Sunday, March 21, 2010

Known For the Doubt (Never a Doubt, John Denver)


Ben: Thomas the Apostle. When Jesus wanted to return to Judea, knowing that he would probably be murdered there, Thomas said to the others, "Let us also go, that we might die with him." But Thomas was not remembered for this bravery. His claim to fame came later... when he refused to acknowledge the resurrection. He just couldn't wrap his mind around it. The story goes... that he needed to touch Jesus' wounds to be convinced.
Jack: So was he?
Ben: Of course he was. We're all convinced sooner or later, Jack.
- 316

316 is named, on the surface, for the flight that Ben and five of the Oceanic Six take back to the Island. But I presume that the name also is a reference to John 3:16, sometimes referred to as the Bible boiled down to one verse about God loving the world so much that He gave His Son so that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have eternal life. This seems especially fitting given Ben's conversation with Jack about the apostle Thomas and his struggle to believe. Here are Ben's biblical musings, to the tune of John Denver's Never A Doubt.

Known For the Doubt

He is known for the doubt,
Known for the doubt he confessed
When he looked on his Savior.
Known for the doubt.
It’s always been linked to his name.
He is known for the doubt
That compelled him to make his request.
Can we fault his behavior?
Known for the doubt.
Don’t you think we’d have acted the same?

Of the Apostles, not one has been misunderstood more than Thomas.
He was loyal and brave.
When Jesus was threatened, he said, “Let us go and die too.”
I assume, given the chance, that he would have made good on his promise
Of embracing the grave.
For the sake of his Lord, there was nothing that he wouldn’t do.

Reason was whispering to him, “It must be a hoax or illusion.
No, this cannot be real,”
Because Christ’s resurrection was something beyond his belief.
In his shoes, which of us wouldn’t have come to a kindred conclusion?
But when granted a feel,
We’d have trembled like Thomas as joy washed away all our grief.

Was he wrong to refuse to accept an imposter
When he did not dare hope for such glorious news?

He is known for the doubt,
Known for the doubt he confessed
When he looked on his Savior.
Known for the doubt.
It’s always been linked to his name.
He is known for the doubt
That compelled him to make his request.
Can we fault his behavior?
Known for the doubt.
Don’t you think we’d have acted the same?
Don’t you think we’d have acted the same?
We would have acted the same.


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