‘Stop Doubting and Believe’

‘This is what I told you … Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms.’

Luke 24: 44

‘Doubting’ is a word with a wide range of meanings.
At one level it can be the good, cautious response to unreliable ideas, statistics and dodgy promises.
At the other extreme it is stubborn unbelief.
I suspect it was this latter meaning which prompted Jesus
to tell Thomas to ‘stop doubting and believe’.
Given the fact that Jesus’ resurrection is a core Christian belief:

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

1 Corinthians 15: 14 NASB

anyone who will not accept the evidence for this is guilty
of the same sort of doubting that earned Thomas this challenging reproof from Jesus.

However, there are reasonable doubts which many Christians face:
questions and uncertainties which are healthy for us to pursue, rather than to bury and feel guilty.
Such doubts are best encountered with care, humility and faithful honesty.
Such an approach will strengthen Christian belief because Jesus is trustworthy and reliable,
as are the Scriptures which reveal him to us.
As for the sort of doubt which Thomas displayed and Jesus rebuked –
well, that still needs to be challenged today, even in our own hearts.
As the old chorus reminds us:

Trust and obey,
for there’s no other way
to be happy in Jesus,
but to trust and obey.

However, there is a sense in which we, as Christians in the twenty-first century,
are not privileged to see, touch and hear the risen Lord Jesus in the way in which Thomas did.
Nevertheless, Jesus calls us ‘blessed’ in John 20: 29: ‘blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe.’
Furthermore, Jesus talked about ‘believing’, i.e. trusting in him each day,
rather than merely accepting that the resurrection is true.
We who trust in the risen Jesus are blessed indeed, as we confidently live by his promises each day.
We live by faith and not by sight, but that faith is not blind faith!
The details of the Christian faith are some of the best attested events of history:
reliable accounts, witness testimonies and reasoning all support the truths of Christianity.

The disciples couldn’t easily believe that they were meeting the risen Jesus
late on the first Easter Sunday.
At first they thought they were seeing a ghost (Luke 24: 37).
So Jesus allows the disciples to touch his hands and arms.
He asks for some food to prove that he is alive (Luke 24: 41–43).
Then the Lord begins to tell them what has happened – his earthly ministry, death and resurrection –
had all been foretold many years before in the Old Testament and now were being fulfilled.
We perhaps know the saying about the Bible: ‘the New is in the Old concealed, the Old is the New revealed.’
The disciples were now starting to learn more about the promises of God –
what they are and the fact that God always keeps and honours his promises.
On that first Easter Sunday some amazing promises were fulfilled.
God’s promises are still relevant for us today.

Excerpts from ‘Living Light’

Let us pray:
Father, we praise and thank you for the life-changing message of Easter.
We pray for our family and friends who doubt the message,
and pray that we and Christians around the world will share fully and powerfully
the truth of the risen Christ.
We remember and pray for Christians who are being persecuted for their faith,
especially at this time.
Lord of Glory, show us more of yourself, and inspire all ministers and teachers of your word.
Please freshen our faith and cultivate our love.
Risen Lord Jesus, thank you for the blessings we can enjoy
by putting aside our doubts and uncertainties and building daily confidence in you.
Lord, thank you that you always do what you say and promise.

Father, touch our lives; and give them new life.

Lord of Glory, we ask you to bring healing and reassurance, comfort and wholeness
to all who are suffering from ill health.
We ask your blessings on all who are providing medical, nursing and other vital care for them.
As our country opens up gradually after lockdown,
we pray that everyone will continue to carry out safety measures.
We pray for people who are mourning the loss of loved ones;
also people with financial, housing and employment needs.
Spring, and all its delights are with us, the weather has improved
and we are coming out of the darkness of the virus; and into your refreshing light.

We pray for the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines
as they are experiencing terrifying volcanic eruptions.
They are in dire need of water, food, building and other supplies.
Loving God, we pray that countries will come to their aid quickly in order to relieve suffering.

Father, touch our lives; and give them new life.

Amen

God sent his Son, they called him Jesus;
he came to love, heal and forgive;
he lived and died to buy my pardon,
an empty grave is there to prove my Saviour lives.

Because he lives, I can face tomorrow;
because he lives all fear is gone;
because I know he holds the future,
and life is worth the living just because he lives.

Gloria and William Gaither

Church Family: Jesus lives!
Enjoy the Gift of Today!!

Glynne Gordon-Carter