John 20:19-31

I was thirteen the first time I went snow skiing.  My church youth group arrived at Winter Park, CO, a day earlier than expected.  A friend and I had lessons scheduled the next morning but decided to hit the slopes that afternoon to see what we could learn on our own.  Disaster was about to ensue.

We stayed on the practice slope the entire time.  On the last run of the day, my youth minister took us down the bunny slope.  If you haven’t been skiing, the practice slope is a very gradual and short slope designed for exactly what its name suggests: practice.  The bunny slope is barely a notch above the practice slope.  The only real difference is that it is longer.  Doesn’t sound too threatening, right?

After a dozen falls, he looked at me from thirty yards down-slope.  “Can you make it to the bottom?” He hollered to me.  “Yeah..sure,” I waved him off.  So now I was on my own.

I did not yet understand the color coding.  Green for the easy slopes.  Blue for intermediate and black for advanced.  Knowing this would have made big difference, but as it happened, I crossed from the bunny slope to a more advanced green.  I did ok.  From there, I went to a blue— that was worse.  And from the blue, I turned on a double diamond black.  My life was pretty much over.  I somehow made it to the bottom of the slope, but it wasn’t with my skis attached to my boots anymore.  And I didn’t talk to my youth minister for quite some time.  You see, I got off the path I was supposed to be on, and I didn’t have anyone there to get me headed the right direction again.

This series of reflections from John chapter 20 verses 19 through 31 focuses on Thomas and the other disciples whose world had just crumbled and they were at a cross roads of belief.  They were locked in a room hiding together.  They had gotten off the path and needed someone to get them headed in the right direction again.  That’s when Jesus entered the room and stood among them.  He didn’t chastise them for their questions.  He gave them a gentle course correction to get them back on the path of belief.  If you believe in God, but struggle sometimes with how that belief intersects the circumstances of your life, then this study is for you.