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40 DAYS OF LENT: DAY #35 – Holy Monday
WORD OF TODAY: John 20:25 (ESV)
25 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.”
THOUGHTS ON THE WORD:
Who can blame Thomas? He gave up everything to follow Jesus, only to watch Him be taken by the authorities, beaten, nailed to a cross, die, and be buried. It must have seemed like a sick joke the others were playing on him as they tell him the Lord had been with them. And yet it was true, Jesus had come and visited them all.
Thomas was confused and hurt, having watched Jesus, whom he’d seen heal and teach, be condemned in shame and murdered by His own people. What have you experienced that causes you to doubt? What understanding did you at one time think was correct only to be caught off guard with an unexpected twist that now makes you cynical, contrary, or suspect of tale or circumstance?
The child looks upon the world with awe and wonder, without predisposed prejudices or worldly-scarred lenses. The child doesn’t put restraints on the miraculous. Jesus says it is the childlike to which the kingdom of God belongs.
As we begin our Holy Week journey on this Holy Monday, consider the lenses through which you view the world. Are you like Thomas, scarred from hurt and confusion in such a way as to doubt our Lord, or others by whom He witnesses? Consider, Thomas knew the wounds to look for on Jesus, but his heart was heavy with the burden of sorrow. Thomas knew that Jesus was the Christ, but he felt abandoned and alone. Christian, consider today how Jesus knew the sorrow of Thomas’ heart, and the sense of abandonment he felt. He knows yours too, and He will comfort you where you need it. Have you made your cry?