It Is No Small Wonder

“When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!” – Matthew 28:17.“

“I believe,” said Stu looking up from his breakfast. “But there are some things I wonder about.” Stu is a member of the group that believes, but wonders. When asked about what he is wondering about Stu looks back down at his eggs that are growing cold. “What I wonder about is a big thing…maybe the biggest thing. I can’t help but wonder about the resurrection of Christ. It just doesn’t make sense to me that a dead person could come back to life. Everything I’ve ever seen supports the fact that dead people simply stay in the grave.”   

Stu was right. The resurrection of Jesus is a very big thing. And it is not easy to put our faith in a claim that contradicts everything we’ve ever seen or experienced? Unless we are 2,000 years old, we would not have been there in Biblical times to see or experience the resurrection, but there are plenty of people who were and did. In fact, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that supports the resurrection.

Like Stu, we have all wondered at one time in our lives or another. Many people think that wondering or having doubts is unhealthy, but it isn’t always. Actually wonder and doubts can produce some positive side effects if we take steps toward resolving them. God isn’t intimidated by our questions or lack of understanding. When Jesus encounters someone who knows who He is and what He can do, He doesn’t condemn them. He reaches out and asks, “Why did you doubt me?” (Matthew 14:31).

Even the disciples of Jesus had to find their way through this dark, discouraging human tendency. At the very moment when belief should have come easiest to them – when the risen Christ Himself stood in front of them on a mountaintop in Galilee – Matthew records that “some of them doubted” (Matthew 28:17). So Stu is not alone.  Nor are you if you have questions that need answered.

This is just another way God uses answers to tough questions to clear away obstacles and open up a person’s heart for the gospel. Through the years I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve seen the Holy Spirit clear away questions and doubts, employing logic and evidence to turn a wonder or doubt about Christianity into yet another reason to believe.

Discussion Questions:

1. How would it change things if you saw things you wonder about, or doubts you have, as opportunities to grow deeper in your relationship with Christ and not a reason for alarm?
2. Read John 11:16 and then John 20: 24-29: Do you think we are too hard on “doubting” Thomas? Does it bring you comfort that Jesus recognizes how challenging it can be to believe for those who haven’t seen (v. 29)?
3. What can we do this week to get any unanswered questions or doubts answered?