There are few things in life more disagreeable than the taste of your own foot in your mouth. You know what I mean? It happens when you unintentionally say something foolish, tactless, or offensive. Say you are in the buffet line at the church potluck on Easter Sunday and you point at a rather unusual looking casserole and say to the person next to you, “that looks nasty.” And the person replies with a harrumph, “Why, that’s my famous Asparagus-Macaroni loaf”. Open mouth, insert foot. Or let’s say you are at a company social event and your boss is standing next to an attractive young lady – a young lady you decide you would like to get know better- so you walk up to your boss and ask him to introduce you to his daughter. “That’s my wife!”, he snaps. Open mouth, insert foot. Or how about this one, both my wife and I have been guilty of this one. You see a young lady who has a certain glow about her. You notice she has a little pooch, a little belly bump so you walk up to her and say… “when are you expecting?” oh no, you did it to!? How did that foot taste when you saw her face flush with anger and heard her say through clenched teeth, “I’m not pregnant”? Open mouth, insert foot.
Open mouth, insert foot. We have all done it. We have all said something that we wish we hadn’t; something that, if we could, we would take back. Few people know the taste of their own foot better than Thomas, “25Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side [literally cram my fist into his side], I will not believe it.” I bet that was a group of words he wished were left unspoken. If he could, I’m guessing Thomas would take every single one of them back. But unfortunately for poor Thomas, not only could he not take it back but his foot in mouth moment has been forever memorialized in John 20:19-31.
The occasion for Thomas’ famous foot feast was a day not at all unlike today. It had been a week since the exciting events of Easter Sunday had occurred. Thomas had heard all about Mary Magdalene’s experience outside the empty tomb on Easter morning. The Emmaus disciples (as they would become known) told Thomas how their hearts were burning within them as Jesus talked with them on the road and opened Scripture to them so that they would understand that the Christ had to suffer these things and then enter His glory.[1] It seemed everyone had an Easter story to tell Thomas, even the disciples he trusted the most. They told him how on Easter evening they were together behind locked doors for fear of the Jews – perhaps they had heard the rumors that the chief priests and elders had bribed the Roman soldiers to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.”[2] – but despite the doors being locked suddenly “19Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” No doubt they admitted their own doubts to Thomas; telling him how they thought Jesus was a ghost, that is until He said, “touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”[3] The disciples tried explaining to Thomas how Jesus had to suffer and rise from the dead so that “repentance and forgiveness of sins” could be preached in His name to all nations.[4] The disciples tried to tell Thomas that the empty tomb was full of peace. But despite their best efforts, Thomas opened his mouth, inserted his foot, and said, “25Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
Why do you think Thomas was so full of doubt about Jesus’ resurrection? I mean besides the fact that no one in all of human history has ever raised themselves from the dead before. There are some who try to make a big deal of the fact that Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus appeared to them. They ask, why wasn’t he there? Did he wish to distance himself from them? Is his absence a result of unbelief? I suppose such explanations are possible but isn’t it equally as possible that Thomas just needed to pick up some eggs from the store? Or maybe he went out for an evening run? People have been known to do such things when sad or stressed. I don’t know maybe he was volunteering at a homeless shelter. What I am saying is I don’t think we need to assume the worst of the poor guy.
I think it is a mistake to vilify Thomas; after all, his dedication to Jesus was so great that he believed death with Jesus would be better than life without Him. A few weeks ago, when Jesus announced that He wanted to return to Judea, the disciples tried to talk Him out of it fearing that the Jews would stone Him as soon as He showed up. When Jesus could not be deterred it was Thomas who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”[5] And don’t forget Thomas is not the only one that doubted. All of the disciples doubted. John’s gospel does not mention it but in Luke’s account of these events we are told Jesus said to the disciples “why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?”[6] All the disciples struggled with doubt and yet we don’t refer to doubting James and John, doubting Peter and Matthew. I think it is unfair to refer to Thomas simply as doubting Thomas. How would you like to be known for one of your sins? We don’t call people ‘Greg the church skipper’ or ‘Beatrice the backstabber’. We don’t say, ‘look, there goes Lusting Larry and Lying Loraine!’ So why do we call poor Thomas ‘doubting Thomas.’ Yes, the guy doubted, but so did all the other disciples and let’s be honest so do we.
