From Doubt to Devotion, Easter through the eyes of Thomas
Sunday, April 20, 2025
Reverend Larry Deering
John 20:19-29
So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus [Thomas] (Aramaic) and [Didymus] (Greek) both mean [twin].), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
So the other disciples told him, "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."
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 and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Genesis 17:17
Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"
Psalms 13:1
(For the director of music. A psalm of David.)How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
Matthew 11:2-3
When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples
to ask him, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.
"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. That is, the realm of the dead For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.
But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
1 Peter 1:8
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
