Haven't read a whole lot, but was really struck by the account of the apostle Thomas that Johna MacArthur gave. Was also intrigued by MacArthur's relaying of the story of Lazarus. He had some interesting things to say about Christ's reason for tarrying before going to Bethany. I intend to study the story more closely for myself before I decide whether or not to agree with MacArthur's opinion on the subject. Maybe the JST has some insight that he wouldn't have considered.
His description of Thomas, though, was interesting. Most people call him "Doubting Thomas," because he didn't believe in Jesus's physical resurrection until he could touch the wounds himself. MacArthur points out that the other disciples didn't, either. It's just that Thomas wasn't in the Upper Room because he was so sorrowful about Christ's death that he didn't want to be around his friends. So he didn't believe that the other apostles had seen the resurrected body.
On pages 187 through 189, MacArthur describes Thomas's personality and the love that he had for our Savior. I wish I could quote the entirety of it all. But this excerpt from p. 188 sums things up nicely, and is one I find quite inspirational.
"Thomas obviously had a deep devotion to Christ that could not be dampened even by his own pessimism. He had no illusion that following Jesus would be easy. All he could see were the jaws of death opening to swallow him. But he followed Jesus with an undaunted courage. He was resolved to die if necessary with his Lord rather than forsake Him. He would rather die than be left behind and separated from Christ."
I think the motivation behind the book (which I'm almost finished with) can be summed up with this sentence on page 195:
"If the faults and character flaws of the apostles seem like a mirror of your own weaknesses, take heart. These are the kinds of people the Lord delights to use."
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