Alive - by Dave Smith

On the one hand this seems reasonable enough. After all, dead
people generally do not rise! But there may have been something in
Thomas’ personality that made it especially hard for him to believe.
You may be able to identify with Thomas. Perhaps you are
someone who has lots of questions. There are different types of
questions. Those that are genuinely honest and explorative are tunnel
questions: the deeper you go through a tunnel, the nearer the light
you get. Questions that are cynical, destructive, or negative,
however, are like going into a cave. The deeper you go down, the
darker it gets. Cave questions are not so much trying to find answers
to difficult questions but rather an attempt to hide from the truth. 10 It
is important to consider whether our questions come from a true
desire to discover the truth, or a means of deflecting it.
Thomas was a genuine questioner. And Jesus, who loved Thomas,
graciously gave him the answers he sought. 11 In one of the most
dramatic accounts in the Bible we read how Jesus responded to
Thomas’ doubts (vv26–29).
So, what can we learn from this remarkable incident? It’s worth
noting that Jesus didn’t appear to Thomas when he was on his own
(which of course he could have done), but rather when the disciples
were gathered again. Almost all the described resurrection
appearances were to groups of people, which is a powerful counter
to the suggestion that the disciples were simply hallucinating. Maybe
this was why Jesus appeared to Thomas with the other disciples.
Had he appeared to him on his own, Thomas, with his potential for
questioning, may have always wondered whether he was making it
up. The fact that there were many other witnesses helped secure his
faith – and ours as a result. It’s also a further encouragement for
Christians to gather. Jesus obviously likes showing up (now by his