We turn to Jesus the teacher. In John 20:24-29 (NIV) we have:
24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Caravaggio’s painting The Incredulity of Saint Thomas captures the moment.
Look what Jesus has just done!
- Jesus said to Thomas: “Put your finger here…reach out your hand and put it into my side.”
- Jesus engaged Thomas as an active participant
- Jesus stimulated Thomas’ sense of touch
- Jesus used the Enactive learning mode
- Thomas will retain the physical sensation of putting his hand into Jesus’ body
- “…see my hands.”
- Jesus next stimulated Thomas’ visual senses
- Jesus uses the Iconic learning mode
- Thomas sees the holes in Jesus’ body…a visual illustration of what the other disciples had told him
- Thomas’s mental desktop now has an image that summarizes the experience
- “Stop doubting and believe.”
- Hearing and language
- Jesus finishes his lesson with the Symbolic mode of learning. Very conceptual.
- A command for Thomas to integrate the pieces of information he has about Jesus and draw a conclusion.
Notice how Jesus sequenced Thomas through these three learning modes. Notice how Jesus makes Thomas an active participant. Notice how Jesus uses discovery. And then the light bulb turns on. Thomas then takes what he knows from his time with Jesus, combines that with the new information he has just received, processes it and comes to a new level of understanding. Thomas summarizes: “My Lord and my God”.