“THE ANTIDOTE TO DOUBT”

38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

Luke 24:38-39

Jesus’ resurrection is the greatest miracle in the history of mankind. Except for Christ, no one has ever predicted his own death and resurrection and both predictions happened exactly as he said them. That’s why we have absolutely no reason to reject Jesus Christ. He accomplished things no other human being has achieved.

Jesus’ question in verse 38 does not demand an actual answer. He questioned the legitimacy of their fear, like where does their fear come from? He questioned them not only because they were troubled, but also because of their doubts.

When He appeared to His disciples, doubt shouldn’t have been their response, but praise and worship. They just saw the immense, supernatural life-giving power of God who revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. His appearance demanded worship, not fear.

I understand that as human beings, we are prone to doubt. When we do, we lack confidence, which directly opposes the very meaning of faith:

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1

When we doubt God’s word, we are without faith and consider it unlikely. Unless we overcome doubt, we will make poor choices, as in the cases of Eve (Genesis 3:1-3) and Zechariah (Luke 1:11-17), and suffer the consequences.

Jesus reacted to the disciples’ doubt by giving physical evidence of His resurrection; He spoke and then showed them his hands and feet. The Lord wanted them to get rid of their doubts by being convinced of truthful, verifiable evidence. He told them to use their senses to see the reality of His resurrection. He did this to counter their initial thoughts that they were seeing a ghost.

Before He died, Jesus had repeatedly told them that He would be resurrected, but they failed to believe Him.  He did rebuke them but didn’t stop there. He provided them with physical evidence proving He was indeed alive.

God does not expect us to exercise blind faith; He wants us to believe in things that are true and can be verified, i.e., Jesus' resurrection. He gave us minds and the capacity to reason; He requires us to use them. I’ve said it before, and I say it again: “We must know why we believe what we believe.” It is our job to substantiate the truthfulness of our beliefs.

When confronted with doubt, ask God to give you wisdom and faith that overcomes skepticism. Immerse yourself in Scripture and see your faith grow as you witness how amazing the God of the Bible is. Faith is the antidote to doubt. When you have biblical faith, you will have confidence in God’s word because He has proven Himself to be faithful and true.

Pursue the Saviour today!