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By John MacArthur
Matthew chapter 10. And we have the happy privilege these days, as
we go through the gospel of Matthew, of focusing in this tenth
chapter on the Master’s men. Those very special individuals who were
chosen by our Lord to be His disciples. Later to be His Apostles
sent to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
It’s a tremendous thrill for me, and I trust for you as well, to
find out that these men chosen as the personal agents of Jesus
Christ, these men that we imagine so often to be stained glass
saints with some kind of holy perfection that has alluded the rest
of us, are nothing more than people just like we are. And that God
is in the business of using all kinds of people to do very, very
high level, divine, spiritual and eternal tasks.
It struck me, particularly this week, as I was thinking about the
Apostles, how few there were of them. You know, when we think about
a church having a great impact we think about a church having a lot
of people. I was talking to a gentleman yesterday from Europe who
said to me — You know, it’s so difficult for us because we only have
29 people in our church. And he said — I live in a city, the city of
Lyon, which has two million people and there are only 15 churches
and most of them don’t have any impact at all. The odds are so much
against us. And yet as you study the disciples you find that these
twelve, really eleven, were pitted against not only the human system
but the demon system as well. Just eleven faithful men, not
particularly gifted either.
As we saw last week, all of them basically unqualified for the task.
And yet these men literally turned the world upside down. It is
amazing what God can do with just a very few people. Humanly
speaking the world hails the few who attack the many, you know? I
mean, when an individual goes up against great odds, the world
esteems them heroes even if they lose.
Some of you, perhaps, remember from your days of literature reading
The Charge of the Light Brigade. The six hundred at
Balaklava, the heights were manned by skilled soldiers standing
behind a vast circle of cannons. The command went forth — Forward
the Light Brigade, charge for the guns. The soldiers knew they were
totally outmanned, they knew that there was no way they could win.
They knew that someone had blundered, in the command but theirs was
not to reason why, theirs was to do or die. And the poet says, “Half
a league, half a league, half a league onward all into the valley of
death marched the six hundred. Cannon to the right of them, cannon
to the left of them. Cannon in front of them, volleyed and
thundered. Stormed at with shot and shell. Boldly they rode and
well. Into the valley of death. Into the mouth of hell.. .rode the
six hundred.” They are remaining through history as heroes. Not
because they won but because they were so few against so many and it
speaks of such courage and such devotion to duty.
And then there was that great charge that we know as The Charge of
Pickett in the Civil War. The Union Army had the heights. They had
the heights manned with three times the number of men Pickett had in
his command. They were supported in the rear by a powerful armed
battery and yet General Lee gave the command to charge. The command
came through his subordinate General Longstreet and Longstreet faced
Pickett who was to lead the men and he couldn’t speak. And he stood
hesitatingly without saying a word and Pickett said to him
—“General, shall I go forward?” And Longstreet almost broken hearted
at the prospect of the inevitable death of the flower of the
Southern Army, couldn’t speak a word so he merely nodded his head.
And Pickett went and the Charge of Pickett was the great heroic
charge of the Civil War but the men fell like grass before the
sickle.
We remember their courage. We remember their devotion of duty, but
they lost. I believe there are some more amazing things than this.
You see, man may be courageous. Man may be devoted to fulfill his
duty. But he is still man. And because he is weak he cannot overcome
certain odds. But quite the contrary is it when God gets into the
act. For God can take a very few, fewer than the six hundred and
fewer than Pickett had, and He can overrun the most vast enemy of
all.
Shamgar, a judge in Israel, one day picks up an ox goad, a sharpened
stick used to prod an ox, and with it kills 600 enemies.
And then there was Deborah and Barak. And soon after the great
victory of Deborah and Barak, a new enemy arose in the land of
Israel, the enemy was the Midianites. And in league with the
Amalekites they sort of dominated Israel for seven years. Israel
came to the place where they were about ready to give in to this
oppressing domination when God raised up a very unique man by the
name of Gideon. Gideon was ready to do battle with the Midianites
and their allies the Amalekites and he gathered his army and his
army numbered 32,000 men. God said, That’s too many. That’s 31,700
too many. And He cut it down to 300 men. And in Judges 7:12 it
describes the enemy: “And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all
the children of the east lay along in the valley,” and it was the
valley of Moah, “and they were like grasshoppers for multitude, and
their camels were without number like the sand by the seaside for
multitude.” It doesn’t mean that God couldn’t count them, it means
that standing there and looking there was no way you could sort out
heads or animals to make a count. They were just like the sea sand.
