I read a remark this morning from a devotional that put me to thinking. The writer's point was that Doubting Thomas missed out on the appearance of Jesus in John 20:24-5 because he was intentionally NOT at their meeting. He used this as an illustration that Christians should not forsake going to church because they could miss out on a 'blessed event' by their absence. Well, I looked at the passage, John 20:24-25, "Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, '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.'" Look at the way it's structured...Thomas showed up LATE...period!! It's not that he didn't show up at all! Maybe someone bumped his sundial and it was running late! Maybe his donkey had a flat foot! Maybe there was a multi-donkey pile up on one of the streets of Jerusalem, maybe at the corner of No and Where (thank you, Capt. Malcolm Reynolds of 'Serenity') and he had to stay to file an accident report!!
My point in this short rant is that guys using the Bible to make a point better make it properly or those who don't think too much of them and/or their Book will continue on in their negative thinking patterns or have them reinforced by the very ones trying to change them for the good.
Thus endeth the lesson for the day. By the way, going to church is a good idea...
Got exegesis?
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