Thomas The Twelve Apostles Sermon Series Part 8 of 14

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries, my name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you for being with us today. If you are new here, then I encourage you to hit that subscribe button and the follow button wherever you are watching or listening. In addition, feel free to check out the links in the description to follow us on social media. We have got a lot of great resources there as well.

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Right now we are in the midst of a sermon series on the 12 apostles. We have spoken of several of them already. We have really learned a lot about these men. They are great men, great Christians that can inspire you to live a life closer to Jesus. You can do it. Now we are on number 8, we have got 14 total so we are a little over halfway there. We have got another month and a half of this sermon series.

But if you have not seen any of them, if you have not seen the others, we have had seven before this, you can check them out. They will be on our YouTube channel in a playlist and also on our website. You can get caught up. You can watch, you can scroll in your podcast feed, and see the other sermons.

We have talked a lot about these great men. Today we are talking about Thomas. He is one of the disciples that most people can name. We have mentioned in the opening introductory message that sadly only about 5% of the world’s population can name half of the apostles. Most people can name Peter, most people get Thomas because he was the doubting Thomas, as he is known. Most people get Judas because he is the one who betrayed Jesus. They get those three.

Then most other people get Matthew and John, so they get about five and that is pretty much where they stop. Why do they get Matthew and John? Well because those are the books in the Bible, they get Matthew, and then a lot of people try to say Mark but nope and a lot of people try to say Luke but nope. That does not work either and so then they say John, okay yep John is one. They get about five and that is it. Hopefully, you can name more than five and hopefully by the end of this sermon, you will be able to name all 12.

Let’s dive into Thomas. The word Thomas shows up in the New Testament about a dozen times and the word Didymus shows up about 3 times. Didymus, that is Thomas. Didymus and/or doubting Thomas. Now although it is very convenient in the English language for sounding Thomas and Didymus, we may think, oh Didymus that must mean doubting. Like Thomas doubter or doubting Thomas, but that is not what it is.

Thomas was his Hebrew name and in Aramaic, it is funny that word means twin. Thomas is called the twin or known as the twin. Didymus was his Greek name and in Greek that word also means twin. Now some people, some scholars have said oh this means if he was known as the twin, it must have been Jesus’ twin brother. Well, I do not know how they get that, because if it was Jesus’ twin brother then he would also be divine and he is not, so it cannot be.

Let’s dismiss that right away. Thomas was definitely not a twin of Jesus. However, Thomas and Didymus also means twin, so Thomas must have been a twin. It is very very possible he had a twin brother somewhere out there and his twin might have continued up with the family business or chose not to follow the 12 or maybe who knows. We do not know a lot about him, but Thomas most likely had a twin.

Thomas was a Galilean like many of the other apostles. Every time Thomas is mentioned in the Bible, about a dozen times, he is somewhat of a doubter, he really is. Thomas might have also been a fisherman and we get this from The Book of John.

If you go to John chapter 21 verse 2 and 3. ‘Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.’ Well, who are the other two? First of all, one is probably John because he wrote this, two other disciples were together and probably Andrew Peter’s brother. We do not know though. ‘I am going out to fish, Simon Peter told them, and they said we will go with you. So they went out, got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.’

Thomas went out fishing with these other disciples. It is possible Thomas was a fisherman. We do not know, it was not said. He left the nets to follow them like James and John or like the other disciples. Like Peter or Andrew, we know that they were fishermen for sure because Jesus called them while they were fishing and they left their nets and followed him.

Every time Thomas is mentioned he is somewhat of a doubter. He seems to have had some doubts when he is mentioned in the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Of course, I mean who gets raised from the dead? So Thomas was a little bit of a doubter there.

Let’s go to John chapter 11 verses 11 to 16. Again all of these verses are going to be referenced in the description, so if you are not able to look them up, do not feel bad because I am reading them to you. But also I encourage you to please go back and listen again, find those verses, and then read them based on the description.

They are referenced in the description so you can look them up, read them yourself, and if you want to listen to this again or watch it again and read along with me that would be great. But the verses are referenced there, so I encourage you to look them up and read a little bit before and a little bit after, get some of the context. It never hurts to read more of the Bible.

All right, so we are in John chapter 11 verses 11 to 16. ‘After he said this, he went on to tell them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I am going there to wake him up. His disciples replied, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better. But Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and for your sake, I am glad I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’

This is an entire sermon in and of itself, this is a part of the Bible that is grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted. We do not have time to get into it, but I will give you a sneak peek. Jesus knew right here, Jesus knew Lazarus was dead and He said I am going there to wake him up. What do you think wake him up meant? He is going there to raise Him from the dead. The disciples thought He meant natural sleep, so Jesus is like gosh are these guys just so dull. How have you traveled with me for years and you still do not get it?

