Youth Group Devotionals

Today’s scripture, John 20:24–29, is the passage that is often called “Doubting” Thomas. Thomas was not present when Jesus appeared to the disciples in the locked room and when they told him about their encounter, he struggled to believe them. Notice that Thomas’ doubt was with the disciples’ story. Often when I hear “Doubting Thomas” my mind goes to him doubting Jesus. Eight days later Jesus appeared to them again in the room and Thomas was present and Jesus did not chastise Thomas for voicing his doubts about the disciples’ story but met him where he was and told him to touch His hands and side to prove He was the resurrected Jesus. But in verse 29 Jesus says “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”. As Christ followers today our faith isn’t based on physical truth but faith that Jesus is who he says he is. This shows that believing without seeing is something special, and it’s something we’re all called to do. But even when we have doubts, it’s okay to bring them to God and ask Him to meet us right where we are.

The two disciples on the road to Emmaus returned to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples what had happened. As they were recounting their encounter with Jesus, Jesus appears in the locked room with the disciples. He then explained the scriptures to the entire group like he did for the two we read about yesterday. One other interesting note, the passage mentions that Jesus instructed them to touch his hands and feet and asked for something to eat. This demonstrated that His resurrection appearances were not a “ghost” of Jesus but the very same body that hung on the cross.

In chapter 24 of Luke we read that Jesus appeared to two of His disciples while they were walking on the road to Emmaus.To add some context to this scripture, we’ve all learned about the 12 disciples, some of you may know all their names, but these were not all the followers of Jesus. On Monday and Tuesday we read about a group of women that were following Jesus. In total there were approximately 100 people following Jesus as he traveled around in His ministry. This is how they were able to replace Judas with Matthias (Acts 1:12-26).In this passage, we see that despite all these people following Jesus and hearing His teachings, they still did not fully understand His mission as the Messiah, a misunderstanding that often frustrated Him throughout His ministry. (I would say the two who understood the most were Mary, His mother, and Mary Magdalene.)As the two disciples walk along discussing recent events, Jesus joins them but prevents them from recognizing Him. He then explains the scriptures, showing how He fulfills them. Finally, at dinner, He reveals His identity, and everything suddenly clicks for them in another biblical light bulb moment!

Jesus appeared to the rest of the group of women who went to the tomb after they saw that it was empty and were visited by angels. Mark tells us two of the women, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, the mother of John and the other James whom Jesus called the "Sons of Thunder".

Jesus’ time on earth didn’t end with his resurrection; he remained for another 40 days. We're going look at what the Bible says about that period. One of His first appearances was to Mary Magdalene at the tomb.