And here was Gideon with his 300. You know who won? Gideon, and all
he did was make a bunch of noise and the Midianites and the
Amalekites all killed each other in the confusion.
You see, when you add the supernatural then the few not only become
heroes because of their courage and their devotion but because of
their victory.
One more illustration, and maybe this sums up the point. First
Samuel chapter 13, turn to it for a moment. The seemingly endless
struggle with the Philistines is going on. Saul is the reigning
monarch of the people of Israel. And they again face a battle with
the Philistines. They are in a severe situation, very bad. And as
you flow through chapter 13 it goes from bad to worse to worst.
Verse 5, I Samuel 13: “The Philistines gathered themselves together
to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, six thousand
horsemen, and people like the sand which is on the seashore in
multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, eastward from
Bethaven.”
Now here is an overwhelming enemy, literally overwhelming enemy.
"And when the men of Israel saw that they were hedged in, for the
people were distressed, the people did hide themselves in caves and
thickets and rocks and high places and pits.” You just get the
picture — they see these Philistines, everybody dives for the
nearest cover, jumping in holes and caves and behind the bushes,
climbing hills and some of the Hebrews, verse 7 says, even went over
the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. They got out of the
country, they left the nation. “And Saul was in Gilgal and everybody
else was shaking.” Overwhelming enemy.
Verse 8: “He tarried there seven days, according to the set time
that Samuel had appointed; but Samuel came not to Gilgal and the
people were scattered from him.” He’s getting a little antsy now.
“And Saul said, Bring here a burnt of ferng to me, and peace
offerings.” Now he’s getting so nervous that he’s going to do
something religious to get God involved. And so verse 9 says he
offered a burnt offering. And Saul said, Bring this burnt offering,
and he offered the burnt offering. Now the problem with that is
there was only one personality in the land that was permitted to
carry out the offering of an offering and who was it? Priest. Saul
is intruding into the office of a priest.
“It came to pass as soon as he had ceased offering the burnt
offering, behold, Samuel came and Saul went out to meet him, that he
might bless him.” Now he’s going to act real religious, see, real
spiritual. “And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said,
Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou
camest not within the days appointed,” and he knew that he was a
representative of God and he wasn’t there, “And the Philistines
gathered themselves together at Michmash.” And he’s going in to all
of these excuses - Well, you weren’t here, and the time was running
out and the Philistines were there and I said: “The Philistines will
come down now upon me to Gilgal,” self defense, you know, I’m going
to get it. “And I haven’t made supplication to the Lord and I forced
myself therefore.”
In other words, I just knew I shouldn’t do it but I just made myself
do it and offered a burnt offering. “And Samuel said to Saul, Thou
hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord
thy God, which He commanded thee; for now would the Lord have
established thy Kingdom upon Israel forever.” If you’d just obeyed
God, God would have defeated the Philistines and established your
Kingdom for good.
“But,” verse 14, “now thy Kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath
sought Him a man after His own heart.” Who was that? David the next
king. “And the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over His people
because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded.” Your
disobedience got you nothing.
Now the problem to begin with was an overwhelming enemy and now the
problem is a lack of a leader. They not only have an overwhelming
enemy but they’ve just lost their leader. To make it worse, verse
19: “There was no blacksmith throughout all the land of Israel: for
the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or
spears.” Apparently the Philistines had sort of eliminated all the
blacksmiths so they couldn’t make any weapons.
“So all the Israelites,” verse 20, “went down to the Philistines to
sharpen every man his plowshare and his mattock, and his axe, and
his sickle. And they had a file for the sickles and the mattocks and
the forks and the axes to sharpen the goads.” In other words, all
they had left was farm implements, and so they were all there
sharpening their farm implements to use in this war and the only
people who had a sword, it says in verse 22, were Saul and Jonathan.
