Monday Meditation
October 14, 2013
From the desk of Dr. A.J. Higgins
One Meeting
My Lord and my God!
John 20:26-29
Thomas missed one meeting (John 20:19-24). He was not with them. We are not told where he was or why he was not with the others. But he missed one meeting; and he missed seeing the Lord Jesus. We are all familiar with his response to the report of the others. He refused to believe and insisted on visible, tangible evidence. He would believe on his own terms and on his own time.
But a week passed. Fortunately, this time he was there. He came into that meeting at odds with his brethren (He told them they were wrong v 25). He came insisting that things had to be as he demanded (v 25). He came to the meeting out of touch with God and His Lord.
Yet fast forward to the end of the meeting. What a change! He is transported from unbelief to worship, from adamant refusal to joyous rhapsody, from stubbornness to submissiveness. All this was accomplished by one look at Christ, at one meeting.
In Isaiah 42:3 we are told that Jehovah’s Servant would be characterized as not breaking the bruised reed and not extinguishing the dimly burning wick. Certainly Thomas was a dimly burning wick whose light was almost going out. How tender and compassionate the Perfect Servant of Jehovah was with him. Rather than rebuke and extinguish the flickering flame, He would trim the wick and cause it to burn brighter than ever. His way with Thomas was marked by grace and truth. Thomas needed no one to tell him that his stubbornness and insistence were wrong. One look at Christ brought all into focus.
The man who entered the room out of touch with heaven, left it as a worshiper. The man who entered as a dimly burning wick, left it in a blaze of light. He came out of fellowship with his brethren, but left in harmony with them. The ministry of the Perfect Servant brought about the change.
“My Lord and My God.” No manipulation of translations, no changing of the text can possibly negate the force of these words. Thomas looked upon a living Man Whose body bore the impress of mortal wounds. He owned this One as his Lord – He would serve and honor Him, and as his God – He would worship and adore Him. Lordship and deity combined in this glorious person. The result of one meeting, of one look, and this tender Servant and His ways, was worship and adoration.
Consider:
1. While our Breaking of Bread is not officially a “worship meeting,” we should “see Him” and, like Thomas, frequently rise to this confession, “My Lord and my God.”
2. The Lord invites Thomas to thrust his hand into His side. Only John tells us of the side of the Lord Jesus being pierced and still bearing a visible scar. Is there a link with Adam in this as well?
_________________________________________________________