Title: Thomas, Touch Me.
Contents
Thomas, touch me.
John 20:24-29
Among the disciples of Jesus, Thomas gives important lessons so that we can keep the right religious attitude without leaning to one side.
The Bible does not mention Thomas in detail. His name was recorded in the list of 12 disciples of Jesus. However, only some records of him can be found in the Gospel of John.
Now, let's take a look at Thomas's religious attitude, focusing on the Gospel of John.
1. open mind
First of all, it is worth remembering that Thomas was one of Jesus' 12 disciples.
According to various sources, he, like many of his disciples, was from Galilee and was a fisherman.
Like Peter and the fisherman disciples, Thomas obeyed and followed Jesus' call.
It tells you that you had an open heart to the Lord.
In John 11:16, there is a story that says, “Thomas, also called Didymus, said to the other disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with the Lord.”
Jesus was ministering around the Jordan River. An urgent scorpion has arrived.
As Lazarus is sick and dying, he asks him to come quickly and heal him.
After two days, Jesus asked his disciples to go with him to the house of Lazarus.
But the disciples were reluctant to go. It was because he was stoned to death twice while serving in that area just recently. Because he escaped that danger and escaped to where he is now.
Now, if you go there again, you will be caught and killed again.
Then Thomas came out. “Let us also go so that we may die with the Lord.” This means that we will uphold Jesus' decision to go. Even if you die with the Lord while following the Lord, you will obey and follow Him.
Because we are following the Lord with an open heart.
Whatever the word of the Lord is, it is positively received.
That's right. Thomas basically had his heart open to the Lord. The advantage is different from the skeptics. Skeptics are closed minded. So I look at everything with a stern eye.
I am always caught up in a critical view. So, criticism for the sake of criticism has become a habit.
The philosopher Henri Bergson divided people into two types in his book Time and Freedom.
One is a closed-minded person and the other is an open-minded person.
A person with a closed mind looks at everything with suspicious eyes. So it's always negative.
But an open-minded person knows how to believe.
I am humble and know how to listen. So it's positive.
That's right. In the end, it is a matter of the heart. Consider, for example, the conflict between father and mother.
Conflict arises because mother-in-law and daughter-in-law look at each other with closed hearts.
Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law look at each other with suspicious eyes. They are always negative about each other.
In the end, the mother-in-law always feels sad, and the daughter-in-law always feels sad.
But when we look at each other with an open mind, it is different. I try to believe in everything.
positive about each other. So my mother-in-law looks like my mother-in-law.
The daughter-in-law looks like her daughter in marriage.
Likewise, we must look to God with an open mind.
We must deal with the Bible with an open mind. We must participate in the church life with an open mind.
We must not remain skeptical of faith.
You must always stand before the Lord with a positive mind. We must follow the Lord with a positive faith.
2. Thorough Faith
In John 14, right before Jesus was arrested, He left behind the words that He had never said to His disciples.
When the disciples saw it, it was really unexpected.
In particular, 14:2-4 says this. “I am going to prepare a place for you; if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. You know the way and where I am going.” Jesus said to his disciples It means saying goodbye to you.
He is going to prepare a place for the disciples. And he said that he would know where he was going because he had already spoken to them many times.
But the disciples did not know what the meaning of those words was. I never imagined that they would leave them alone. In such a yard, there was no way to know where you were going or why you were going.
But none of the disciples came forward. I didn't know, I didn't realize, but I stayed still
At this point, Thomas comes out. In John 14:5, “Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Then the Lord answered with that famous word.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”
Thomas was a thorough man. I couldn't get past what I didn't know.
I couldn't pretend I didn't know. So I asked the Lord and I came to understand it properly.
In John 20, the story of Jesus appearing to His disciples after His resurrection is recorded.
However, Thomas was not there. The disciples told Thomas about it.
Then Thomas said to the other disciples:
“Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the marks of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). The Lord appeared to Thomas.
As he said, he made them touch the Lord's hand with nail marks and touch the side of the Lord with spear marks.
Then Thomas confessed.
“You are my Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Thomas was a thorough man.
I couldn't get past the unbelievable. Unbelievable and unable to pretend to believe.
So I asked and got a definitive answer.
That's right. Thomas was a strong believer. I couldn't pretend I didn't know.
I couldn't pretend to believe because I couldn't believe it. This is different from blind believers.
They cover it up and believe it. Even if you don't know, you just pretend to know. Even if you don't believe, you pretend to believe
Such people do not deepen their faith. Faith cannot grow.
In fact, most children go to church with their parents. I went because my parents went, and I believed because I believed. However, it changes when you enter late adolescence or adolescence.
You must believe in yourself to go to church and believe in Jesus.
That is why many people suffer spiritually during this time.
It is the pain experienced in the process of confirming the beliefs of your parents and others with your own beliefs.
Although not a few people do not pass this period well and leave the church, most people achieve a religious upgrade with thorough faith during this period.
We must fully understand and believe in Jesus. If you don't know, you have to ask. You must experience it thoroughly and believe in Jesus. If you have not experienced it, you must ask God. Don't be swayed by blind faith.
You must read the Bible in depth. You must listen carefully to the sermon.
We must stand before the Lord with more thorough faith.
3. Hot Devotion
In John 21:1-2, there are noteworthy words recorded. “After that, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the lake of Tiberias, and these were the manifestations: Simon Peter, Thomas, who was called Didymus, Nathanael the Canaan of Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were with them.” Resurrected Jesus This is the story of Jesus meeting his disciples on the Sea of Galilee. Among them, Thomas is introduced after Peter.
When introducing the name of a disciple of Jesus, it is introduced as the 7th in Matthew and 8th in the Gospels of Mark and Luke. But here it is appearing for the second time. Of course, it is not certain whether all of the 12 disciples met the Lord in this scene, but Thomas is being introduced for the second time anyway.
What does this mean? This implies that Thomas, who was doubtful, had changed his devotion to the Lord after he met the Lord and had thorough faith.
It shows that we have come to serve the Lord more fervently than in the past.
In Jerome's [People], a document of the early church, it is recorded that Thomas preached to various tribes in India, such as Partea, Medici, Persia, Karmani, Hirkani, Bucktree, and Magi, and died in India.
In the 1500s, when Vasco da Gama and his group, a Portuguese expedition, went to India, they discovered a surprising fact. The churches that Thomas had built prospered in various parts of India.
Especially in Mylapoa, the king and most of the people were even converted to repentance.
In addition, we found a record of spreading the gospel to China using the local church as a base.
It is said that he was stoned and pierced with a spear while being persecuted for envy by the Brahmins in this Mylapoa.
That's right. Thomas was a very warm-hearted person. Even though he believed in Jesus, he believed with enthusiasm.
After meeting the resurrected Lord, I experienced the descent of the Holy Spirit and went out to preach the gospel to far east India.
That is, it has gone farther than China.
Ultimately, they followed the Lord, drank the leftover cup of suffering and walked the path of martyrdom.
If we really want to believe, we have to believe passionately. You must not believe like those Laodiceans who neither believe nor disbelieve. Do not be afraid of suffering and persecution.
We need to get out of the level of embarrassment because of the problem of keeping the Sunday.
You need to get out of the level where your hands are shaking when you donate.
We must lead a life of faith in which we devote ourselves to the Lord with a fervent heart.
The life of faith is like walking on a razor blade. Don't fall into blind faith with an open mind.
Do not fall into skeptical tendencies with thorough faith. Furthermore, you must fervently dedicate yourself.