Third problem, number one — overwhelming enemy; number two —no
leader; number three — inadequate weapons. They really are in
trouble. Now watch what happens.
“Jonathan says to the young man that bears his armor,” chapter 14
verse 1, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine’s garrison, that’s
on the other side.”
You say - Now wait a minute, Jonathan, what are you going to do? You
take your armor... The armor bearer was usually a small boy. What
are you going to take this little kid and go do this for? What’s the
point? Verse 6 kind of crystallizes it, this is a key verse: “And
Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, let’s go
over to the garrison to the uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord
will work for us.” Now watch this line, here’s the key — “For there
is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by.. .what?. . .few.”
Did you get that? It doesn’t matter to God whether you have a lot or
a little. That is never the issue with Him.
He can put all of His divine power through one person as easily as
He could put it through a multitude. It doesn’t matter to the Lord.
Verse 7: “His armor bearer said to him, Do all that is in thine
heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thine heart.”
Now that’s a good little guy.. .that’s a good guy.
All right, Jonathan says, you and me, let’s go over there and take
on the Philistines. And he says in verse 10: “If they say, Come up
unto us; then we’ll go up; for the Lord hath delivered them into our
hand and this shall be a sign.” In other words, God, we’re going to
trust You to give us a sign. If they say come up we’ll say the
Lord’s going to give them to us and we’ll go right up. The
Philistines are up on the heights and they’re down below.
And so they got there, verse 11, and they said - Hey up there, it’s
Jonathan and my armor bearer. Verse 11: “And both of them disclosed
themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines
said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they’ve
hidden themselves. And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and
his armor bearer, and said — Come up to us and we will show you
something.” We’ll show you your head is what they meant. “And
Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me for the Lord has
delivered them into the hand of Israel.” Now that is faith, folks,
that is faith. The victory is ours, let’s go.
And so they started climbing up this, whatever it is, cliff or
hillside, verse 13: “And Jonathan climbs on his hands and his feet.”
Here he is crawling up the thing on four. “And his armor bearer is
coming up behind him.” And they got to the top and they fell before
Jonathan and his armor bearer slew all of them. “And the first
slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made is about twenty
men.” And you can imagine that little guy wondering what in the
world was going on, when all these guys were dropping at his feet. I
don’t know what he was using. “And the earth started to quake and
everything started shaking and trembling.” And before the whole
thing was over, you can drop all the way down really to verse 22:
“All the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in Mount Ephraim,
when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed
hard after them in the battle. So the Lord saved Israel that day.”
Now listen, here’s the point. God is not restrained by many or by
few, it doesn’t matter. Not only can God make them heroes because of
their courage and their devotion but because of their victory.
Now let’s go back to Matthew 10 and with that as a background,
remind ourselves of the uniqueness of these twelve men. Twelve men
who literally turned the world upside down. Not only were they
heroes because of their courage, because of their devotion, their
obedience but because they accomplished their goal. They literally
established the church. And you and I are the product of their work.
They touched a whole world. They extended the Kingdom, just these
twelve, one of them unfaithful, eleven faithful, humble, simple
people just like us. And we’re right back where we started, people.
Listen, what kind of people does God use? He uses the common kind
like we are. He uses the unqualified. Remember last week? God is in
the business of accepting unqualified people because nobody’s
qualified.
The Lord uses strong, bold leaders like Peter who take charge,
initiate plans, strategize, confront, command people and who make
big, big blunders.
And He uses humble, gentle, inconspicuous souls like Andrew who seek
no prominence but quietly bring people to Christ.
And He uses zealous, passionate, uncompromising task—oriented,
insensitive, ambitious men like James.
As well as sensitive, tender, loving people oriented, believing,
intimate truth seekers like John.
And He uses skeptical, analytical, mechanical, slow- witted,
weak-faith, visionless, pessimistic, insecure men like Philip.
And He uses seekers of truth, honest, open, clear—minded,
meditative, deeply surrendered men like Nathanael Bartholomew who
are full of faith and understanding and yet who are flawed by
serious sin such as prejudice.
