Thomas

Sunday Reflection – April 16, 2023

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Jesus visits the disciples

John 20 19 The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them 20 and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.

21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23  If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don’t forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”

24 Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t with the others when Jesus appeared to them. 25 So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won’t believe unless I do this!”

26 A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples 27 and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”

28 Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”

30 Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.

Performed by Margaret Whisselle

Kids Korner: Thomas has questions (April 16th)

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Read John 20:19-31 with your family.

Thomas had questions. He watched Jesus die and had a hard time believing that Jesus had come back to life.

Lots of people have questions about God and Jesus, about coming back to life, about why bad things happen and about what it means to live a Christian life. It’s okay to ask questions. In fact, we should ask lots of questions because faith and doubt work together.

We should never be told “just believe” as if that answers all the questions. When Jesus was asked questions by those who truly wanted to understand, he always took time to help them and answered the best he could.

Thomas always believed in Jesus and what Jesus stood for. He just had trouble believing with his eyes.

Jesus didn’t tell the disciples that the people who believed without seeing were better people, he just knew he wouldn’t always be around to prove it to others the way he proved it to Thomas, so it was the job of the disciples and all followers to help answer those questions for everyone else.

Sunday Reflection, Easter II – April 24, 2022

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Jesus appears after Resurrection

John 20 19 The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them 20 and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.

21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23  If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don’t forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”

24 Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t with the others when Jesus appeared to them. 25 So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won’t believe unless I do this!”

26 A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples 27 and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”

28 Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”

30 Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.

Performed by Margaret Whisselle

Kids Korner: Thomas has doubts (April 24th)

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Read John 20:19-31 with your family.

Thomas had doubts. He was like most followers of Jesus throughout 2000 years of history. Doubts is not the opposite of faith. Doubts just means you have questions, and questions help us grow our faith. If everyone had perfect faith, we wouldn’t have any conversations about faith and we would never know if someone has misunderstandings.

Doubts are a good thing.

Talk about some of your doubts with your family. Thomas still believed in Jesus even though he had a hard time understanding that Jesus came back from the dead. We can all believe in Jesus and still have questions.