Doubting Thomas: When Faith Sees Christ's Wounds

Prayer opens the service with petitions for peace, the church, civic leaders, and a long list of named intercessions. A blessing for children follows, sending them to their class with a petition for calm strength and patient wisdom to form lives that love what is true and lovely. Scripture frames the main reflection: John’s resurrection narrative and the encounter between the risen Christ and Thomas. The risen Lord appears to the gathered disciples, greets them with “peace,” and reveals the wounds that secure reconciliation between sinners and God. Thomas, absent for the first appearance, demands empirical proof—insisting on touching the nail marks and the pierced side before he will believe.

The reflection contrasts two ways of living: a life that insists on ironclad certainty before trusting, and a life that walks by faith grounded in multiple forms of evidence. Eyewitness testimony, fulfilled prophetic promises, and the transformed lives of believers all count as reasonable grounds for faith. Examples include the global fulfillment of Old Testament promises in the spread of worship from every nation and the spiritual deliverances attributed to the name of Christ. The piece argues that faith does not require abandoning reason; rather, faith often rests on cumulative, credible evidence and on a heart willing to surrender.

The discussion also addresses willful unbelief: doubt sometimes masks reluctance to yield control and change behavior. The risen Christ continues to invite responsive trust through visible signs of the covenant and through the sacraments. Communion embodies Christ’s presence on the Lord’s Day, offers the wounds of peace, and summons a wholehearted “yes” of heart, mind, and life. The service affirms the Nicene faith, celebrates the paschal mystery in liturgy and Eucharist, and sends worshipers into the world with a charge to walk by faith, hope, love, and joy. The closing blessing petitions ongoing transformation so that others will unexpectedly encounter Christ through visible change in his people.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Faith follows credible evidence Faith finds support in cumulative testimony: multiple eyewitness accounts, scriptural fulfillment, and changed lives create a web of reasonable grounds for belief. Those evidences invite trust without demanding impossible empirical certainty. Trust becomes a responsible posture toward reality, not a leap from intellect. [39:15]
• 2. Doubt often masks the will Skepticism can hide a reluctance to surrender control; refusing to believe may protect habits or comforts that commitment would threaten. Recognizing willful resistance helps transform intellectual questions into invitations for honest self-examination. True assent requires both reason and a heart ready to obey. [45:17]
• 3. Christ’s wounds secure our peace The risen Lord’s visible scars function as the means of reconciliation, showing that forgiveness flows from suffering borne on behalf of sinners. Those wounds authenticate the gospel and give the disciples confidence to proclaim mercy. Peace arrives not by abstract words but by a crucified and risen Savior. [33:18]
• 4. Sacraments make Christ present Baptism and the Eucharist act as tangible channels of the covenant, calling worshipers to touch, receive, and be transformed. The Lord’s Day gathering especially concentrates Christ’s presence and promise. Participation invites a lived response that confirms and deepens faith. [46:48]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [09:34] - Opening Prayers and Intercession
• [14:17] - Children’s Blessing
• [26:32] - Prayerful Preparation for Scripture
• [30:39] - Thomas and the Resurrection Encounter
• [35:44] - Thomas’s Demand for Proof
• [39:15] - Evidence for the Resurrection
• [46:48] - Sacraments, Presence, and Invitation
• [55:18] - Nicene Creed and Communion Rite
• [83:37] - Sending Blessing and Dismissal

Bible reading: John 20:24-29 (ESV)
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Observation questions

1. What was Thomas’s specific condition for believing that Jesus had risen from the dead?
2. What was the first thing Jesus said to the disciples when he appeared to them, and what did he show them? [31:08]
3. According to the sermon, what are some of the different types of evidence that were presented as reasonable grounds for faith? [39:15]
4. What was Thomas’s final, powerful declaration when he saw the risen Jesus?

Interpretation questions

1. Why do you think Jesus’s first words to his disciples were “Peace be with you,” especially considering they had abandoned him? [32:06]
2. The sermon suggests that doubt can sometimes be a mask for a will that is reluctant to surrender. What might someone be trying to protect or hold onto by refusing to believe? [45:17]
3. How do the visible wounds of Jesus function as more than just proof of his identity? What do they secure for us? [33:18]
4. Jesus tells Thomas, “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” What does this command imply about the role of the will in moving from doubt to faith?

Application questions

1. Faith often rests on cumulative, credible evidence from sources like eyewitness testimony, fulfilled prophecy, and changed lives. What piece of evidence for Jesus’s resurrection or power has been most compelling in your own journey of faith?
2. The first word Jesus speaks to his fearful and faithless disciples is “peace,” showing them the wounds that secured that peace. When you feel distant from God because of your own failures, how can this scene reshape your expectation of what you will find when you turn back to him?
3. We can sometimes demand a level of certainty from God that we don’t require in other areas of our lives, like believing in places we’ve never visited. [36:40] In what current situation are you struggling to trust God without having all the answers or complete certainty?
4. The sermon mentioned that we can miss out on Christ’s work of grace when we are not gathered with his people. [34:26] What is one thing you have personally gained or experienced during a time of corporate worship that you wouldn’t have experienced on your own?
5. A heart that is unwilling to surrender control can be a barrier to faith. [45:45] Is there an area of your life—a habit, a relationship, a dream—where you sense God is asking you to yield control to him, and your hesitation is more about your will than your intellect?
6. The sacraments are described as tangible channels where we can “touch, receive, and be transformed.” [46:48] How can approaching Communion with a sense of expectancy to meet with Christ change the way you participate in it?