Now, we’re going to meet two others that He uses this morning;
Matthew and Thomas.. .Verse 3. The second group of four is Philip,
Bartholomew or Nathanael, Thomas and Matthew. Let’s take Matthew
first because we have already examined something of Matthew’s life
in looking at chapter 9.
Matthew is mentioned in every list, always in the same group, but
nothing is ever said about Matthew and nothing is ever said by
Matthew except one tiny little thing. And look in Matthew 9:9 and
that’s where you find it. Mark and Luke both allude to the same
thing in just the same few words and that is the extent of
everything we know about Matthew.
“And as Jesus passed forth from there He saw a man named Matthew
sitting at the tax office and He saith unto him, Follow Me. And he
arose and followed Him.”
And when Matthew puts his name in the list in chapter 10 verse 3 he
says: “Matthew the tax collector.” And may I hasten to add that no
other disciple in the list is ever associated with his job. Why does
Matthew say - Matthew the tax collector? I mean, that’s not
something you’re proud of. No. A tax collector was the most hated,
despised, despicable human being in the society of Israel. And
Matthew is showing us his genuine humility and sense of sinful
unworthiness.
Why does Matthew even comment about himself in verse 9? “As Jesus
passed forth from there He saw a man named Matthew and He said,
Follow Me.” What is the point of putting that there? The point is in
verses 1 to 8 Matthew is giving a demonstration that Jesus came to
forgive sin. Verse 5: “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” Verse 6: “The Son
of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.” And Matthew slips
himself in there in one verse to show that indeed Jesus can forgive
sin. For he sees himself as the vilest sinner. It may be a reason..
.that may be a reason why Matthew never speaks. He never asks a
question. He never makes a comment. He never appears in an incident.
He just is absolutely faceless and voiceless through the entire
narrative of the gospels. And it may be that his humility was born
out of his overwhelming sense of sinfulness. That he was so
overwrought by the ... the sin of his life, that once forgiven,
grace was so superabundant in his case that he felt himself unworthy
to even speak a word. And so he is the silent man, until the Spirit
of God asks him to pick up his pen. And then he is given the
privilege of writing the opening of the New Testament.. .28 chapters
on the majesty of the King of Kings Himself.
Matthew was a traitor. Matthew was an extortioner. Matthew was a
robber and a thief. Matthew was greedy. Matthew was a social pariah,
or outcast. And he knew it. You see, to be a tax collector is to be
a publican. And what that meant was you as a Jew were used by the
Roman government to collect taxes from the Jews to give to Rome. You
then sort of worked for the oppressor. You were a traitor first
class. And not only that, but you bought the right to collect taxes,
so you paid the government, you bought into the system. And then the
government would stipulate a certain amount of tax that had to be
collected, and that was given to Rome. And then you were free to
collect anything more you could from the people and that you kept
for yourself. And so there were bribes and extortionists roots
taken, abuses beyond what we could even dream.
They hated a tax collector so much that the Talmud said, “It is
righteous to lie and deceive a tax collector.” That is the Talmud
says that not the Bible, so keep that in mind. No tax collector was
ever permitted to testify in a court of law because everyone knew
they were liars, and took bribes. No tax collector or publican could
ever enter a synagogue or a temple to worship God because they were
cut off from God and that’s why in Luke 18 when you have the
publican, it says — “And the publican standing a far off, beat on
his breast and said, Lord, be merciful to me a ...what?... a
sinner.” He couldn’t even go in the place. They were the worst,
turned their back on their people, bought into an evil oppressive
system... A pagan uncircumcised system where the people worshipped a
false god, the emperor.. .traitors.
There were two kinds, there were rabbi’s — g—a-b-b- a—i, they were
the general tax collectors, they collected property tax, income tax,
poll tax, standardized. There was not apparently as much graft at
that level.
Then there were the Mokhes, m-o—k-h-e-s. They collected the duties,
they collected duty on everything. They set up their little deal
where the roads crossed and they collected on all import, all
export, all items bought, all items sold. They set tolls on roads,
tolls on bridges, tolls on harbors. They set tolls on axles, how
many legs on your donkey, packages, letters, you name it,
everything...everything.