I don’t think Thomas struggled with doubt because he was a bad guy. I think he struggled with doubt for the same reasons we struggle with doubt. I think it was guilt. I think the guy was so full of guilt that there was no room for the peace the empty tomb had to offer. I think Thomas felt guilty because instead of dying for Jesus, as he had said he would do, he ran away from Jesus. He did not testify on His behalf as Jesus stood trial before the chief priests and teachers of the law. He did not object to the death sentence Pilate gave Jesus. When the mob was screaming “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Thomas said… well we don’t know that he said anything at all. I think Thomas understood that he had abandoned Jesus in a moment of sinful weakness. As a result, I think Thomas saw himself as such a bad sinner that he thought couldn’t possibly be forgiven. I think that’s why he doubted that the empty tomb was full of peace. I say that, because that’s why I doubt.
Consider what God says in Proverbs 12:22, “The LORD detests lying lips.”[7] The little white lies we tell ourselves to justify our behavior, the half-truths we admit in order to avoid accountability for our actions, the ego driven exaggerations we assert in the hopes of making ourselves look better, are detestable to our LORD. So much so, that God says, seven Proverbs latter, “he who pours out lies will perish.”[8] Those who tell; little white lies, half-truths, and exaggerations deserve to perish. Such is the wage of all sin, my friends. But you have done far worse than that, have you not? You have done horrible things, horrific things, hideous things even against people you claim to love. There are times, are there not, when you see yourself as such a bad sinner that you imagine you cannot possibly be forgiven. Has not guilt caused you to doubt that the empty tomb is full of peace?
I think Thomas was tormented by the guilt of his sin when Jesus came and stood before him and said, “26Peace be with you!” ‘Peace be with you Thomas.’ ‘This gut wrenching guilt that is tormenting you is not necessary.’ Jesus said to him, “27Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” Jesus does not say these things to mock Thomas, who’s foot is firmly in his mouth. No! Just because that’s something you and I might do does not mean it’s something Jesus would do. Jesus is not like us, Jesus is not a jerk. Rather, Jesus says these things to Thomas to make room in his heart for peace. Jesus instructs Thomas to look at His hands. There Thomas would see the marks left by the nails that held Jesus to the cross. Jesus instructs Thomas to reach out his hand and touch His side. There Thomas would feel the wound left by the spear that was thrust into Jesus’ side. Jesus wants Thomas to see these marks and wounds so that he would understand, the guilt that wrenched at his gut had been paid for on the cross. With the innocent suffering and death of His one and only Son God had forgiven that which Thomas thought unforgiveable. Jesus removed Thomas’ guilt so that Thomas could “27stop doubting and believe”; so that Thomas could at last see that the empty tomb was full of peace.
This section of Scripture, this account of “doubting Thomas” for those who insist on calling it that, is recorded because Jesus wants you who feel what Thomas felt, to see what Thomas saw. Jesus wants you to see His horrible, horrific, hideous wounds so that you understand that all of your horrible, horrific, hideous sins have been paid for. That guilt you have been carrying around is not necessary, my friends. With the innocent suffering and death of His one and only Son God has forgiven you as well. The risen Lord and His empty tomb invite you to “27stop doubting and believe”; so that you too can see that the empty tomb is full of peace.
Aren’t you glad that you are not known for your most embarrassing foot in mouth moment? I know I am happy that I am not known as Harmon the belly bump bungler. (I fear I have just given y’all an idea). I fear poor Thomas will be forever known by his most embarrassing foot in mouth moment. And that’s unfortunate because Thomas, with his soul full of peace, is the one who gives the most complete confession of faith yet given concerning the freshly resurrected Jesus. Thomas said to Jesus, “28My Lord and my God!” Peter once called Jesus “the Christ the Son of the living God”, recently Mary called Jesus “teacher” and “Lord”, but Thomas is the first to call Jesus “God”. And, according to tradition, after Pentecost, Thomas went to India and shared the peace of the empty tomb by preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins in the name of his resurrected Savior. So perhaps instead of referring to him as “doubting Thomas”, we who so readily identify with him ourselves, should start calling him “Thomas the confessor”, “Thomas the evangelist”, or “Thomas the purveyor of peace” … Just a thought.
It might be too late change the way people refer to poor Thomas, but it’s not too late for you. Jesus said to His disciples, “21peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Jesus sends us into a world full of people tormented with guilt. It’s our job to show them the empty tomb full of peace. In the name of our risen Savior, who comes to us this morning with a message of peace, may we, in turn, be known as purveyors, proclaimers, prognosticator of His peace! For, my friends, the empty tomb is full of peace. Christ has risen! He has risen indeed! Amen.
[1] Luke 24:25-35
[2] Matthew 28:13
[3] Luke 24:39
[4] Luke 24:46-47
[5] John 11:16
[6] Luke 24:38
[7] Proverbs 12:22
[8] Proverbs 19:9