Misunderstood!

April 4, 2024

Misunderstood!

Have you ever been described in a way that did not match who you are?

Have you ever been skipped over because someone did not know your whole story?

Have you ever been misunderstood?

I think that’s what has happened to the Apostle Thomas.  It is clear that we don’t know a great deal about Thomas. 

+We know he was sometimes called “The Twin” so we could assume he was not an only child. 

+We know he was chosen by Jesus to be one of the original twelve people to follow where the Savior leads. 

+We know that he always wanted to see and hear and touch and taste and smell things for himself rather than simply and quickly take the word of another person.

I am probably more like Thomas than I would sometimes like to admit.  Someone reports something in a news story and I want to know their source. 

If they say, “I read it on Face Book!” I am immediately skeptical.  If they say they heard it on CNN or Fox News, I am immediately skeptical.  If they say they heard it from a politician running for office, I am immediately skeptical.

I want reliable sources (and often more than one!) before I jump on board with what I feel might be the next Titanic voyage.

Before Thomas would allow himself to buy into a new idea, a new experience, or a new way, he wanted to be sure the sources were reliable and accurate.  That’s why Thomas tells the other Apostles he will not believe Jesus had been raised from death to life until he saw and heard and touched the Risen Christ for himself.

In John 20:25 Thomas says to the others; “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put (i.e., touch!) my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Thomas wanted a first-hand experience of the Risen Savior!  I am like that, too.  I can celebrate your recent Jesus miracle or your recent Holy Spirit anointing or your recent outpouring of the Father’s tender mercy.  I can and will celebrate with you.  However, I want more!  I want those first-hand experiences of our living Lord for me, too.

When it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, Thomas is often called a doubter because he would not accept the verbal report of the other Apostles.  I think that label is unfair to the real heart of Thomas.

Thomas has been described in a way that did not match who he was.  Thomas was about to be skipped over because someone did not know his whole story.  Thomas has been misunderstood.

I was interested in being appointed as the pastor of a large church in eastern Nebraska.  I asked my District Superintendent to put my name in the conversation for consideration.  Some time passed and I did not hear anything.  When I asked about the status of my request my Superintendent answered; “Doug, they want someone who has experience living in the city.”

I was disappointed.  But more, I was offended because my Superintendent did not bother to learn that I had lived in Dallas, Texas for six years and lived in Omaha, Nebraska and Kansas City, Missouri before that.  My superintendent also did not bother to find out that I grew up and went to college in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

I was skipped over because my Superintendent did not know my whole story.  Because he did not find out for himself, he described me to the other Superintendents in a way that did not match who I was.

I wonder if that has ever happened to you.  It happened to the Apostle Thomas and it has happened to me.  The experience leaves us feeling misunderstood, dishonored, and even unloved and/or unappreciated.

All Thomas wanted on that Sunday evening after Jesus was raised from death to life was a first-hand experience of the Risen Savior.  And, that is the thing for which Thomas asked when he met Jesus.

After his own personal encounter with the Risen Savior, tradition tells us that Thomas was so convinced of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that he traveled from Jerusalem to India where he planted seven Christian churches.  That is what a personal encounter and a real relationship with the Risen Christ does for our lives. 

Deep down I think we want to know the living Jesus in a personal and intimate and real way rather than just accept a report of someone else’s experience.  We want the Risen Savior to live in us and through us. 

Maybe today is the day to ask Jesus to live in you in a personal, intimate, and real way.  When Jesus lives in you, your life will be filled with more and more delight.

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug