Easter 2016
“A Bout With Easter Doubt”
March 25, 2016
By Ed Young
Let’s face it, we all have our doubts from time to time. But do our doubts disqualify us from experiencing the full life God has for us through Christ? You and I know the answer to that last question is a resounding “No!” But many people we rub shoulders with aren’t sure. So this Easter, I’m taking a unique look at the resurrection and addressing the topic of doubt.
Transcript
Today’s message is about doubt. That’s right, on this Easter celebration, it’s about doubt. Also, it’s a bout with doubt that so many people have. It seems rather unusual to talk about, but most people – I’m talking to even followers of Christ – experience a bout with doubt.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the essence of Christianity. Around the resurrection we see many different emotions and decisions. One was one of doubt by one of the disciples named Thomas. Thomas had such a bout with doubt that we even use his name in the phase “a doubting Thomas.”
Thomas had that sort of pessimistic mindset. He sort of saw the glass as half empty rather than half full. He would see a dark lining in every silver cloud. He was a man who would feel bad when he felt good because he was afraid he would feel worse when he felt better.
The name Thomas is the word “Didymus” which literally means “twin”. And I believe Thomas has many twins in our culture today, many twins in these various environments where we’re holding our Easter services today. A lot of us have had an ongoing bout with doubt when it comes to Jesus.
While some of the disciples were famous for what they did, this disciple was famous for what he did not do. He did not believe in the resurrection. He was more pessimistic than optimistic. He was more cynical than being soft.