The Other Disciple Who Doubted
“And blessed is he who does not stumble because of Me.” (Luke 7:23)
Many Bible readers are familiar with the story of Jesus appearing to the twelve disciples after His resurrection. Despite the miracle, one remained skeptical-Thomas. In John 20, the other disciples (minus Judas) had already seen the risen Savior and reported it to Thomas, but he refused to believe.
“The other disciples, therefore, said to [Thomas], ‘We have seen the Lord.’ So he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’” (Jn 20:25)
Thomas’ disbelief famously earned him the unfortunate moniker “Doubting Thomas.” But another person in the Bible struggled with doubt just as much.
Equally famously, John the Baptist is known for being “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” and making “straight the way of the LORD (Is 40:3; Jn 1:23).” He was not God’s voice, as Deuteronomy 18:15–18 foretold (that was Jesus), but he did apply the idea to himself as the Messiah’s forerunner. Part of that job included preaching repentance and baptizing potentially hundreds of people.
Prior to that, John had leaped in his mother’s womb when Mary, Elizabeth’s cousin, came for a visit while divinely pregnant with the Messiah…
