Sunday, October 23, 2:15 PM. Brewer.

Interesting discussion during church this morning. It was actually pretty typical of how our Sunday morning Bible discussions go, but maybe I’ll record it so we can remember the flavor of them in years to come when the kids are bigger.

We read in John 20 about Doubting Thomas, who couldn’t believe Jesus had risen. I asked, “Was it wrong for Thomas to doubt?”

“Yes,” Trevor said immediately.

I waited for him to explain.

“All the other disciples believed,” he said. “He should have too.”

Garrett scratched his chin. He’s got some stubble growing there, and it made him look wise. “That makes sense,” he said. “But sometimes people who think differently are right and everybody else is wrong. Like Galileo saying the earth went round the sun. Or Paul knowing that Jesus was the Son of God when the other Pharisees didn’t. Thomas might have been right even if he was alone.”

“But he was wrong,” Trevor said.

“We know that,” Garrett said, “but at the time he could have been right.”

Claire looked dissatisfied. “I still think he was wrong to doubt.”

“Why?” Amy prompted.

“Well, he’s kind of sarcastic about it. He says he has to put his fingers inside Jesus’ wounds to believe. He’s not just doubting. He doesn’t want to believe.”

“It is kind of mean sounding,” Garrett agreed. “Kind of gross, too.” We smiled and chuckled.

“Okay,” I continued. “What do you see in how Jesus talks to Thomas? Does he judge him for doubting?”

They all thought about this for a moment.

“Not really judging him,” Claire said.

Garrett nodded and looked at his Bible. “If you look at it, Jesus tells Thomas, ’Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.’ So he’s not really judging him. He’s just saying it would be even better if he had believed before he saw him.” Claire and Trevor were nodding.

I said, “Okay. So what does this have to do with us? Is it wrong for us to doubt?”

After a moment, Trevor said, “Not wrong exactly. Not if we believe in the end.”

Amy said, “And what if we don’t? What if Thomas never saw Jesus, and never believed?”

The kids kind of stared at her, puzzled, thinking it through. I waited for someone to come up with a response. The moment stretched on.

Garrett was looking at his Bible. “I think the answer is in the next couple of verses. ‘These are written, that ye might believe.’ You see?”

Amy shook her head.

Garrett smirked, searching for the words. “The ‘ye’ is us,” he said at last. “We are the ones Jesus was talking about, the ones who are blessed because they believe without seeing. Thomas was kind of lucky in a way, because he refused to believe unless he saw Jesus, but he actually did see Jesus. We don’t have that luxury. Since Jesus left the earth, nobody else can see him like that. So now, either you believe without seeing, or you don’t believe. There are no more Thomases, no one who can believe by seeing.”

Claire chirped up. “I believe! And I don’t need to see Jesus to know he’s there.”

“Me too!” said Trevor, jumping out of his chair. He’d been growing impatient and was ready to move around.

After that we prayed and had lunch, and now we’re all sleeping or reading. That’s pretty typical for a Sunday.