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It's not a sin to have doubts. It's natural to be hesitant sometimes when asked to believe a certain thing and it's normal to want answers to questions. In Mark chapter 10 verse 24, a man who wanted Jesus to heal his son cried "I do have faith, but not enough. Help me to have more!" After the resurrection of Jesus and His re-appearance to His disciples, Thomas was such a person. He has been known ever since as "Doubting Thomas".
John's Gospel has the words of Thomas on four occasions. He was one of "the twelve" that Jesus had chosen to be His special disciples, so that He could teach them many things and prepare them for His journey to the Cross and what they were expected to do afterwards. Earlier in John's Gospel, chapter 11 verse 16, Thomas said to his fellow-disciples "Let us all go with the Teacher, so that we may die with Him!" Then in chapter 14 verse 5, Jesus is talking about how He will leave them shortly, but will prepare a place in heaven for them. Thomas said "Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way to get there?" They were all perplexed and sad because they didn't understand why or how Jesus was going back to His Father.
So now, as Jesus appeared to His disciples, who were scared and in hiding on that first Easter Sunday evening, Thomas was absent from the group. It's quite possible that he wanted to be alone to sort out his thoughts, after the horrifying events of the previous Friday and then the astonishing claim by excited Mary Magdalene that she had met the risen Lord that very morning. Thomas had declared "Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my hand in his side, I will not believe". Thomas wasn't sure of any of it just then. But a week later Jesus came again to His disciples, and Thomas was with them. (Jesus would have known this, of course). Jesus invited him to put his hands where His wounds had been and told him to stop doubting! It is not stated whether Thomas actually did touch Jesus, but there and then he uttered his great confession: "My Lord and my God!" (John chapter 20 verse 28). So then Jesus added "Do you believe because you see Me? How happy are those who believe without seeing Me!" (verse 29).
And that applies to all of us! Jesus knows every one of us personally and He understands that we can doubt, and want reassurances. But His Holy Spirit is with us always, "The Helper", and we can ask for more faith on the days when we wonder what it's all about. As for Thomas, the famous original "doubter", after helping to set up the early church in Jerusalem in the years that followed, according to tradition he took the Gospel eastwards as far as India, where he laid down his life for Christ.
