Sunday, April 26, 2026
Scripture: John 20:24-29
Sermon Title: Meeting Jesus in our Doubt
How would you like to be remembered for all of history for your worst moment? So and so, the cheater. The liar. The addict. The thief. That seems to be the case for both Judas and Thomas. When we came to the dress rehearsal for the Maundy Thursday Drama this year, my oldest Ellie kept asking “Who is Judas the Betrayer?” Maybe Thomas is not remembered quite as badly as Judas, but because of this one encounter in today’s scripture, Thomas is forever known as “Doubting Thomas.”
We celebrated Easter 3 weeks ago, but as I’ve said before, Easter is not over. We’re in a series called “Easter Encounters,” looking at the various encounters Jesus had with people after the Resurrection. And today we’re looking at the encounter between Jesus and Thomas.
Last week Jesus came and appeared to the disciples in a locked room, and he breathed on them the Holy Spirit. But there was one disciple missing: Thomas.
Have you ever missed out on something and wished you hadn’t? A few years back we had the total solar eclipse, and my hometown was in the path of totality. Everyone back home was posting pictures of the eclipse and how dark it got. I’ll admit, I felt a little left out. I felt like I was missing out. I’m guessing we’ve all had experiences where we’ve felt like we missed out on something. Maybe it was a family gathering. Maybe we weren’t invited to the party that all the rest of our friends were invited to, or we weren’t chosen to be on a certain sports team. We’ve all been left out. We’ve all missed out on amazing encounters.
This is how Thomas is feeling. Left out. Forgotten. How much would you hate to miss out on an encounter with the Risen Lord?
Because Thomas missed out on this encounter he said, “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.” (John 20:25, NIV) Thomas wanted to experience it for himself. Thomas wanted to personally experience what the other disciples had experienced.
Thomas gets a bad rap for doubting. But think about this, why was Thomas not hiding out in the locked room with the rest of the disciples? We have no idea. Perhaps he was the only one brave enough to go out in public and get them food, do the shopping. We really have no idea why Thomas wasn’t with the rest of them.
But maybe, just maybe, Thomas was the bravest, the most courageous, the one not afraid to leave the locked room. And because he wasn’t hiding out, he missed out on a great encounter, and he’s feeling pretty upset about it. He doesn’t want to believe they really saw Jesus because then it means he missed an amazing encounter.
Many of us struggle with doubt. We don’t like to admit it. But I’m guessing if I had us all close our eyes, raise our hands, and be honest with ourselves, we all would admit to struggling in various degrees with doubt. Some of us more than others, but we’ve all probably struggled with doubt. And so, the story of Thomas reminds us that we aren’t alone. That if even a disciple who walked with Jesus for 3 years doubted, we aren’t alone if we struggle with doubt sometimes as well.
But there’s more than just doubt going on here. Thomas is struggling that he didn’t get the same encounter with Christ that the others got to experience. He didn’t get to see Jesus in person. He just got to hear about it. He didn’t get to see the nail scarred hands and Jesus’s side; he just got to hear about it.
Maybe like Thomas you’ve heard others faith stories, others’ encounters with God, and you’ve thought to yourself, “I want that for myself.”
I’ve shared before that my husband Jesse has had God speak to him in pretty cool ways. I will admit, I’ve never heard an audible voice from God. I hear God speak to me more through a feeling, a stirring, or a nudging. Jesse has had visions and others encounters. Things I will admit I’ve sometimes been jealous of.
Once, shortly after his mom died, he had a vision of her appearing in light singing in a choir. He was awake, he was not sleeping, and he said that vision brought him a lot of comfort that his mom was experiencing the peace and joy of the Lord, in heaven, in the presence of Christ. And as amazing a story as that is, I’ll admit, I’ve felt like Thomas. I’ve thought, I want that experience. I want a cool vision.
Maybe you too have felt jealous of other’s encounters with God. Maybe you too can relate to Thomas and feeling left out.
But as much as we can be critical of Thomas, as much as we can call him “Doubting Thomas,” I love that Jesus met Thomas in his doubt. Jesus didn’t give Thomas a hard time for doubting what the others had experienced. Jesus understood that Thomas needed an encounter for himself.
Jesus came back and appeared to Thomas a week later. Jesus said to Thomas, “put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it to my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:27, NIV)
Jesus met Thomas in his doubt. Jesus gave Thomas his own encounter. And Thomas had been struggling, he wanted to see for himself, and now he got something even better than the previous disciples. Thomas didn’t just see Jesus’s hands and sides. Jesus touched Jesus’s wounds. Thomas got to see andtouch the Resurrected Jesus for himself.
