Faith and Doubt

Faith, fear, and doubt.
John 20:19-29

It is easy to lose sight of God and focus on the circumstances. However, we live in a world that is based upon our senses. We investigate and connect with our world through our touch, taste, and sight. We then evaluate the world and events by how it corresponds to our experiences in the past and present and the things we have learned and been taught. While Thomas has become labeled as "Doubting Thomas" in many ways, he represents us. Many today seek to deconstruct the Bible and their faith. People re-examine their faith and reject anything that contradicts their perception of reality. Consequently, people discard the Biblical message that disagrees with our present understanding of science (such as miracles, the Noahic flood, and creation itself) or our perspective of morality and truth.
Such was the case with Thomas. When Thomas heard that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, it was beyond his comprehension. The problem with Thomas is that his understanding of God was too small. In Thomas' world, God was confined to the same laws of nature that govern our world. God must act in conforming to human reason and morality. However, his doubt went further than just human reasoning. Thomas' world was also turned upside down. He had embraced Jesus as the Messianic King, and this perception was shattered on the cross. The events that transpired shook Thomas (and the rest of the disciples) to the core of their faith. As a result, they were overwhelmed by grief and fear. Their enemies seemed to have triumphed over God's plans. Like the Psalmist in Psalm 73, they saw the power and prosperity of the wicked, and the Psalmist's faith wavered. What Thomas desired was not just physical proof of the resurrection; he needed evidence that God had not abandoned them.
Everything changed eight days later when Jesus again appeared before his Disciples and before Thomas. Jesus invites  Thomas to touch the wounds and feel his side in a not-so-subtle rebuke. Then Jesus goes to the heart of the issue, for he rebukes Thomas by stating, "do not be unbelieving, but believing." The emphasis of the verb "be" is to show oneself to be something. In other words, the idea of the command is for Thomas to stop unbelieving and show himself to be a genuine believer. By his doubts, he was revealing that he was not following Christ because of faith but because of his desire to be a part of the new dynasty in Israel. In a sense, Thomas was in the same spiritual condition as Judas.  
When confronted with his lack of genuine faith, Thomas accepts by faith the person and work of Christ. In his confession, he affirms that Jesus is not just his Savior but God himself, and he surrenders his life to Christ. The admission, "My Lord and my God," is both the acknowledgment of the person of Christ and the complete surrender to Christ. In this confession, we see the irony of faith. The one who was the doubt now provides us with one of the most profound confessions of faith. Thomas, in his confession, is the first person to identify Jesus as "Lord." This title, which echoes the name of God in the Old Testament (Yahweh), would become the title that would be used to describe Jesus. It is the acknowledgment of the deity of Christ and the confession of complete submission to Christ.
This confession and submission are the basis for all believers (vs. 29). The confession is not grounded in our understanding of God, in the acknowledgment of Christ's supremacy. It is not believing in God because he conforms to our understanding, but believing in Christ and surrendering to him even when God's actions and words seem incomprehensible and unintelligible. Instead of conforming God to our perception, faith is conforming our views to Christ and his revealed word. Faith is not deconstructing the Bible to fit my perspective but deconstructing my life to correspond to the Bible.