That was Matthew. He was a Mokhes, taxed everything. There were two
kinds of Mokhes. There was one who was called a Great Mokhes. He was
a guy who hired some hireling to do the tax collecting and he faded
into the background. He didn’t really want to be associated with the
actual activity itself. And he... he retained a little more dignity
because he backed off. That was called a Great Mokhes. Then there
was the Little Mokhes, the small Mokhes. He was too cheap to hire
somebody to collect the taxes, he was so greedy he did it himself,
and didn’t care about the social stigma. And Matthew was that -
Little Mokhes. He was, verse 9, “Sitting at the tax office himself.”
Greedy extortioner, traitor to his people.
I think what makes it so fascinating to me also, he also had a name
Levi which indicates that he really was in the flow of Jewish
tradition. And what also is interesting is that in the gospel of
Matthew, you might be interested to note, there are more quotes of
the Old Testament than in Mark, Luke and John combined. So, Matthew
knew the Old Testament. In fact, he quotes out of the three sections
of the Old Testament that a Jew knew — the law, the prophets and the
Hagiographa, the Holy Writings. Matthew knew the law of God in the
Old Testament. And yet we have no idea of him at all being
interested in spiritual things. But when Jesus comes along, verse 9,
He says to him — Follow Me and he arose and followed Him...
instantly. Now what is involved in this? First of all, he just
walked away from his career. I mean, it wasn’t like the earlier guys
who were fishermen. If they didn’t like what went on with Jesus
there were always fish. Right? And there were always nets. And there
were always boats. And they could go back. And in fact, they did in
John 21, they all went back fishing. And the Lord showed them they
couldn’t catch anything. But when Matthew walked away from that
table, believe me the Roman government would have somebody there the
next day. And somebody was in line to buy into that and he was
cutting off his career for good. No lingering.
Also, he was identifying with somebody who was equally rejected by
the establishment.., for the Pharisees and the scribes hated Jesus
as much or more as they hated him as a publican. So he was really
going from the frying pan into the fire. It’s a high price he paid.
You say - Well, why did he do that? Well, I’ll tell you why he did
it. There is only one reason. This little section in chapter 9, the
thread that keeps weaving its way through here is the forgiveness of
sin. In verse 10 Matthew calls a feast after Jesus calls him. And he
gets together tax collectors and sinners. And Jesus is the guest of
honor at the feast. You’ll remember when we studied that. And the
Pharisees say - Well, why does He hang around with tax collectors
and sinners? And Jesus says, “They that are well need not a
physician but they that are sick.” You better go and relearn your
lesson that I am come not to call the righteous but.. .what?. .
.sinners to repentance. The point of the banquet then was for Jesus
to call sinners to repentance. So the whole thread here is
confession of sin, repentance and forgiveness and Matthew plops
himself in there because I think that’s the issue with him. Nobody
in the world knew better his sin than Matthew knew. He knew he was a
sinner. He knew his graft, his abuse, his extortion, his greed. He
knew that he had betrayed his people. He knew that he could be
bought for money. He knew that. And I believe he despised it. I
believe he wanted out. I believe he wanted a way.. .to get away from
it and he had heard about Jesus and he had heard Him preach because
he was in that little town of Capernaum. And I believe when Jesus
came to him and said — Follow Me — he knew that inherent in that was
the forgiveness of sin and he ran to get that. And he was willing to
say goodbye to his career and everything else because he wanted
forgiveness.
What kind of people does God use? Stained glass saints? No. Vile,
wretched, rotten sinners, the most despicable people in society who
are willing to be forgiven.
You say — Yeah, but He can’t use them for much. Oh? How about
writing the gospel that introduces the New Testament? You see, God
is in the restoration business. He takes the unqualified and
transforms them. That’s His business. And I believe Matthew risked a
lot more than the fishermen did because he could never go back. And
he was a vile sinner. What if Jesus couldn’t forgive him? There he
would be stuck with the same sin and no job to go back to. But he
quietly forsook all. And the genuineness of his repentance, I
believe, is found in the fact that you see his humility. He is
utterly humble. He has nothing to say about himself. He has nothing
to say about his talent and what he has to offer the Lord. The only
thing he wants to say is Jesus forgives sin and one of the ones He
forgave was a man named Matthew who was really a sinner and whose
only friends were a lot of other sinners, tax collectors and
sinners.
