Thomas' Example
Scripture – John 11:12-16: His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then 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.” Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Observation – (Write down what you see in the scripture.) Over the years, Thomas has been known as “the Doubter.” We’ll see why that came to be later in John’s gospel. Thomas, it seems to me, was a realist. Faith was hard for him. At the same time, his commitment to Jesus was deep. That depth is seen in his statement here. He knew people in power were looking for Jesus in order to kill Him. Thomas fully expected that would be the end result of this trip back to Judea. Given that, he’s ready to follow anyway. His call to the other disciples still comes to us, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Doubts or not, Thomas put his life on the line for Christ.
Application – (Write how you will be different today because of what you have just read.) What does “dying for Christ” mean in this day and age – in this culture in which I live? When it comes down to it, what do I sacrifice at all? I will let those questions disturb me today.
Prayer – (Write out a brief prayer.) Lord, strengthen my commitment to you. You know I love you. You know I can say I will give up my life for you. And you know who I am at the deepest level of my life. Please continue to work with me there.
An Invitation – If you’re interested in a face to face discussion about what we’ve been discovering in the Mini-Journal, join us at Bethel Baptist (Trenton & Venness in Southgate) this Sunday morning, 9:45 – 10:30am.
Observation – (Write down what you see in the scripture.) Over the years, Thomas has been known as “the Doubter.” We’ll see why that came to be later in John’s gospel. Thomas, it seems to me, was a realist. Faith was hard for him. At the same time, his commitment to Jesus was deep. That depth is seen in his statement here. He knew people in power were looking for Jesus in order to kill Him. Thomas fully expected that would be the end result of this trip back to Judea. Given that, he’s ready to follow anyway. His call to the other disciples still comes to us, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Doubts or not, Thomas put his life on the line for Christ.
Application – (Write how you will be different today because of what you have just read.) What does “dying for Christ” mean in this day and age – in this culture in which I live? When it comes down to it, what do I sacrifice at all? I will let those questions disturb me today.
Prayer – (Write out a brief prayer.) Lord, strengthen my commitment to you. You know I love you. You know I can say I will give up my life for you. And you know who I am at the deepest level of my life. Please continue to work with me there.
An Invitation – If you’re interested in a face to face discussion about what we’ve been discovering in the Mini-Journal, join us at Bethel Baptist (Trenton & Venness in Southgate) this Sunday morning, 9:45 – 10:30am.
1 Comments:
In the verse, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." ... the discussion group came up with a different meaning than this all together. Some of us took it as him to not mean Jesus but to mean Lazarus. Thomas may have may have wanted to experience the death and then awakening by Jesus. He may have wanted to see it to believe it. You missed a really indepth discussion about this. :)
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