An Encounter With Jesus

In John 20, we read of Thomas’ encounter with Jesus. Thomas had not been with the assembly of disciples when Jesus first appeared to them after His resurrection (John 20:19-23), so he needed the same proof that the rest of the disciples needed and received, that the man they reported seeing was indeed Jesus, the resurrected Son of God.

In this writer's view, we have mistakenly called Thomas, “doubting Thomas” for many years. However, Thomas was not of a “doubting” mindset, but rather an “investigative” mindset — he required evidence, and Jesus provided him that evidence.

When the disciples told him how they had seen the Lord (John 20:25), Thomas wanted proof positive — face-to-face evidence that Jesus was who He said He was. When he saw the Lord’s hands and touched His side, he received the proof he so desperately wanted and needed to confirm his faith (John 20:27-29).

The moral of this story:

God doesn’t want anyone to accept the Bible at face value. Rather God wants everyone to investigate, investigate, and investigate until they acquire the required evidence (cf. John 7:17; Romans 12:2; Malachi 3:10; 1 John 4:1-6). We then need to test the evidence, examine the facts, and then like Thomas, be not faithless, but believing (John 20:27).

When folks are honestly and sincerely wanting to gather and weigh the evidence, regarding Bible truth (Hebrews 11:1), they will come to the same conclusion that Thomas came to — that Jesus is indeed Who He says He is — "The Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16; John 20:28; Acts 8:37).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets