But, I Have Doubts . . .

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”      John 1:43-50

24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"  27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."          John 20:24-29

Here we see two instances at the beginning of Jesus' ministry and the end of His ministry where doubts about His authenticity are raised by those whom He chose.  Note that in both situations Jesus doesn't reject them for their doubts. When Nathaniel confesses Jesus to be the Son of God, Jesus mildly says in essence, you believe in me because of what I just told you? You haven't seen nothing yet!  Not exactly a stinging rebuke for a comment about the Son of God that nothing good could come from His birthplace.  

Later, after Jesus' death and resurrection, He appears to the all the disciples but Thomas. When the other disciples tell Thomas about Jesus' resurrection, Thomas refuses to believe unless he can see the nail holes for himself and touch the holes. In short, if he can't perceive it for himself with his own senses to get proof, he's not believing just based on any of their say-so. What does Jesus do? He doesn't send Thomas a lab report or a memo. Instead, Jesus appears in the flesh, in person (albeit appearing in a miraculous way ) and responds with a physical demonstration that addresses Thomas' doubts, followed with a mild correction to stop doubting what has been told & now shown to him and believe. And Thomas does.  Church history tells us Thomas goes on to carry the gospel far and wide before his martyrdom.

And in an incredible case of addressing doubts, we can look at the apostle Peter's story.  Jesus chose Peter early on to be a disciple. Peter has some incredible events with Jesus - confessing Jesus as the Christ and chosen to go up the mountain with Jesus' to see a glorified Jesus meeting with Moses and Elijah. But he has some incredible lows culminating with his famous denial three times about knowing Jesus.

Look at what happens after Peter's denials in the end of the book of John.  When we examine Peter's choices after Jesus' death, we essentially see Peter giving up on being a follower of Jesus. He's going back to fishing.No doubt it had to be one of the lowest points in Peter's life and Peter was likely 'kicking himself' for what he did.   Before Jesus leaves the earth though, He makes a special point to meet Peter right where He found him the first time, at the fishing boats. Jesus addresses Peter and with a few short sentences, shows Peter he is forgiven, loved, and called to still be part of Jesus' ministry to save lost souls.  A short time later, we encounter Peter in the book of Acts where God uses Peter in a mighty way on the Day of Pentecost to preach a sermon to the same peoples who shouted for Jesus' crucifixion. On that day Peter's sermon brings about 3,000 people to salvation. Talk about addressing doubts.

When you see these stories, remember, the same spirit at work in Nathaniel's, Thomas' and Peter's life to redeem doubts and failures will be the same spirit to redeem each of ours. 

But who do you say Jesus is?