Believing Thomas
The LORD says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Psalm 110:1
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” John 20:28
One of Jesus’s disciples has been mislabeled “Doubting Thomas” for centuries. True, he didn’t believe the other disciples had seen the risen Lord, but their actions indicated they hadn’t believed Jesus’s declarations he’d be resurrected either.
When the women declared the tomb was empty, the ten disciples who were present considered the women’s words “nonsense” (Luke 24:11). But the disciples’ doubts were erased when Jesus entered a room even though the doors were locked! When Thomas saw Jesus the next week, he too believed. He didn’t need to touch Jesus to know he was real. He immediately proclaimed, “My Lord and my God.”
His declaration of Jesus’s identity is a powerful testimony. The word translated “Lord” is the Greek equivalent of two Hebrew words—Yahweh and Adonai. The word translated “God” is the Greek equivalent of Elohim. By saying “My Lord and my God” Thomas affirmed three truths: Jesus is Yahweh, the One True God of the Old Testament. He’s Adonai, the Owner and Master of all people, and He is also Elohim, the Triune Creator and Sovereign of the Universe.
Thomas’s statement mirrors David’s prophetic words in Psalm 110. David used the Hebrew words Yahweh and Adonai in verse one when he wrote, “The LORD says to my Lord.” Most English Bibles distinguish between these two names for God by using small caps for Yahweh (LORD) and lowercase letters for Adonai (Lord). In Matthew 22:43–45, Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1 to show the Pharisees that the Messiah is God.
Rather than labeling him Doubting Thomas, maybe we should call him Believing Thomas. He affirmed the truth David prophesied and Jesus clarified: the one true God had come in the flesh to redeem his people and is worthy of our devotion.
Many people view Jesus as a teacher, a role model, a prophet, or the founder of a religion. But that is not who he said he is. Like Thomas, every person needs to declare that Jesus is “My Lord and my God.”
Is that what you say about Jesus? If so, how does your life illustrate he is your Lord and your God?
DIG DEEPER:
Compare Thomas’ declaration in John 20:28 with John’s declarations both at the beginning and end of his book (John 1:14, John 20:30-31). Why are these statements so crucial to our understanding of who Jesus is?
Another name for God is I Am, which he revealed to Moses at the burning bush. Read Exodus 3:13–14. How did Jesus apply that name to himself in John 6:35–51, 8:58, 9:5, 10:9–14, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1–5 and 18:5–6?
What verses in Psalm 2 contain prophecies about the identity and the role of the Messiah? How did Jesus fulfill some of those prophecies in the past? How will he fulfill some of them in the future?
Denise K. Loock
This devotion is part of our series on Prophecies Fulfilled in the Easter Story.
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