the resurrection, and believes in who Jesus Christ is. Tomorrow, we’re going to talk further about Thomas and what Jesus said to him after this.
Let us pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, help me to be a believing believer. I have settled in my heart that You are who You say You are. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.» Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.