And so we learn about his humility. I think we learn another thing.
He had a heart for the lost. There are some people in this world who
just kind of gravitate to the down and outers, you know? That must
have been Matthew. I mean, if ever there was a discussion about
whether the disciples ought to get involved with some riffraff, I’m
sure Matthew would have led the parade toward the riffraff, having
been one. I’m glad that when the Lord puts together a team of men He
takes some from out of the deepest pit or some of us might never be
willing to go back into that pit not knowing that something can
really happen there.. .and that was Matthew.
What a man. A criminal, an outcast, the most hated of men, he was
utterly convinced of his sin and when given an opportunity to
believe, he believed and he followed. He became a man of quiet
humility who loved the outcasts, who gave no place to the religious
establishment, a man of great faith, a man of total and utter
surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and a man who knew the Old
Testament and a man that God used to write the gospel. One writer
calls it “The glorious unconventionality of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He chooses the most unlikely people.”
That brings us to the last man in group two.. .Thomas is his name.
And immediately when I say Thomas what is the first word you think
of? Doubt Thomas has gotten bad press. Thomas is a better man than
you think. In fact, I’m convinced that most people really don’t
understand Thomas. We just say Thomas the doubter. I think you’re
going to learn some things about Thomas you didn’t know in the next
few minutes. Listen.
Matthew, Mark and Luke give us nothing about Thomas. But John again,
always digging into the heart of people, opens Thomas up to us. John
chapter 11, we look at three very brief texts. .John chapter 11,
let’s really get to know Thomas.
Verse 14, the Lord is up by the Jordan river and the Lord is out of
the city of Jerusalem, the pressure has been tremendous, the plot to
take His life has been hatched. In fact, they had to get out of
Jerusalem because His time was not yet come and He had to do it to
preserve His life. He and the disciples are up by the Jordan. The
report comes to them that Lazarus is sick. That is significant
because Jesus loves Lazarus in a very special way.
Verse 14, Jesus has tarried to give sufficient time for Lazarus to
die and then says this: “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad.” Now wait a
minute, why are You glad? “For your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there,
for the reason that you may believe.” In other words, I’m going to
do a miracle to increase your faith. They were a weak bunch, weren’t
they, as we’ve learned. And they always needed some kind of
demonstration of His power. And so He says he’s dead and I’m glad
for your sakes that I wasn’t there because now you’re going to see
something that will make you believe.
Then verse 15: “Let us go unto him.” Let’s go. Now where was
Lazarus? Bethany. Where’s Bethany? Two miles east of Jerusalem. Now
that is a scary announcement because all the disciples can think
about is — Oh, this is suicide, this is absolute suicide. We can’t
go back to Jerusalem. And the implication is that they’re sort of
beginning a little disintegration and some of the guys are probably
saying — I think I’m going to go see my. .my old friend in Galilee.
Jerusalem... And Thomas apparently moves into this situation with
some leadership, verse 16: “Then said Thomas, who is called
Didymus,” which means the twin, he had a twin brother or sister
likely. “And he says to the fellow disciples, Let’s also go that we
may die with Him."
Now, I see several things in that. First of all I see a certain
amount of initiative. Don’t you see that? He kind of takes over
doesn’t he? He kind of rises to the top and says — Wait a minute,
guys, let’s go with Him and die with Him. I also see pessimism,
don’t you? I see some pessimism. Now he was convinced Jesus was
going to be killed. And if they went they would die. I mean, it was
all very clear to him. You know, the greatest courage in the world
is not the courage of an optimist. An optimist is couraged, has
courage because he believes the best will happen. The greatest
courage in the world is the courage of a pessimist because he knows
the worse is going to happen and is willing to go anyway. You see?
