[Shepherding the sheep with One heart] Be a Man of Faith

  • 2016.11.07 17:48

God surely use the one who has faith. Thomas couldn't believe when the disciples said, "Jesus is raised from the dead."

 

"Unless 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”. 

 

Once we die, we can’t come back to life.  That is a fact of life.  Thomas couldn’t believe, because rising from the dead goes against the facts of life.  At that moment, although the doors were locked, Jesus came into the room and said to Thomas: " Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." (John 20:27)

 

Through doing this, Jesus wanted His disciple to believe in Him.  According to tradition, when the disciples started their missionary journeys after Jesus’ ascension, Thomas chose to go to India, where he was cruelly martyred. 

Although the disciples tried to stop him going to India, Thomas was determined to go.   

 

Thomas was a mason, so he carved messages onto the rocks wherever he stopped on his journey, writing, “Jesus was raised from the dead”.  He was killed by bamboo spear in the East Indies.  However, we can still see the messages that he carved onto the rocks.  He had repented deeply because he had doubted that Jesus was raised from the dead.  I believe that Thomas carved, “Jesus was raised from the dead” onto the rocks, hoping that other people would not make the mistake that he had.   

 

The person who thoroughly realises his unbelief can be used by God.  We should learn a lesson from the mistakes that we make in life.  The person who realises his faults can be changed.  When he has God’s faith, God will use him. 

 

 

 

 

Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #490 (July 30, 2016)