Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Is Everything Sad Going to Come Untrue? | The Gospels | John 20:19–29

Episode Date: September 1, 2026

How do you hope when your circumstances point in the opposite direction? What do you do when doubt feels more believable than faith? And can Jesus really give you peace right now? In today’s episode, Tanya explores John 20:19–29 and shows how Jesus meets Thomas in his doubt and offers the kind of peace only his resurrection can provide. Read the Bible with us! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and it's never too late to join! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: John 20:19–29

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. So there's a moment near the end of the Lord of the Rings when Sam, who has walked through fire, through darkness, through what felt like just the end of everything, wakes up and sees Gandalf standing in front of him. Gendor is a wizard that he watched fall into the shadow, gone and dead. But when Sam sees him, he asks him this question, is everything safe? sad, going to come untrue? I think most of us have asked some version of that question, maybe not out loud or maybe not in those words, but somewhere in the middle of a hard season, somewhere in

the middle of a challenging season, we have wondered if the sorrow or the struggles that we're carrying and shouldering are just permanent, if this is simply how things are going to be. And Gandalf's answer to Sam is short. He just says, a great shadow has departed, and then he laughs, like a real laugh, the kind Sam hadn't heard in longer than he could remember. When Jesus appears to the disciples in his risen body after the crucifixion, they experience the same kind of awe and wonder. The natural order of things has been broken. What they had only hoped for was reality, Jesus had defeated death. And if he was alive, what did that mean? For their relationships, their struggles, their purpose. Jesus told the disciples what it meant.

after his death when the disciples were locked away in a room because they were afraid of the Jews, Jesus came to them and said, peace, be with you. Peace. That's what Jesus commanded. Before his death in John 1427 when he told them, do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. But now he stands before them showing them why they can have true peace. He has conquered their greatest enemy sin. He has overcome their greatest fear, death. what they thought would keep them from God has been taken care of, what they thought would be the end of their story has been defeated. Jesus didn't leave them alone in their fear,

but came to them in that locked room, showing them his hands and his side, and he said, again, peace be with you. As the father has sent me, I also send you. But then John lets us in on a little problem. There was one who was missing. Thomas wasn't among them. If you grew up in church,

you've probably heard this story and the name doubting Thomas is probably in your vocabulary. So John says the disciples who were rejoicing went to Thomas to tell him the good news. We've seen the Lord, they said. But Thomas replied, If I don't see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails

and put my hand into his side, I will never believe. I don't think we can blame Thomas. He hadn't seen what the other disciples had seen with their own eyes, and he was being honest. It makes sense when you think about it. Thomas's sadness had not been undone in the same way. He was still operating in the natural order of things. He saw Jesus die with his own eyes.

He experienced the grief of that with his own heart. How does one hope when the circumstances point otherwise? But Jesus did not leave him in his doubt. A week later when they were all together, including Thomas, Jesus came among them again and said, peace, be with you. Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand to put it into my side. Don't be faithless, but believe. And then he said, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.

Jesus did not leave Thomas in a state of doubt. He met him by grace to give him what he needed to believe. What has he given you? There's a real difference between living and living in peace. We are constantly missing out on the peace that Jesus offers when we take shortcuts to find peace elsewhere. God is not satisfied with us living for peace sometime in the future. He commands us to live in peace even now. He does not want us to settle for less.

Here's the bottom line. If you are God's child, your life is never out of control. So much of what happens to you is out of your control, but never lose sight of this. your life is not out of control. Jesus came to make everything sad untrue. He undead what had been done in the Garden of Eden. He crossed the canyon between God's holiness and our sins, bringing us into an unbroken and unwavering relationship with our Heavenly Father. Everything in your life is under the rule of your risen Savior. The people of God are not living in the vast unknown, but anchored in the promises of a risen Savior who will return to make everything new. That kind of peace isn't something

that you can just like conjure up or talk yourself into. It's something you have to keep asking Jesus for. Just keep coming back to God and keep asking him, keep praying and keep looking to his word. Keep being in fellowship with other believers who will encourage you and help you. So here's a little thought experiment for today. If you had unlimited power to change something in your life, what would you change and why? And how have you been unable to change it at this point? Perhaps despite your best efforts? And how does that feeling of powerless make you feel?

How do you respond to that? God isn't interested in leaving you powerless or in having you feel powerless. He wants to amaze you the way he amazed Thomas. But most days, we reach for something easier. We reach for something less than God to hold on to. We reach for a shortcut. We reach for our routines. We reach for our competence.

We reach to the people and the things that we can actually control to find the peace that we crave. Where have you been looking for peace when Jesus is standing right there offering to give you himself? Whatever your answer, you can bring it to him now. Lord Jesus, you have defeated death. and you have made everything I can possibly worry about under your control. If I worry about death, I can look to your risen life as an illustration of what you will do for me. If I am plagued by guilt, I can look to your cross for assurance that nothing can keep me from your love. Please anchor me in these vertical truths so that I can live as someone

of peace, even though my circumstances are not peaceful. Amen.