John probably didn't recognize it at the time, but for us in our culture, John recorded a miracle with these words, “A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.” The disciples did the right thing when they kept the door of friendship open for Thomas, and did not shut him or his dangerous ideas out of the group. And Thomas did two right things: he specified what he rationally needed to see as the extraordinary evidence of Jesus' resurrection, AND he kept himself open to receiving this evidence by continuing to gather with the ten. Thomas did NOT do what so many atheists do today – refuse to accept ANYTHING as proof of God's action in the world, because of a strong emotional need for God not to exist. And of course, Jesus responded to Thomas by providing PRECISELY the extraordinary evidence that Thomas said he needed, so that Thomas could be brought around, and declare, “my Lord and my God.”
What about US and OUR doubts? Well, we have this book that has been “written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” And as Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have come to believe.” But what if we are not in that group of blessed people? What if we need evidence that is more extraordinary? Maybe we were out of the room when Jesus miraculously cured people in our community from life-threatening diseases. Maybe we missed the meeting where people in our community told about how Jesus had saved them from their own destructive patterns. Maybe we didn't see the memo showing how countries with a history of following Jesus are generally pleasant, safe, and free, while those without a history of following Jesus are generally unpleasant, dangerous, and tyrannical. What should we do if, despite the evidence given to us by others, we still have doubts?
Do what Rational Thomas did! Determine exactly what extraordinary evidence you would need to see to believe. And then, continue (coming here) (listening) with an open mind until you see it. Jesus was not about to leave Thomas hanging, and he won't leave us hanging either, if it is TRULY what we need to believe. I don't claim to have seen the mark of the nails on Jesus' hands, but I HAVE seen the extraordinary evidence I needed – the astounding number of times where my life has intersected with someone totally at random, and I either received or gave a word of grace that could only have come from Jesus. Hopefully, you too have seen enough to say, “my Lord and my God.”
Gracious God, we thank you for the glorious resurrection of your son, and for all that this most important event in human history means to us. Resolve all our doubts, and enable us to be effective witnesses, in Jesus' name.