Happy Doubting Thomas Day!
(I was unable to post this Easter, which I. normally do. So, here is a revision of something I posted a few years ago for “after” Easter.)
After Easter Sunday last week, believers should be refreshed in spirit from the reminders of our hope, the power of resurrection in us, and the confidence we have in the Gospel. We have probably also heard, read, or been reminded of most of the familiar stories of the account—familiar, that is, if we are “church folk.” Easter sermons may well have reminded us of:
Mary Magdalene, the first to see the risen Christ
Peter and John racing to the Tomb
The disciples on the Emmaus Road who heard the Lord’s “Christological exposition” of the Old Testament
The disciples seeing Jesus in the Upper Room
And doubting Thomas
Technically, Thomas’s story doesn’t find its conclusion until today, the week after the Resurrection, and preachers wanting to keep the Resurrection theme going might want to preach on this incident the Sunday after Easter. But we know the story. Thomas was missing on that first evening when Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples. When they told him what happened, he replied that he wouldn’t believe without tangible evidence—touching Jesus’ wounds. The Lord Jesus graciously appeared again the next week and addressed Thomas’s need to touch him. Thomas, not needing to touch him anymore, exclaimed, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus responds, and then we move on to other post-resurrection appearances and the rest of the New Testament.
“Doubting Thomas.” In my opinion, it’s not really fair that Thomas be labeled so negatively. Let me suggest why he might deserve better.
First, do you honestly think any of the other eleven disciples would have done much better had they not been there? This bunch didn’t have high regard for each other before the resurrection. They constantly compared themselves with each other and sought to assert their own higher rank than the others. Would they believe they alone had been left out? Would John, for example, who believed Jesus loved him so well, have reacted with great faith if the Lord had chosen to appear to everyone but him? We have nothing really to go by with many of the other disciples because there is little said about them. And Peter? The only reason he seems stable here is that the Lord already appeared to him privately (see Luke 24 and 1 Corinthians 15 for the evidence of that). None of the disciples believed the report of the women earlier in the day. No, I don’t think we have reason for high hopes if any of the others had missed out like Thomas.
Second, do you think you would have done differently? You (and I) are products of an evidentiary age and culture. We believe what we see, and we question others’ veracity whenever someone asserts what we “know” can’t be true. I think if we were in the same position, our reactions would be just as doubt-filled. Perhaps we wouldn’t put it as boldly as Thomas did, but we’d be thinking it!
Third, we should at least balance Thomas’s temporary doubt with his faithfulness as a disciple. He did follow faithfully all those years, unlike Judas. He listened, and he learned right along with the rest of the twelve.
When Jesus is preparing to return to Judea to raise Lazarus, everyone knew that this was dangerous—a potential suicide mission for the Lord because of the hatred of the Jewish leaders (see, for example, John 8:59, 10:31-39). How does Thomas respond? He acknowledges the danger but demonstrates his courage and commitment to Jesus by encouraging his fellow disciples, “let us also go that we may die with him (John 11:16).”
And in the Upper Room the night before the crucifixion, when Jesus asserts that the disciples know where he is going, everyone else sits quietly confused and embarrassed. They didn’t have a clue. It is Thomas who speaks up and says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way (John 14:5)?” Everyone else was content to be silent to hide their ignorance from Jesus. Not Thomas!
It is significant that, after missing Jesus the first time and not being ready to believe his friends, he still stayed with them. He remained with those he was “doubting” as to their mental state! Perhaps out of loyalty to them, perhaps out of loneliness, or perhaps out of some sense that, just maybe, they had seen something—whatever the reason, he stayed. That is admirable.
Finally, when confronted with the evidence, his repentance was both immediate and complete. More than that, his confession of Jesus is the most complete and succinct statement of Jesus’ identity in all these stories of the Resurrection: “My Lord and my God.” Jesus says that Thomas’s faith is a contrast to what will follow later. He believed when he saw, but from shortly after that onward, people would believe even without seeing, and that kind of faith is just as “blessed” as faith confirmed by evidence! Jesus is saying that those who saw had a privilege succeeding generations wouldn’t have, but those later believers would be just as blessed—just as saved—by a faith that didn’t have the advantage of seeing. Many who believed would do so, in part, through the story of the Resurrection and Thomas’s confession of faith.
Thomas went on to faithful service for the rest of his life. Tradition tells us that he traveled northeast into Parthia (including the northern region of Iraq, where I often serve) and eventually as far as India, where there is a Christian church (the Mar Thoma Church) that claims to go back to his ministry. The story tells us he was martyred there (shot with an arrow), in Chennai, on the southeastern coast of India. His traditional home is now called “St. Thomas Mount.” There is an ancient group of Christians, called the “Mar Thoma Syrian Church” found in that region still—with traditions said to come from the ministry of Thomas and rites involving the Syriac language—a form of Aramaic, the language Thomas and the disciples would have spoken.
So, perhaps we might rethink Thomas, and consider his example as much more relatable to us than we might think.
Doubting Thomas—yes, he did doubt in a situation that would have challenged us.
Faithful Thomas—from a willingness to follow to a willingness to preach in the far reaches of the world
Courageous Thomas—ready to head toward likely death to be with Jesus..
Devoted Thomas—not just willing to die, but after expressing his doubt, he stuck around with the rest of the disciples.
Honest Thomas—he wouldn’t pretend to know what he didn’t, so he asked the question that was needed.
There’s a whole lot more to admire and imitate in Thomas than his common nickname would indicate!
