In this passage the disciples are hiding from fear of the Jews. They had been in danger and held in contempt by this religious crowd since beginning to follow Jesus. (Isn't it funny how following Jesus can be controversial?)
Jesus was crucified, and this dejected and faith-depleted group thought they were next in line for execution.
Much like this group of disciples, many of us are hiding from what people have made religion to be. We are afraid to believe, and afraid of the religious powers that be.

It's possible to face a seeming defeat; a dissappointment;
when Jesus seems to have NOT done what He said He would do;
The moments when Jesus is no where to be found.
And worst of all the Jews are after you;
The religious people who's threatening stare reverberates, "I told you your zeal for Jesus would be for nought."
Isolation occurs.
The disciples are now in hiding.

Many of us are hiding; some literally for the same situation the disciples found themselves in.
But many of us are hiding from other fears.
We are shut up in a room, and we've got the door closed.
We're enclosed and shut up from the fear of something.
No one can get in.
We're trapped in this little room we've made of our lives. The door is shut.
We're afraid to trust and afraid to hope.
Afraid to make friends.
Afraid of certain types of probing conversations. In fact, we can sense when they are coming.
We refuse to let ANYONE inside that room; that room in the back part of the soul.
Nobody can get in.
And sadly, no one can get out.   Not even us.
We're stuck because we've locked ourselves in this room. We not going anywhere and our lives are on hold.

There are many walls and many shut doors.
"......his disciples were within.."
Walls are the rigid, thick opinions that have formed since we have been abused, neglected, rejected, hurt and wounded. They are the result of being let down.
Imagine how the disciples felt when they had left their jobs and invested their whole lives for this man;
this austere charismatic wonder working man, and this man is gone.
The show is over. The excitement is over.
They are let down, humiliated, and in fear.
It would have been enough for them to be let down, but now they have religious people ready to attack them.
So they hide.
What walls have we hidden ourselves in since the onset of our greatest tragedies? What mindsets have we adopted? What fortresses and prisons have we built up, preventing hope?
A moment of justifiable anger is manipulated by the Enemy and now we have opinions that house an anger problem.
A moment of justifiable hurt is manipulated by the same Enemy and we adopt thoughts that lead to a bitterness that is more than average. We have a bitter spirit.
There's fear, and violence, and hate, and immoralities;
helping to lay brick by brick, until we are trapped in these walls we have cooperated with.
We've adopted so many walls and guest occupants.

Worst of all, theres the shut door.
"....the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear...."
Although we say we are open-minded, are ears are shut and our eyes are closed. Our doors are closed and locked. We come to a place where we refuse to hear anything concerning "that place"; that issue;
that closed room in our soul.
When the door is shut, no one will get in. No one will address it.
We will even shut them down if we sense they are inching towards speaking concerning it.
And because we've shut down, and are shut up, we have even shut out The Word.
We've shut out Jesus.

But the most amazing part of this passage is that although Jesus could justifiably been offended by
the disciples' (Thomas' especially) fear and lack of faith, He does something that almost seems uncharacteristic of Himself.
Jesus, the prophet mighty in word and deed, who always required cooperation, and total faith,
ignores the "walls" and "shut doors" of unbelief and fear.

Although the walls were there and the doors were shut, Jesus breaks the rules, and decides to show up in the midst anyway.

You see, Jesus wanted to restore this situation so bad that if He had to step THROUGH the WALLS......

Im inspired to tell someone that this Jesus was not just Mary's baby. Although he cleansed lepers and walked on water, this was not that Jesus. This was the death conquering, Ressurected Son of God, raised by the power of His own hand;
 and although in flesh, as much God as The Father.  The saviour was operating on Another Level.
In just a few days he was prepared to ascend in the very clouds. This is not man, but God we are speaking of.
He doesn't need a door.

And He want to reach someone so bad, that He will still appear in the midst and reveal Himself, even if they have their walls up;
even if they have their doors shut;
even if they are dejected and humiliated;
hurt and fearful;
bitter and turned off by the notion of hope.

Im declaring that we are about to experience the breaking in and the appearing of Jesus
in some places that we have shut everything and everybody out of. Jesus is going to even disregard
the walls of unbelief in the one's we're praying for. He's about to step through walls;
through padlocked doors;
through ceilings;
in bars;
in alleyways;
in prisons and abortion clinics;
through the demented mind;
through the hearts of the unreachable;
the unsavable;
the untouchable;
the hiding and insolated

If He's got to step through the walls, He's gonna restore somebody, because God doesn't need a door.

Finally, I want to point out that when Jesus appears again, just for the sake of Thomas, He makes it a point to allow Thomas to touch His wounds.
And in this moment He communicates to Thomas and to us through this text, that the real reason He's disregarding the walls and shut door of our fears, mindsets and unbelief, is that He fully understands how it feels to be wounded.
He fully understands how it feels to feel like God has forsaken Him.
He understands how it feels to have left your home and forsaken all to invest in people who desert you.
And He understands how it feels to be locked in a room with a shut door. A few days ago, He was in a tomb with no way out.

The greatest thing about the text is that Thomas is allowed to have this personal experience for himself, that builds His confidence in Christ like never before.
"....And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.."

Jesus will surely make Himself known to you in your fiery ordeal. And before the close of this year, I declare that you will say unto Him with a fervent zeal never known before, "My Lord and my God."