Thomas says — We’ll die, so let’s go. That’s... that’s a lot of
courage. I think it was cut and dry with him, he had already figured
out his epitaph and everything. He could only see disaster but he
was grimly determined to die with Christ... much tougher for a
pessimist than an optimist.
Now, why does he want to do this? You know, if you think of him only
as a doubter, if you really think that Thomas doubted Christ then
this doesn’t make any sense. I mean, why was he willing to go die
with Jesus? Not because he doubted Him, but because he so totally
believed Him. He so utterly believed Him. I believe this, I believe
that Thomas perhaps only equaled by John had such a deep and intense
love for Jesus that he could not endure existence without Him. Do
you understand that? And I believe what he’s reflecting here is - If
Jesus is going to die, then let’s go die with Him, because the
alternative is to be without Him. You see? Let’s go with Him. Let’s
go with Him. These are the words of love. These are the words of
faith. He believed he could die and be with Jesus.
Herbert Lockyer says, “Like those brave knights in attendance upon
the blind King John of Bohemia who rode into the battle of Crecy
with their bridles intertwined with that of their master, resolved
to share his fate, whatever it might be.. .so Thomas, come life,
come death, was resolved not to forsake his Lord seeing he was bound
to Him by a deep and enthusiastic love.” end quote.
He had no illusions. He saw the jaws of death. He was willing to
die. A man of courage and a man of love. He did not want to be
separated from Christ. Put it this way, death — yes.. .disloyalty
-never. He could never be disloyal to Jesus. He could die for Him
before he’d be disloyal. That’s how deep his love.
Go to chapter 14 and we see him again. And the same attitudes come
out again. Jesus gives this little message about letting not your
heart be troubled and believing in God and He’s going to prepare a
place for you, and I’ll come again and receive you unto Myself and
where I am there you may be also and whither I go you know, and the
way you know. He says - You know where I am going and you know how
to get there. Verse 5: “Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know not
where Thou goest and how can we know the way?” This is the same
heart that’s saying - Lord, don’t You go somewhere where we can’t
come. It’s the same thing. The thought of separation was the issue
with Thomas. I don’t like what I hear, You’ re going to go and we’re
not going to know where You are or how to get there. His heart, I
think, is nearly broken as he speaks. And he’s a pessimistic and he
says — We’ll never find the place. It’s a bleak negative bewildered
heart. Jesus tells him, “Thomas, I am the way, the truth and the
life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”
What He’s saying is — I’ll take you, Thomas. .I’ll take you there.
I’m the way, you don’t have to fear. I’m not going to go someplace
and leave you. You see the same pessimism again, don’t you? And you
see the same love again.
Let’s go to a third and last look at Thomas. .John 20. Jesus died.
You know what happened to Thomas when Jesus died? He said, I knew
it.. .He died and I didn’t die and He went somewhere and I don’t
know where He is. I knew it. And all of his fears came true.. .all
of the worst things that he had ever thought. He felt betrayed. He
felt rejected. He felt forsaken. And it was out of love that he was
shattered. He was like a wounded animal. And he didn’t want to be
around people so he just split, that’s what he did. And when all the
rest of the disciples came together he just wasn’t there, he was..
.he was out and he was depressed because he loved so deeply. He
would have died with Jesus but Jesus died without him. He wanted to
go with Jesus but Jesus went without him. And now his pessimism is
vindicated, and he’s really in the pits.
And in verse 24 it says: “Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus
wasn’t with them when Jesus came.” Sure. .he was out licking his
wounds. And Jesus appeared to the remaining disciples and Thomas
wasn’t there. Well guess who found Thomas? John, verse 25, “The
other disciple.. .other disciples..” I would guess John. That’s a
stab in the dark. “Said to him, We have seen the Lord.” We’ve seen
the Lord, Thomas, and you weren’t there. You didn’t show up. But
Thomas is depressed. Did you ever try to talk to somebody who is
depressed? Really difficult isn’t it? Very difficult. He says,
“Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, put my
finger into the print of the nails, thrust my hand into His side, I
will not believe.”