So He says plainly, Lazarus is dead. Then He says, for your sake, I am glad I was not there. Why was He glad He was not there? Well because if Jesus was there, He could have healed Lazarus and Lazarus would not have died, so for your sake I am glad I was not there so that you may believe. What are they going to believe? Well, they are going to believe that Jesus has this power to raise Lazarus from the dead or to raise people from the dead.

Jesus has power over death, that is what the point of this message is. He conquered the grave and they did not figure this out until much later when Jesus himself died and was dead. Three days dead, you are dead, you are not coming back, there is no mistake that you could be fallen asleep in a coma and then wake up three days, you are done. That is when they put the sealant on the tomb, you were dead, dead, gone, dead forever. Jesus three days dead, dead, then rises from the dead, conquered the grave.

Lazarus same type of deal. He was three days dead, gone. He says so that you may believe, Jesus was telling them He has power over death. ‘Then Thomas called Didymus said to the rest of the disciples, let us also go that we may die with him.’ Huh? He had no clue. He does not know what is going on, he is just doubting. He is doubting what is going on and he does not believe what Jesus is saying. He does not know.

Now continuing on Jesus goes and comforts the sisters of Lazarus and tries to explain everything to them and is saying like hey do not worry, he is fine, he will rise again and they do not get it. Oh sure, we know he will rise again when we all see him in heaven. He is like, no you guys.

Eventually, we get to a part where Jesus wept and that is the part that is grossly misunderstood. If you want to know more about that, then you have got to keep watching. We are going to get there into that sermon another time, but he did not weep because he was sad because his friend died. He wept because he was sad because no one understood what was going on despite how many times he tried to tell them. He was so frustrated to the point of tears, that is what is going on.

Anyway Thomas did not believe, Thomas doubted. He said let us also go so we may die with Him. What are you talking about Thomas? Get it together man. You have been traveling with Jesus, you saw the miracles He can do. He just told you He is going there to wake up Lazarus and what do you think, let’s go die with Him. No, there is more to the story, get with the program.

We know this was not the only time Thomas was a doubter. He was a bit skeptical when he asked Jesus hey how do we know how to get to eternal life? What? Go to John 14:1-6. ‘Jesus says, do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my father’s house, there are many rooms, if it were not so I would have told you.’

‘I am going there to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you with me. That you may also be where I am. The way to the place where I am going you know. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’

At this point Jesus probably looked at him like, you gotta be kidding me. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him. Then we get to the point where Philip says, show us the father and that will be enough for us.

We talked about that when we spoke about Philip. You can watch about Philip in this sermon here if you are on the YouTube channel, otherwise, just go to our YouTube channel or our website and find Philip and you can learn more about him. But Thomas had some doubts. He said, Lord, we do not know where you are going, how do we know the way? He was doubtful, he was a skeptic, he did not understand.

In addition, we have the infamous time when Thomas refused to believe that Jesus was alive unless he saw the holes and touched them himself. He said he wanted to put his finger through the holes and see the spear hole in his side.

John 20:25, ‘So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord.’ Let’s back up, let’s go to 24 so we get the full picture of Thomas here.’ Now Thomas called Didymus, one of the twelve was not with the disciples when Jesus came.’ So Thomas was off doing who knows what he was doing, wallowing in self-pity, woe is me, doubting, wondering if the sky was blue or green, we do not know.

I am a little bit cruel there. I should not be so cruel to poor Thomas. He was off doing something, whatever he was doing we do not know. But he was not with them and these other disciples were probably gathered in that upper room talking, praying, discussing what they were doing.

Maybe they were in hiding a little bit, we do not know, but they were there. The other disciples, they told Thomas, they said we have seen the Lord. ‘But he said to them, 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 it.’

Wow. Crazy. It is because of this instance, this is the instance that everyone who knows the Bible, who has heard of the Bible, who knows of Thomas, anyone who knows the term doubting Thomas. You go around and ask people, this is a great way for you to introduce them to Jesus. Say hey, have you heard the term doubting Thomas? Yeah. What is it, can you explain it to me? Pretend you do not know where it came from. Oh, it is from the disciple Thomas. Maybe they will not know. Well because this nail mark and then they are talking about Jesus and then introduce Jesus.

But anyway, it is because of this instance he got the name doubting Thomas. Because he definitely doubted. This was plain doubt. There are 11 other people, now Thomas they traveled together for three years, this group of men. Jesus had a heck of a sense of humor. He had a great sense of humor and I know this just from my own life and you probably know it too, He had the best sense of humor in the world. These men were traveling around with Jesus listening to Him banter, the jokes, they probably played jokes on each other, practical jokes. They probably had a lot of fun together.