Jesus met Thomas in his doubt. Jesus gave Thomas his very own encounter.
For any of you struggling with doubt today, Jesus wants to meet you in your doubt as well. Jesus wants to give you your own encounter as well. Jesus doesn’t want to shame you.
Maybe some of you are here and doubting, is there really a God? And Jesus wants to meet you in that doubt. Jesus wants to reveal himself to you. Maybe some of you have lost a loved one or are facing an illness yourself, and you’re struggling with doubt about heaven. You’re doubting, is heaven even real. Jesus wants to meet you in your doubt. Or maybe you don’t doubt if there is a God, but you’re doubting if God is good, you’re doubting if God really has your best interest in mind. Jesus wants to meet you in your doubt. Or maybe for you, the doubt you struggle with is around the idea of forgiveness. You’ve really messed up in your life, in your past in a big way, and you’re doubting if God could ever forgive you, yes even you.
Whatever doubts you are struggling with, Jesus doesn’t want to shame you. Jesus wants to meet you in your doubt. Jesus wants to give you a personal encounter with him so that you may believe.
Sometimes when you share your doubts and struggles out loud with people, you are shamed by others. You are told you don’t have enough faith. But that isn’t the way of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t shame us in our doubt. Jesus meets us in our doubt. If you have ever felt shame for your doubts or struggles, I am sorry. Jesus doesn’t want to shame you; Jesus wants to meet with you and reveal himself to you.
After this encounter with Jesus, Thomas says, “My Lord, and my God.” (John 20:28, NIV) Thomas’s encounter has become personal. Jesus has become his Lord and his God. This is not the Lord and the God of the other disciples; this is the Lord and God of Thomas because of this encounter.
Thomas is forever changed.
Now this isn’t in the Bible, but Church History believes that Thomas is the disciple responsible for spreading Christianity to India. There are Christians in India known as Saint Thomas Christians because they trace their history back to Saint Thomas in the first Century.
How amazing that Thomas, the disciple known for doubting, is also the disciple known as bringing Christianity to India? How amazing it is to know that someone’s worst moment won’t define them forever. Thomas’s doubt didn’t prevent God from using Thomas for God’s glory. Doubting didn’t prevent Thomas from spreading the news of Christ to the people of India.
If you are struggling with doubt, Jesus still wants to meet with you. Jesus still wants to have an encounter with you. And Jesus still wants to use you. God is not done with us because we doubt. And God does not shame us because we doubt.
One of my favorite encounters in the Gospels is when Jesus goes to heal a boy who suffers from convulsions. And Jesus says to the boy’s father, “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
And this is the part I love. The father responds, “I do believe. Help my unbelief.” I do believe. Help my unbelief. We can believe and also struggle with doubt as well. It’s not always one or the other.
And for us, this too can be a great prayer for all of us. “Father, I believe, help my unbelief. I believe but help me in the areas of my life where I am still doubting. I believe, but help the parts of my life that are still struggling.”
I hope like Thomas, you too have had some sort of encounter with the Lord that has made your faith personal. Maybe a vision like Jesse’s. Maybe a feeling. Maybe an answered prayer. Maybe a specific Bible Verse spoken to you. I hope we have all had encounters with the Lord that have made our faith personal.
After this encounter between Jesus and Thomas, Jesus told Thomas, “because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen but will believe.”
Jesus is talking about all of us. We have not seen Jesus in the flesh. And yet, we believe because of what we have heard. We will be blessed because of this.
My girls have become big fans of the movie “The Sanata Clause.” It’s the one starring Tim Allen where he becomes the next Santa Clause. And my girls whenever they watch a movie get a little hooked on it, and we ended up watching it a lot after Christmas as well. We were watching the sequels in our van a few months after Christmas this year.
And there’s a line in the movie where it says, “seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing.”
So often we think we need to see to believe. We want that encounter like Thomas. We want to see Jesus in the flesh. We want to hear an audible voice from God. We want a miraculous encounter in order to believe.
But maybe the opposite is true. Maybe believing is seeing.
Maybe believing, trusting in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior even in the midst of our doubt, allows us to truly see the world in a new and different way from the way others see the world. Maybe, believing truly is seeing.
Like Thomas, may you have an encounter with the Lord, and may you too believe. May Jesus meet you in your doubt, and may you be forever changed. May your prayer all the days of your life be, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief.”
Like Thomas, may we hear the words of Jesus, “stop doubting, and believe.”
Amen