Now he’s a pessimist, admit it. I’ve got to see it. But before you
pounce on him with both feet, would you kindly remember this? That
none of the disciples believed until they saw Jesus. I mean, after
all, it is not that easy to believe that somebody rose from the
dead. I mean, on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, two are walking
along and the Lord is with them and they’re moaning and groaning
about His death. And they don’t believe either. Nobody believed till
they saw Him. So don’t make Thomas the doubter. You see, he’s a..
.he’s a loving pessimist is what he is. That’s better than being a
doubter. I want to see before I believe, he says.
So, the Lord — by the way, in case you don’t know, the Lord doesn’t
mind people wanting to be sure. If you want to be sure He’ll
accommodate that desire. “Eight days after,” verse 26 says, “the
disciples were inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the
doors being shut.” I like that. Just rearranged the molecules in His
body and came through the wall. And always He says when He does
that, “Peace be unto you.” It’s understandable. It seems a fitting
greeting, doesn’t it?. .to the chaos that must have occurred.
And then He zeros in on this dear soul that loves Him enough to die
with Him and is utterly depressed and shattered. He said to Thomas,
“Thomas, reach here your finger, behold My hands, and reach here
your hand and thrust it into My side and be not faithless but
believing.” Did Thomas do that? It doesn’t say he did it. It just
says immediately, without doing anything, “He answered and said unto
Him, My Lord and my God.” The greatest single confessional ever
made. He affirmed the deity of Jesus Christ. He affirmed the
Lordship of Jesus Christ. He affirmed that He was God.
You know, he wanted that so bad. Jesus was back. And Jesus said.
“Thomas, because you’ve seen Me you believe.” And you’re not alone,
the rest of them had the same basis. "Blessed are they that have not
seen and yet believed.” You know who that is? Everybody who came
after that. That’s you and me. We’ve never seen but we believed.
“Blessed are they.”
Thomas - yes he was melancholy, he was moody, pessimistic,
comfortless, shattered, but when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ, "o
my, he gave the greatest testimony ever given. And you know what? In
that one little statement Thomas gave the speech that literally
destroys every lie that has been told about Jesus not being God that
has ever been uttered in the history of man. It is a monumental
statement - My God, - he said. The isms and chisms and spasms and
Yogi’s and all the rest that come and deny the deity of Christ are
put to silence by Thomas. Learn a lesson. Jesus wants you to be
sure. Surety most frequently comes when you hang around other
believers. It does not mean that Christ cannot come to you in a
solitary place. But more likely does He appear among those who are
His own.
Thomas - tradition tells us a lot about him, preached... some say he
went as far as India preaching. And one tradition says that he died
in a very special way. They took a spear and rammed it through him.
Because of his faith in Christ, it would be kind of fitting climax
for one who was told to reach forth his hand and feel the spear mark
in his own Lord.
What kind of people does God use? Vile sinners like Matthew.
Tender-hearted, moody, melancholy pessimists like Thomas. You name
it, they’re all unique and He can use you too. Let’s pray.
Father, we thank You that the ability that You want from us is
availability. Thank You that You can take the unqualified and do the
transforming of their lives. What a happy privilege, God. What a
happy privilege that we should be used. I know my own weaknesses.
All of us do.. .our sins, our failings. And yet You use us.. .You
use us for Your Kingdom.. .You use us to advance Your cause, to
preach Your truth, to bring people into the knowledge of God. You
use us to sing Your praise. You use us to bring petitions that
activate Your sovereign power. You use us. We thank You that we are
the company of the unqualified who have been transformed to useful
vessels.. .vessels of honor, fit for the Master’s use.
Lord, if there are some in our fellowship this morning, who have
never come to Jesus Christ, may they confess as Thomas did - My Lord
and my God. May their hearts open up. May they receive Jesus as Lord
and Savior and in so receiving come into divine usefulness...o the
pity of a life without purpose.. .the pity of an eternity without
value. May we know that the only meaning in time and eternity comes
in serving You. And may we know that You can fit us for that, no
matter what our weaknesses are. May the truth that we have learned
today linger in our hearts and make us better than we were had we
not been here. For Your glory, in Christ’s name. Amen.
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