TEXT: John 20:24-31

“Thomas! Thomas!” called some of Jesus’ disciples. “Come, listen. We have something wonderful to tell you!” They were hurrying toward him. How happy they looked!

“What is it?” asked Thomas sadly. He couldn’t think of anything to be happy about now. His best Friend, Jesus, had just died. He would never see his beloved Teacher again, and his heart ached with sadness.

“Thomas, you should have been with us last night,” the disciples said. “We were eating our evening meal when suddenly Jesus was standing in the middle of the room! We don’t know how He entered because we had locked all the doors. He said to us, ‘Peace be unto you.’ Then He asked if we had any food for Him! We gave Him some and He ate with us! We saw Jesus! We heard Jesus! He’s alive!”

“I cannot believe that,” said Thomas, amazed at their words. “I know the women saw the empty tomb. I know His body is no longer there, but I won’t believe He is alive unless I see the marks of the nails in His hands. I won’t believe unless I touch the place in His side where the spear pierced Him.”

How sad Thomas was. Since Jesus had died, he had hardly been able to think of anything else. Thomas just couldn’t believe that Jesus was alive.

But he found out that what the disciples said was true. It was just about a week later that all of Jesus’ helpers were together again. They were in the same room and all the doors were again locked. This time Thomas was with them.

Suddenly, Jesus was standing in the middle of the room. He said to everyone, “Peace be unto you.” Then Jesus looked at Thomas. His face was kind as He gently said, “Thomas, come and feel the marks of the nails in My hands. Put your hand in My side. And, Thomas, believe that I am alive!”

Thomas’ heart leaped for joy. It was true! He cried, “My Lord and my God!” Oh, Thomas was so sorry he had not believed his friends.

Jesus said, “Thomas, because you see me, you believe, and you are happy. There will be many people who will believe I am alive even though they never see me. They will be very blessed.”

Thomas believed Jesus because he saw Him. Have you ever seen Jesus? No. But Jesus is alive! You will be happy and blessed if you will believe that He lives today. He loves you and will always be with you. This is His promise to us.

PARENT’S CORNER

This lesson stresses the necessity of believing. Our Bible text tells the story of Thomas, the disciple of Jesus who would not believe Jesus had risen from the dead until he saw Him.

To help your child understand what it means to believe, plan a special “Better Believe” day for your family. Have each family member write down on separate slips of paper two or three things they will do for someone else in the family. Fold the papers in half, and write “Better Believe” on the outside. For example, you might write on your child’s slip, “I will make banana muffins for your breakfast.”

When each slip is given to the appropriate person during the day, the recipient must say “I believe!” before the action can be performed.