Thomas The Twelve Apostles Sermon Series Part 8 of 14

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Now, right now, we’re in the midst of a sermon series on the Twelve Apostles. We have spoken of several of them already. We’ve really learned a lot about these men. They’re great men, great Christians that can inspire you to live a life closer to Jesus.

You can do it. Now we’re on number eight. We’ve got 14 total. So we’re a little over halfway there. We’ve got another month and a half of this sermon series. Month and a half, two months.

But if you – but this is, but if you – haven’t seen any of them. If you have not seen the others – we’ve had seven before this – you can check them out. They’ll 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’ve talked a lot about these great men. Today we’re talking about Thomas. He is one of the disciples that most people can name. We’ve mentioned in the opening introductory message that sadly only about 5 percent of the world’s population — 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. So they get those three.

And then most other people get Matthew and John. So they get about five and that’s pretty much where they stop. Why do they get Matthew and John? Well, that’s 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 doesn’t work either and so then they say John, okay, yep John is one.

And they get about five and that’s it. Hopefully, you can name more than five and, hopefully, by the end of this sermon series, you’ll 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 three times. Didymus, that is Thomas Didymus and/or doubting Thomas.

Now, although, it is very convenient in the English language for sounding of 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’s funny, that word means twin. Thomas was 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 don’t know how they get that, because if it was Jesus’ twin brother then he would also be divine and he’s not, so it can’t be.

So let’s dismiss that right away. Thomas was definitely not a twin of Jesus. However, Thomas and Didymus also – means twin. So, Thomas must’ve been a twin.

It’s very, very possible he had a twin brother somewhere out there and his twin might’ve continued up with the family business. Or chose not to follow the 12, or maybe who knows.

We don’t 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 21, John Chapter 21 Verse 2 and 3 (John 21:2-3) “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 don’t 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.”

So Thomas went out fishing with these other disciples. It’s possible Thomas was a fisherman, we don’t know. It wasn’t 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 raises — 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, 11 to 16 (John 11:11-16). Again all of these verses are going to be referenced in the description, so if you’re not able to look them up, don’t feel bad because I’m 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’re 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’re in John Chapter 11 Verses 11 to 16 (John 11:11-16).

“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’m going there to wake him up.” What do you think wake him up meant? He’s 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? You traveled with me for years and you still don’t get it?”

So He says plainly, I mean plainly. “Lazarus is dead.” And 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’re 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’s what the point of this message is. He conquered the grave and they didn’t figure this out until much later when Jesus himself died and was dead-dead.

Three days dead. You’re dead. You’re not coming back. There’s no mistake that you could be in a fallen asleep in a coma and then wake up. Three days, you’re done.

That’s when they put the sealant on the tomb. You were dead, dead. Gone. Dead forever. So Jesus — three days. Dead-dead then rises from the dead. Conquered the grave.

Lazarus, same type of deal. He was three days dead. Gone. “So that,” 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, he, he doesn’t know what is going on. He’s just doubting. He’s doubting what is going on and he doesn’t believe that Jesus — what Jesus is saying. He doesn’t know.

Now, continuing on, Jesus goes and comforts the sisters of Lazarus and tries to explain everything to them and is saying like, and saying, you know, “Hey, don’t worry, he is fine, he will rise again,” and they don’t get it. “Oh sure, we know he will rise again when we all see him in Heaven.” He’s like, “No you guys.”

And eventually, we get to a part where Jesus wept, and that is the part that is grossly misunderstood. And if you want to know more about that, then you have gotta keep watching. We’re going to get there into that sermon another time.

But He didn’t 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’s what is going on.

Anyway, Thomas didn’t 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’ve 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’s more to the story. Get with the program.

We know this wasn’t 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. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that 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 to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we don’t 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’re 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 don’t know where you are going. How do we know the way?” He was doubtful. He was a skeptic. He didn’t 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 12, 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 don’t know.

I’m a little bit cruel there. I shouldn’t be so cruel to poor Thomas. He was off doing something. Whatever he was doing we don’t 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 don’t know, but they were there.

So the other disciples — they told Thomas — they said, “We’ve 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. And 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.” “How do you, what is it? Can you explain it to me?”

Pretend you don’t know or something. Where did it come from? “Oh, it’s from the disciple Thomas.” Maybe they won’t know. “Well, because this nail mark, and then they’re talking about Jesus” — and then introduce Jesus.

But anyway, it’s 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, you know, they traveled together for three years. This group of men.

And if you know Jesus, man, 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.

And so, these men were traveling around with Jesus listening to Him banter, the jokes, they probably played jokes on each other. Practical jokes. It was, they were, they probably had a lot of fun together.

So Thomas, after being out, comes back and the other disciples were there. Ten of them, because remember Judas had offed himself and he was no longer around.

So 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’ve seen Jesus.”

Now Thomas, maybe is thinking “They’re playing a joke on me. No, I don’t believe it.” And they’re 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 won’t believe.” They’re 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’ve told you before we gotta take it spiritual. When something happens in this world, we gotta remember that it’s 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’s 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’s 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. And we get this later on, John 20:29. Let’s keep reading from that verse.

John 20:29. So we’re going to back it up actually, we’re going to go from 26, (John 20:26-29) “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,” — directly to Thomas, “‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” He was probably crying now. “Then 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’s 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 don’t. I hope you’re a believer. Have faith. Believe in Jesus and you will be saved.

It’s 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’re here to help. We’ll 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.

So Lord, thank you so much that you chose him to be one of your 12. 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 don’t know what that is. I can’t 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’re on part number eight. Next week is number nine of 14. We’ve 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.