THE MAIN IDEA
Jesus Christ is real, so let’s get real in Christ Jesus. 

EYEWITNESSES CAN ERASE DOUBT IN CHRIST
It was the eyewitness testimonies of  Jesus’s apostles that were written down to become the Gospels. The eyewitness testimonies are critical, because Christianity simply would not exist without the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is why skeptics specifically attack the reliability of the Gospels and the Bible as a whole. But when we look at the arguments of the skeptics with the same kind of critical eye that they  apply to the Gospels, we realize that their arguments really don’t carry much weight. The  “contradictions” they point out are not real contradictions, especially in the context of writing  history in the ancient world. The Gospels were not written as late as the skeptics assume, either. Furthermore, skeptics base all of their arguments on the assumption that supernatural  phenomena, and especially the resurrection, simply cannot have happened. But that assumption  raises other unexplainable questions—like, why were uneducated fishermen willing to go to  prison and be killed for following a leader who was dead? 

TESTIMONIES CAN ERASE DOUBT IN CHRIST
Thomas could not believe anything  unless he could see it, touch it, or experience it. Jesus appeared in that room specifically so that  Thomas might stop doubting and believe that what the other eyewitnesses said was true. And now, Thomas had his own testimony of the risen Christ, and it changed his life forever. Tradition  tells us that Thomas went on mission to India and, as with most of the eyewitnesses, was  martyred. At first, we might think, “How terrible!” And it was, but there’s nothing about where  Thomas is now or the reward that he will receive when Jesus returns. In fact, for every step of  faith and obedience that we take in the name of Jesus, there will certainly be a heavenly reward. But also, we have a taste of our heavenly reward right here and right now, because through faith  in the gospel of Jesus Christ, when we decide to follow Jesus as our Lord, we receive the gift of  eternal life, which starts right here and right now! And so every saint who follows Jesus as Lord  has a testimony of eternal life experienced right here and right now. 

FAITH WILL ERASE DOUBT IN CHRIST
Jesus is clearly frustrated by Thomas here.  Thomas’s perspective of the world was completely guided by me-myself-and-I, the unholy  trinity. Even his confession is self-centered: “MY Lord, MY God.” And so this encounter  between Jesus and Thomas highlights an aspect of the gospel that is truly critical for us to  understand. “[The] gospel is not primarily … centered on us and what we can gain from God, but  it’s ultimately on God in Jesus Christ. By shifting the focus away from ourselves, we discover a  far greater story—one where God’s love, glory, and eternal purposes take center stage, inviting  us to find our true meaning and joy in Christ” (Andrew Torrance). That is faith. Of course, God  does love us—so much so, He is constantly at work to draw us out of the world where me myself-and-I reigns supreme in our lives, because me-myself-and-I will always lead us to sin, brokenness, and doubt. God loves us and wants to deliver us from the bondage of living for me myself-and-I and into the freedom and the peace and the joy of living for Christ. 

DISCUSSION QUESTION:
If you are a believer, what is your life like without Jesus versus what your life is  like with Jesus? If you are not a believer, what are the circumstances that brought you into a  room full of Christians.