So Thomas after being out comes back and the other disciples were there, 10 of them, because remember Judas had offed himself and he was no longer around. There were 10 of them there and Thomas was out, number 11 and Judas the 12th was dead and so Thomas comes back and these other 10 guys are saying, we have seen Jesus.

Now Thomas maybe is thinking they are playing a joke on me, no, I do not believe it. They are like, yeah really. He was here, we saw Him and Thomas is like, I am gonna squash this right now. Unless I see the nail marks and touch them and put my hand into His side I will not believe. They are like fine, whatever man, He was here. So doubting Thomas came about.

Thomas was a pessimist. In all those other instances he was always somewhat of a doubter. He never quite grasped the situation. He kind of lived in this world and Jesus was bringing him up, remember I have told you before we gotta take it spiritual when something happens in this world. We have to remember that it is this world, we need to take it to the spiritual level like Jesus did.

Doubting Thomas lived in the world. He was the kind of guy who was a skeptic, pessimist probably, a glass half empty-type of a person, he gained certainty through doubt. Thomas was the type of person who needed to see something in order to believe it. He needed to see it and feel it. I could tell you I have a Bible here, you could say that could be a photoshopped image. There it is, it is a Bible. You needed to see it, hear it, feel it, touch it, to believe it.

Thomas was that type of guy, he needed all the data, he needed everything. Philosophers call this empiricist or empirical data. That is where we get that term empirical. Thomas was an empiricist from the school of empiricism where they gain knowledge through doubt and then through examining personal experience, touching, seeing, feeling. Knowledge is gained through the senses. That is what Thomas was. He had to see it in order to believe it. This prompted Christ to bless those who have not seen but still believe.

We get this later on, John 20:29 let’s keep reading from that verse. John 20:29, we are going to back it up actually. We are going to go from 26, ‘A week later his disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them, though the doors were locked Jesus came and stood among them and said peace be with you.’

‘Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here, see my hands, reach out your hand, put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. Thomas said to him, my Lord and my God.’ He was probably crying now. ‘Jesus told him, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’

Have you seen Jesus? Do you believe? I believe. I hope you do too. Blessed are we who believe in Jesus, though we have not seen Him we have faith and not doubt. Now even though Thomas was a bit of a doubter, he still followed Jesus. Wholeheartedly followed Him.

Thomas was eventually killed for being a Christian. Now whether there is a divine plan or irony in this Thomas was killed by a spear. He is the one who said let me put my hand in your side, the spear hole that pierced Jesus. Thomas ended up being killed with a spear for being a Christian.

Do you have faith? Do you believe in Jesus or are you a doubter like Thomas, waiting to see, to touch, to feel before you believe? I hope you do not. I hope you are a believer, have faith, believe in Jesus and you will be saved.

It is simple, say dear Jesus come into my life. Thank you for dying for me. I want to believe in you. I want to live my life for you, every single moment of every single day. Forgive me of my sins and help me live my life for you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now if you need help with that, if you have some questions about that, comment below or reach out to us. Contact us, we are here to help. We will pray for you. You can comment below that you need prayer, anything. We will do that. We will pray for you. We will pray with you. Get out there, have faith, share Jesus. Thomas shared Jesus, he was also a bit of a doubter, I hope that you can cast aside that doubt and be fully immersed in faith.

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus thank you for Thomas. Thank you for the lessons that we can learn from Thomas through his doubting, through his skepticism. Thomas was a man who needed data and this is a person who a lot of people can identify with. Lord thank you so much that you chose him to be one of your twelve. Thank you so much that there was a calling on his life.

Thank you that there is a calling on our lives. I know there are people out there watching and listening Lord who can identify with Thomas. They say, yes, I gotta see it to believe it. I gotta feel it, I gotta touch it, I need to experience this in order to truly believe. They may not believe that certain things are possible unless they see it. They say 3d printing? I do not know what that is. I cannot even grasp that concept. Oh, I see it now, I believe it. They say cryptocurrency? I cannot grasp it. I see it, I believe it.

Lord, I ask that they would be able to change their mindset, that they would be able to believe in you without having to see it, Lord. That you would have each and every person out there inspired to have faith without doubt. That they would firmly believe in you and that they would share you each and every chance they get. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I hope you join us next week. We are on part number 8. Next week is number 9 of 14. We have got a little ways to go, stay with us, share it with your friends, your family, learn about these great men, join us next week for another great sermon. God bless.