Doubting Thomas: Westminster Seminary California 2008

Derke Bergsma focuses on the theme of doubt, specifically through the lens of the Biblical account of Thomas from John 20:19. Bergsma explores the nature of doubt, the circumstances that fuel it, and the resolution that faith provides, particularly emphasizing how doubt can be a gateway to deeper faith when addressed with the truths of the Gospel.

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

The following is a message by Doctor Dirk Bergsma from Westminster Seminary, California. For more information about this message or about Westminster Seminary, please visit us online at wscal.edu or call us at 888-480-8474 that’s online at wscal.edu. Or call us at 888-480-8474 please bow with me in prayer. We thank you, Father, for our Lord who was ascended to heaven and is seated at your right hand of glory. And now we praise you for the gospel which you’ve given to us and for the faith which you’ve borne within our hearts.

And we pray now that the words which we speak and the thoughts upon which we reflect and the song we sang may be acceptable in your sight, o Lord, for you are our strength and our redeemer. Amen. Be seated, please. Pt. 708 preaching class is preaching from the scripture, acknowledging certain great events in the life of a congregation. Special events like Good Friday, Easter, Christmas, funerals, weddings, and that sort of thing.

And since it’s been so close to Easter and the reappearance of our Lord Jesus with the resurrection, I have chosen to look to a passage of the scripture which is contemporaneous with those events in the life of Christ. It’s from John 20:19-31. Jesus’ appearance to the disciples after the resurrection. The concentration of our thoughts will be on Thomas’s response to the resurrection or Thomas’s testimony to Jesus’ resurrection. My class always expects a thematic idea. Well, there it is, guys. Thomas’ testimony to Jesus’ resurrection. What you’re about to hear is God’s word.

¹⁹ On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” ²⁴ Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” ²⁶ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” ²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” ³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:1-31, ESV)

Here ends the reading of this scripture. May the Holy Spirit bless it to all of our hearts.

Dear friends, after the resurrection, the disciples must have been. Excuse me.

After the crucifixion, the disciples must have been a discouraged lot. They had already abandoned Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. And now they were wondering what the future would hold. The Bible tells us that they were in an upper room, locked in an attic, scared for fear of the Jews. Of course, they were Jesus’ closest companions. And what happened to Jesus might very well happen to them. I like to speculate as to what they were discussing in that attic room.

I think they were strategizing ways to get out of town unscathed, whether they should sneak out one at a time, in small groups, or altogether to give some moral support. But whatever Jesus appeared to them, that must have been an unexpected shock. And he says, peace be with you. And the fact that Jesus repeated that statement suggests that they had to be calmed down. And yet it was a statement so similar to the way Jesus always spoke. Remember, he said, peace be still, and a storm ceased.

And now they hear him say, “Peace be with you.” And then the Bible says they were overjoyed because they had seen the Lord, but Thomas was not with them. And that shouldn’t be a surprise to us. I know Thomas is called doubting Thomas, but I like to call Thomas an unbelieving realist. You know what a realist is? A realist is someone who believes only what he sees and what he can touch. Only visible and tangible proof will convince a realist. It’s kind of a person Thomas was.

You know, what’s real from the point of view of a realist? Real estate. Have you ever wondered why they call it real estate? Well, because you can hold title deed to it, and it’s registered in the county courthouse. Money, we know its power, anything tangible, visible. Carl Sagan, you know, was a realist. He said his famous statement, “The universe is everything that is, everything that was, and everything that will be.” He would believe only what he could see, test, verify, and measure. He had to say measure, you see, because he can’t see gravity.

He can’t see radio waves, but he can measure them. And to Sagan and to most realists, you speak of God, you say, “Oh, where is he?” Faith, hope, love, that which is most real to the believing heart, least real to a realist, well, that’s the kind of person Thomas was. And that’s why I, for 01:00 a.m., am not surprised to read that Thomas was not with them when Jesus came. Of course not. It’s all over. Our hopes are dashed.

We had spent three good years following Jesus around, hoping that he would establish a Davidic-like kingdom. But it’s all over, guys, and Thomas was not with them. So here we have in these words of Jesus’ appearance, the second time, a week later in the same upper room when Thomas was with him. So I’d like you to hear Thomas’s testimony to the resurrection of Jesus. First of all, his doubting personality, and secondly, his sincere confession. Thomas portrait.

