Series: Easter: This Changes Everything
Message: Believe?
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Reflection: Sam Millen
Live Wonder: Bec Reid
Live Adventure: Jess Lee
Live Beyond: Art Preuss
Live Purpose: Don Pate
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: John 20:19-29 in the New Testament for Everyone (NTE). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” I wonder if this statement’s origin can be found in our passage. Thomas clearly laid out the conditions for his faith. And who can blame him? What the disciples were telling him was truly “unbelievable.” There have been valiant efforts to make Christianity more “believable.” Make no mistake, I probably love apologetics (reasoned arguments defending Christian faith) more than the average believer. I even tried enrolling for an M.A. in Christian Apologetics at Biola University, but was quickly advised to withdraw my application because I couldn’t affirm their fundamentalist statement on biblical inerrancy. The Adventist view regarding inspiration (“thought” instead of “verbal”) was insufficient. (Side note: we believe the writers were inspired by the Holy Spirit, rather than the actual words themselves.) Yet no matter how many compelling reasons Christian apologists present, there remain just as many (if not more) equally valid reasons not to believe.
In his brilliant book, Faith in the Shadows: Finding Christ in the Midst of Doubt, Austin Fischer writes:
This is because no matter how long we live or how much we learn, there will always be a gap between what we know and what we wish we knew. Much of modern Christian apologetics has lost sight of this gap, resulting in a self-congratulatory culture wherein we take shortcuts, overstate ourselves, and make a case for faith that doesn’t require faith so much as (allegedly) clear-eyed comprehension of (allegedly) indisputable historical and rational arguments. Moving past this approach requires accepting that we can reason ourselves toward faith but never all the way to faith. The gap remains. (pp. 161–162)
Let’s not ignore rationality (it is a gift from God), but also acknowledge its limitations. It was the idol of modernity—a failed project to systematically eradicate all mystery. For a long time, modernism held the promise of a logical explanation for everything.
Austin Fischer continues:
In this secular age, we have fooled ourselves into thinking we understand much more of reality than we really do. We have fooled ourselves into thinking life is believable, is fundamentally explicable by evolution and equations. But this is sophisticated madness. Yes, we can send a man to the moon. Yes, we can map the human genome. No, we cannot explain the most basic human mysteries—things like existence, consciousness, and love. So if we can behold the world, yawn, and say to ourselves, ‘Nothing out of the ordinary here,’ then we really should check our pulse, because we might be dead. We are miraculous creatures living in a miraculous world! It seems to follow that a miraculous faith is only reasonable. In other words, I ask for wonder because wonder keeps me realistic, in the proper sense of the term—soberly aware of things as they really are, miraculous and unbelievable. (p. 163)
Postmoderns have turned to experience in their attempt to make sense of the world. It has become the new basis for truth. Perhaps Thomas was ahead of his time when, in the absence of rational explanations, he demanded proof through experience. His wish was granted and his “faith” was based solely on irrefutable experiential evidence. There is a special blessing for those who believe without receiving undeniable proof— it is the pure joy and wonder of embracing mystery.
Consider this from Fischer:
A few days removed from a near fatal heart attack, famed Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel was visited by a dear friend, and Heschel confided that when he regained consciousness and realized he was alive, he did not feel anger, but gratitude—gratitude for every moment he had lived. And then he reiterated the prayerful request at the heart of his life’s work: ‘I did not ask for success; I asked for wonder. And You gave it to me.’ (p. 162)
Recalibrate: Is it fair that Thomas got his wish to see and touch Jesus? Why doesn’t God give every skeptic an opportunity like this?
Respond: Ask God to give you wonder today.
Research: Watch these two short video clips of Austin Fischer in his own words. Clip 1. Clip 2.
Remember: “Then Jesus told him, ‘You believe because you see me. Those who believe without seeing me will be truly happy’” (John 20:29, ICB).
Sam Millen is the pastor at Anacortes Adventist Fellowship in Washington State. He his wife Angie is a schoolteacher on Orcas Island and their three children are really awesome!
Time to have some fun taste-testing. Get some food that your little one loves from the fridge or pantry. (Fruits and vegetables work well!) Chop the food up and set it out on a plate. Select some other unknown foods that your little one has never tried and add them to the plate also. Get your blindfold, scarf, or crafty new glasses with the covered lenses and put them on so that you are the first participant int the Guess This Food game. Ask your little one to select two or three pieces of food and pop them in your mouth. Did they select something they were familiar with or something unknown to them? Tell them your answer to what you think they selected and listen to their reaction. Now it is their turn. Mix up the favorite foods with the unknown foods, but start by giving your little one their favorite!
Although we are all trying to be like Jesus to live our lives the way Jesus wanted us to, none of us are perfect. Sometimes we make mistakes and we don’t always show others God’s love (even adults make these mistakes). The best part is that it’s OK if we make a mistake. Jesus does not expect us to be perfect. But we all need to look at our actions each day, look at the words we use, and our actions—are we doing what Jesus would do? If we are, that is great. If not, we need to ask Jesus for forgiveness and to help us live like He would.
Once Jesus was dead Simon went to Pilate, the same person who gave Jesus up to the people of Israel to have Him crucified, and asked him for Jesus’ body to be buried. The Bible tells us that it was “preparation day” because the next day was Sabbath. Sabbath was designed to be a day of celebration, a time for the family to enjoy being together and worshiping their Creator together while enjoying and experiencing what He has created. But on this day, there was no celebration. Jesus was dead and buried.
Let’s get real: What comes to your mind when you hear that the Sabbath day is approaching? Do you prepare for the arrival of the Sabbath? Is the Sabbath day a day of delight? If not, how can you begin to prepare so you can enjoy the Sabbath day the way God designed it to be?
It really wasn’t his first name. In church history he actually was known as “Judas Thomas Didymus.” (Didymus implies that he might have had a twin— we don’t know for certain.) Sadly, most people think his first name was “Doubting.” That’s so regrettable. Yes, we do have six verses in John 20 that deal with the time he struggled but that’s not the whole story. Did you know that John 11 tells us that he was the first disciple to speak openly of his willingness to die for and with Jesus? Man, he beat Peter to the punch—and that takes some doing! Thomas has gotten a bad wrap. I don’t interpret this passage so much as meaning that he doubted because it was cute or it made him look important. I interpret it to mean that he’d been hurt so badly by the whole crucifixion thing that he wasn’t going to put himself out there to be hurt again that way. You have to love Thomas— and even in his “doubting” Jesus gave Him a special gift. Amazing.
Bec Reid is a real estate agent within her family business. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and is a part of the Wahroonga Adventist Church community.
Jess Lee is an education consultant for the New South Wales Adventist education system. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and attends Kellyville Church.
Art Preuss pastors in Massachusetts at the Springfield, Florence, and Warren Adventist churches and serves in the U. S. Air Force Reserve as a chaplain.
Don Pate is “retired” in Tennessee after decades of teaching and pastoring but is still active in speaking and creating for the Kingdom.