Journey to Pentecost

April 13, 2010    John 20.26

It was one week later (after Easter) that Jesus walked through closed doors to confront Thomas.  This is amazing!  Remember it was Peter that Jesus personally asked for after His resurrection (Mark 16.7).   Now it was time for Jesus to get up close and personal with Thomas.  Both of these man had their “issues” to deal with.   Both of them had their excess “baggage” that needed to be emptied.  But Jesus goes out of His way to deal with both of them.   With Thomas he takes no chances at losing an opportunity to confront his doubt.  He enters through locked doors.  Absolutely amazing!

I wonder how many of us are filled with doubt and unbelief and we hide behind “closed doors” thinking that we can keep it to ourselves.  Heaven forbid that we reveal our inward doubts, fears and unbelief!   But Jesus knows us and understands us like no one else can.  He specifically targets those of us who wrestle with doubt and unbelief.  Why?  I can only answer this from experience – both personally and ministerially. 

Doubt is something we wrestle with before any facts or truth is revealed.  We doubt such and such – until we are given facts to substantiate whatever it is we’re doubting.  Doubt doesn’t have to have any substantial evidence for belief to begin with.  We can the absolute existence of something long before we ever are confronted with the manifestation of it.

Second, this thing of unbelief.  We have all held hands with it at some point in our life.  Someone once said that unbelief was belief that has come undone.  Like a shoe that was tied and has become untied.  Unbelief then is something or someone we have believed in only to find our “faith knot” has come untied.  We have been wrestled to the mat of belief and we have been pinned by the opponent and we are now “tapping out.”  All  of us have been there at one point or another.

But this is the type of issues that Jesus wants so desperately to prove Himself through.  He wants to challenge our unbelief.  He wants to challenge our doubt.  He so desperately wants to bring us back to a point of strong belief.  Belief is trusting someone or something with sheer uninhibited faith.   But here we are…behind closed doors.  Go ahead and shut the door.  Go ahead and lock it if you please.   There will come a time when Jesus will approach you and enter into your heart.  He will prove Himself to you.  He will give you undeniable evidence that He is alive and is desperate to have a relationship with you. 

Wouldn’t it be better to unlock the door and invite Him in?  He doesn’t have to wait for you to answer the door.  He could come in on His own.  He very well may do that someday…but I really think He would rather you open the door and let Him in.

Revelation 3.20 declares that Jesus is standing at the door and He is knocking.  Just remember this…the door handle is on the inside.