Just thinking

John 20:24-29

Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord."

So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus Came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said "Peace to you!" Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing."

And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

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     So I was thinking about Thomas in this passage. There is so much we can get from this passage, about how we don't have to see to believe in God, and how those of us who haven't seen God, but believe in Him anyway, are so blessed...but the other day a question hit me: why wasn't Thomas with the other disciples? Maybe I'm completely stretching this passage, but I would assume that Jesus would come at a time when all of them were there, right? Why would he deliberately wait until Thomas wasn't there, unless, maybe Thomas wasn't there a lot? Was Thomas cutting himself off from everyone else?

     I don't know, again, I'm not trying to stretch Scripture, I was just thinking of how the result of cutting yourself off from fellow believer for any reason my be causing you to miss out on something that God wants to show you, and that can lead to unbelief.

     I'm glad that Thomas gets a second chance to see Jesus here, and that he really does believe without needing to touch the nail prints, and Jesus' side. I wonder though if Jesus' first visit that he missed brought him back from wherever he was, and if that was one of the factors that made him one of the twelve that turned the world upside down not very long after this event.

     I don't know...I guess I'll find out when I get to heaven.