What we know of Thomas is restricted to one gospel, but fortunately, John gives us a glimpse into the personality, into the character of Thomas on three occasions. I’ll briefly mention the first two. And of course, our greatest interest is in the one we have in our scripture before us. The first one is in John 11. It’s the story of Lazarus, Jesus’ friend. Jesus apparently wasn’t in Bethany at the time when Lazarus became ill. So a messenger was sent to him, to Jesus, and was told that his friend Lazarus was sick.

Jesus, we read, remained two days in that place, wherever it was, and then casually announces to the disciples that he was going back to Bethany to visit his friend Lazarus. Well, that disturbed the disciples terribly because the last time they were there in Bethany, they were run out of town. They were stoned virtually to the threat of their lives. And the disciples say, Lord, let’s not go back to Bethany. The Jews seek to stone you. But after a little dialogue, Jesus says, well, our friend Lazarus is asleep. Good, say the disciples, he’ll be okay.

Sleep has recuperative powers. We don’t have to go there. Jesus finally says, “Our friend Lazarus is dead, and we’re going back to Bethany, that the glory of the Lord may be revealed.” And it’s at that point that Thomas breaks into the discussion and he says, “Let us go and die with him.” The realists had assessed the situation. There’s no hope. Jesus insists on going back. We’re through, guys. But he’s got the courage to stay with Jesus to the end.

So there’s commitment there, but no faith, no trust, no belief that Jesus is equal to the situation. The old realist is evident in Thomas’ response. The second portrait we have is in John 14, that marvelous passage that begins, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.

¹ “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. ⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:1-4, ESV)

Well, that’s the first four verses, and verse five is Thomas again breaking into the conversation, and he says,

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (John 14:5, ESV)

There he is looking at the situation. He says, “Lord, we haven’t seen anything. You haven’t given us any proof. Nice, pleasant words you’re speaking, but I want to see some evidence.” There he is doubting. Well, unbelief, that’s what Jesus later calls it.

Of course, we are indebted to Thomas and his statement to Jesus, with Jesus’ great response, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, ESV)

And then the third portrait in the Gospel of John is John 20:14-29. After Jesus had appeared to the disciples that very first resurrection evening, and Thomas was not with them, they apparently sought him out and they found him and said, “Thomas, we have seen the Lord.” They were sharing their joy, and Thomas’ response is unbelief.

²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (John 20:25, ESV)

You see why I call it unbelief, unbelieving realist. That’s more than just doubt, folks. That’s unbelief. Thomas virtually accuses his fellow disciples as bearing a false report, lying, and sets himself up as the standard of what’s true and what’s not true. But a week later, Jesus comes again and appears to the disciples his same greeting, peace be unto you. And Thomas is there. Let’s give him credit for that.

He’s not apart from the company of faith the second time around. And it’s as though, as we read the scripture lesson, that as soon as Jesus says, “Peace be unto you,” he turns immediately to Thomas as though he’s come just for Thomas’s benefit. If you need any more proof of a loving, compassionate savior, he turns immediately to this unbelieving realist, this unbelieving realist, and offers him the unreasonable proof that he requests. Jesus stoops to the level of Thomas’s unreasonable demands. “Put your finger in my wounds, put your hand into my side, and stop doubting; believe.”

And Thomas is overwhelmed. He sees, and it is enough. And he surrenders the usual second demand of a realist, namely touch, and says, my lord and my God.

²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus’ response to Thomas, however, brings us into the scripture, brings us into that revelational event, because Jesus says,

²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29, ESV)

And that’s where we come in.

You see, we are confronted with the very same proof that Thomas first rejected, namely the testimony of the disciples who became the apostles and are the primary writers of this New Testament we call the scripture. No wonder Jesus says, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

For they who have responded in faith to the written testimony of the disciples are not demanding visual, tangible evidence before belief. Because if we make that kind of a demand, the first chance we get for visible, tangible proof of Jesus’ resurrection is the judgment day, and then it will be too late. No wonder blessed, fortunate are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

And that’s the message you’re commissioned to bring to this world. Please bow with me in prayer.

Lord our God, we thank you that through your Holy Spirit you’ve touched our hearts to respond in faith to the gospel. We thank you that you convicted us of our own need for repentance and faith in the resurrected Lord.

And now, Father, embolden us to be witnesses to this world and its need for renewal and redemption, so that the company of those who declare Jesus Christ the resurrected Lord may be extended to the ends of the earth. And it’s his name, in his name we pray, Amen. I’m going to ask you to sing a chorus, okay? Please stand and sing. Hallelujah.

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