08/02/2026 Weekly Bible Lesson: The Honest Doubter

Who is Thomas? Thomas was an apostle of Jesus Christ. You may know him by his nickname, “Doubting Thomas.” He was not always a doubter; in fact, he had some very bold and courageous displays of faith. He was also called Didymus, which means twin. We don’t have a lot of information in the Bible about Thomas. In the Synoptic Gospels, he is only mentioned in the lists of the apostles. John’s gospel contains the most information about him.

John 11:14-16. Thomas gets his nickname from the events in John 20. If we were giving him a nickname based on the events from John 11 instead, perhaps it would be “Courageous Thomas.” Jesus wanted to go back to Judea, but His disciples were not fans of that idea. They were worried Jesus would be stoned there. That is when Thomas spoke up to the other disciples and made his courageous statement in verse 16. Thomas showed great loyalty and courage in his willingness to die with Jesus.

John 14:5-8. The title for this lesson is “Thomas, the Honest Doubter.” Here in John 14, we see an example of his honesty. Jesus told His disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house. This confused Thomas, but he was not afraid to admit he didn’t understand what Jesus was teaching. Thomas said to Jesus in verse 5, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Thomas might have thought Jesus was speaking literally about going to another place on earth, but that was not what Jesus had in mind. Jesus responded to Thomas and said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus preparing a place for His disciples was not about a place on earth; it was about a place in heaven with the Father! Jesus’ clear teaching here is that there is only one way to get to heaven, and that is through Him. When Thomas needed clarification, he was honest enough to ask Jesus a question, rather than to remain in a state of doubt and confusion.

John 20:24-31. Thomas refused to believe the eyewitness testimony that Jesus rose from the dead. He would only believe if he could see Him with his own eyes and touch Him with his own hands. Eight days later, Thomas got this opportunity, and he was finally convinced that Jesus really rose from the dead. After examining the evidence with his own eyes and hands, Thomas called Jesus “My Lord and my God.” Jesus then pronounced a special blessing on those who did not see and yet believed.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.” This is how much of the religious world today views faith. Is this true? In verse 29, does Jesus endorse that faith is blind, totally divorced from evidence and reason? Absolutely not. Faith is not simply a blind shot in the dark. The truth is God has always provided sufficient evidence for us to believe in Him and His Son. The Bible teaches that so much evidence of the existence of God is seen through creation that we are “without excuse” to disbelieve (Romans 1:20). In other words, on Judgment Day, no person will be able to claim ignorance before God.

In the same way that God says ample evidence for His existence is seen through creation, Jesus says that ample evidence for His resurrection is seen through eyewitness testimony. Jesus clearly teaches that credible eyewitness testimony is valid to establish the fact of His resurrection. One example is found in Mark 16:9-14, where Jesus reproached the eleven because they refused to believe the eyewitness testimony. In John 17, Jesus prayed for His disciples and said this in verse 20: “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.” Jesus revealed that His future disciples would believe in Him not by “shutting the eye of reason” but “through their word.” The book of Revelation teaches that Satan is overcome because of the blood of the Lamb and because of “the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:10-11). The testimony of Scripture is certainly that eyewitness testimony is perfectly valid to establish the authenticity of Christianity. Once Thomas was convinced, he boldly proclaimed his faith in Jesus. Likewise, when our faith is grounded in strong reasons to believe, that ought to produce boldness and assurance within us.

Discussion Questions: When we face doubt, what can we learn from Thomas about how to respond in a way that leads us closer to Jesus? What are some pieces of evidence for Christianity that ground our faith today? Recommended resources: I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, and ApologeticsPress.org (a non-Instrumental ministry). What dangers can arise when Christians hide their doubts instead of addressing them honestly?