The Most Perplexed Sensitive Troubled Soul Can by the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ Come to Faith!

Thomas you can be such a help at times.

Thomas is a troubled sensitive beleaguered but courageous soul in that Upper Room. Are we not all a mixture of these emotions and feelings to some degree? We move from that scene in John Chapter 14 onto John Chapter 20. Do take time to read this amazing revelation in John’s Gospel.

Can we this coming week minister to some troubled sensitive beleaguered soul? We will not have far to look for one.

Not that we want to bring someone into a little private spiritual haven, but into the reality of faith in Jesus Christ.

We move on.

It is Resurrection Evening and is this not a scene where Thomas should have played his part? But, he did not. There they are – not twelve – not eleven – but ten – behind barred bolted doors cowering and afraid – and suddenly they hear the sound of a dear remembered voice – “Peace be unto you”.

Is that the word you so need today?

You are looking for solace and rest and peace and the only place where can find these gifts and blessings is in Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ and from Jesus Christ.

John inserts here that Thomas was not with the disciples.

Was Thomas in India when this was written? Was John in Ephesus a long way from Thomas? There is substantial evidence outside the Word of God that Thomas travelled east to India.

But Thomas and John are not alongside each other as John writes, or else, might Thomas not have said – Don’t write that! Don’t tell them! Don’t let the world know that I was not there!

Judas – well the field of blood tells us where he was, but Thomas, where was he? Thomas missed Jesus Christ by not being present, on resurrection evening, and Jesus Christ missed Thomas.

Why was his place empty? What can have kept him away?

Was he too preoccupied with his sensitive thoughts to be with the frightened others? Has Thomas enough troubles? We are not told and it is just as well, because we might think we have a better reason for not being present!

When the Fellowship of the Church of Jesus Christ in your locally is meeting, make sure you are present whenever it is possible.

Was Thomas walking the streets of Jerusalem alone with his own thoughts and griefs and memories?

It is Passover. It would be bright.

Were the outlines of the cross still visible on Golgotha’s horizon?

It is the coming of Jesus, and the presence of Jesus, that always transforms everything, and Thomas had missed all that.

Imagine the next morning – Thomas meets Peter and John whose faces were a joy.

Thomas, where have you been? Why were not with us last night? We have seen the Lord!

You are dreaming and deluded, and hallucinating. This is just some crazy story put about by Mary Magdalene. For me to believe I would have to grasp Him.

The strain of life can make a man say things and do things.

We move on – seven days later – what a week it has been for Thomas – the loneliness of it all – the crushing hopelessness.

Peter and John seek him out. Tomorrow, be with us, in the Upper Room. We want you to be there.

Thomas cannot fall asleep that night. What if they were right? What if it just might be true? I will go.

Can you hear Peter praying in that evening meeting? Use your sanctified imagination.

“Jesus risen and alive, come amongst us. Jesus, conqueror of death hear our prayer. Jesus, reveal yourself to our brother that he may share our joy and gladness”.

And then the answer comes, “Peace be with you!”

Thomas is startled, and Thomas is immediately assured that this is Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. Thomas does not even sit the test Jesus proposed. All he could say was, “My Lord and my God!”

Is it not significant that one of the finest confessions of faith in the New Testament comes from Thomas?

The most perplexed sensitive troubled soul can by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ come to believing faith.

God in Christ came that night seeking Thomas! The others all knew. There was no other reason for Jesus to appear. It is a very personal message.

There are moments when Jesus Christ breaks through – breaking down the closed locked door, in loving kindness, and with mercy and grace, shining His light in whatever dark corner might remain!

There can be many varied dark corners in our lives. Come, risen and living Lord Jesus and shine in our darkness and reveal yourself to us even through this article.

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children’s Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled “Word from Scotland” on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.

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