Weekly Blog: Your Evil Twin
Feb 10, 2020 3297
Jesus had twelve close disciples. One of them, Thomas, is really interesting. The name Thomas literally means “twin.” You see, Thomas was a twin.
The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) tell us nothing about Thomas other than his name. But in the gospel of John, we have three stories that tell us about what Thomas was like.
In the story of the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11), we see that John is a pessimist; indeed a sarcastic pessimist. In effect, he says in v.16, “We’re all going to die!” In John 14, we see that unless Thomas has all the evidence, he won’t believe (See v.5). This is highlighted even more dramatically in the resurrection story (John 20:25).
One of the underlying causes of pessimism is fear. Fear always asks for evidence, but only as an excuse not to believe.
The corollary of Thomas’s demanded to put his finger into the wounds of Christ after his resurrection is our modern demand that we should only believe what we can prove through the scientific method. As much as it is a sign of the technological progress of our age, it’s also evidence of an age in this world’s history that is rooted in a profound fear, that causes us to try to understand and control everything.
All negative thinking is always grounded in fear. We see the same distrustful spirit within ourselves and in our relationships a deep, deep sense of distrust.
So, what is Christ going to do with people like us, who listen more to our evil twin than to his Word?
Look at how loving and kind Jesus is to your evil twin! Jesus makes a special trip to the upper room in Jerusalem just for him. If you are fearful, if you are doubting, Jesus comes for you. That’s why he came into the world!
The first thing that Jesus does is to bless them with his peace. Those are his first words:
“Peace be with you.”
Jesus knows that what the negative, troubled, fearful soul needs most of all is peace.
Only the wounds of Christ can defeat your evil twin.
And then Jesus tells them why they can have peace. He shows them his wounds.
There is only peace in the wounds of Christ. It is in them, and in them alone that you have the proof and assurance of his love.
The Lord invites Thomas to put his finger in his wounds. It’s only the wounds of Christ that can overcome your doubting and disbelief.
Thomas went on to arguably become the most heroic of all the disciples of Christ. He spread the message of assurance in Christ far to the east, including to China, and to India, where he died as a martyr.
Thomas had discovered the secret of real power in life. His life became, not the safe routines that he had lived before as he lived out of fear, but instead, an adventure in joyful courage for Christ.
Only the wounds of Christ can defeat your evil twin. Only the wounds of Christ can lead you to live a heroic life, however God may want that to look like for you.
Vijay Degio
Feb 16, 2020
Thank you...love the message got the inspiration to overcome doubting negative &disbelief. Pray for me to overcomes n to have safe routines life to live without any FEAR. Help me to overcome