DRAMA—SERIES A – SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
Bible reference: John 20:19–31
THE TESTIMONY OF THOMAS THE TWIN
(Thomas enters in biblical costume)
Friends, let me introduce myself. My name is Thomas, and I’m an apostle of Jesus Christ. I’m also called ‘the Twin’.
I know what you say to yourselves: ‘Ah yes, Thomas, but surely he has another name’. It’s true; many know me also as ‘Doubting Thomas’.
My lot is to be remembered as the one who doubted that Jesus had risen. The one who declared: ‘Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe’.
You think me a fool: you wonder at my lack of faith. You ask: ‘How could one so close to Jesus have such doubt?’
Let me say this in my defence. My words aren’t foolish; rather they are the words of a sceptical mind, a mind that wanted to see the evidence laid out before it. A mind that searched for proof.
The sort of mind, by the way, that you Christians at ...............(Add name of your church, town or suburb) have.
Please don’t be upset if I seem to point my finger at you. I don’t mean to single you out especially. In fact, I’m like that with everyone. You see, I know and understand what lies inside the hearts of people.
I know that we are all doubters.
We are all testers—scientists, if you like— seeking proof of all we encounter. You want proof of God’s creation; your age still seeks the remains of the boat that Noah built; you wonder about the truth of people’s strange after-death experiences. In that way you are no different from me.
Just as I was no different from the people of my day. Indeed, I was no different from all the other apostles who were faced with the unlikely story of Jesus rising from the dead.
Remember the gospel accounts of the day of his resurrection. When the women brought the tremendous news that Jesus had risen, we didn’t believe them. All eleven of us thought that the women were crazy and we laughed at the suggestion that he had risen.
Will you condemn me for such a normal human reaction?
You see that we are all doubting Thomases.
I’m certain that you have been through the valleys of doubt just as I have. The times when the way of God seems incomprehensible and impossible. Times when you have wondered whether the story of Jesus’ resurrection can really be true. Times when you would like the certainty of placing your fingers into the holes that the nails made, in order to satisfy that nagging doubt.
That is life. That is faith.
Caught between belief and unbelief. Pulled by opposing forces of faith and doubt.
At times full of faith. At times racked by doubt.
This is exactly my story. One moment saying ‘I will not believe’, and the next exclaiming ‘My Lord and my God’.
You remember me as Doubting Thomas, but perhaps you should also remember that I was Believing Thomas. I both doubted and believed.
Just like you, who both doubt and believe.
So...when you think of me, remember my biblical name. They call me Thomas the Twin. I believe there can be a deeper spiritual meaning to this name. A meaning that’s more than my being born as one of twin children.
For inside me it’s as if there are two people living. One who believes with all his heart; and another, an eternal sceptic who disbelieves and doubts.
These twins wage constant battle inside my heart. A battle of faith and doubt.
On the one hand one saying ‘I believe, I believe’. On the other hand another finding every possible reason to doubt God and his promises.
I’m sure that you have felt this battle also. Perhaps even to a greater extent than I have. I had the advantage of seeing the risen Lord in the flesh and the chance to settle my disbelieving heart by touching him.
You, however, must believe without seeing and without touching. In this way your battle of faith and doubt is harder than mine.
Because of the difficulty of your struggle with faith, I want to leave you with some words of encouragement. The same words the Lord spoke to me: ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe’.
(Pointing to audience) It’s you that the Lord is talking about. You haven’t seen the risen Lord as I have and yet you believe. To you the Lord gives his blessing.
What a special thing that word of blessing is! It’s his promise that he will never let you down when you are tempted by unbelief.
When I was almost overcome by my doubts, the Lord blessed me. He came to me and allowed me to find strength as I touched him. His blessing means that he will always be there to strengthen you too.
By his Spirit, through his body and blood, in his word, he will come to you and allow you to find the strength you need.
So I urge you to keep his blessing before you as you continue to face the ups and downs of faith. Remember his words of encouragement when doubts fill you heart and faith seems far away.
There is nothing more that I can add, but let me end by repeating those special words of Jesus spoken just for you: ‘Blessed are those who have not see and yet believe’. (Exit)
© Mike Fulwood 1993
Permission is given for the owner of this disk to make sufficient copies of this script for their group or congregation, for rehearsal and performance purposes only.
|