Many years ago, I wondered why it seemed so difficult for Thomas to believe. He had the testimony of all the other disciples wasn’t that good enough for him? Over time, however, his doubt and disbelief made more and more sense to me. After all, as opposed to simply having the testimony of his friends, he’d actually seen first-hand his Lord crucified. In the face of that stark reality, I can more easily understand that Thomas had a very hard time believing news that was, quite literally, too good to be true. Sometime later, my question shifted. Rather than wonder why Thomas struggled to believe, I wondered why Jesus seemed to answer him so harshly. After all, Thomas only asks for what the other disciples had already received. Have you ever noticed that? After Jesus greets them, he shows them his hand and his sides. Why? To prove that he wasn’t a ghost or apparition or someone that merely looked like Jesus but rather that the one who had been nailed to the cross and pierced in the side was the same one who now stood in front of them, raised from the dead. And so Thomas asks for the same thing. So why the rebuke from Jesus?
In time, I came to believe that Jesus’ words aren’t actually a rebuke. In fact, I came to suspect that Jesus isn’t speaking to Thomas nearly as much as Jesus is speaking to us. Here’s why. The Fourth Evangelist the one we call John is writing for a community of faith that, like Thomas, had never seen the resurrected Christ. Sure, they had the testimony of others, but they hadn’t seen him for themselves. And so perhaps here, right near the climax and close of the Gospel, Jesus doesn’t so much rebuke Thomas as he does bless all those who read this story and come to faith through it. John pretty much says as much in what feels like the formal conclusion of his Gospel: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (20:30-31). And so I think Jesus is promising all those future believers in John’s first-century community and our twenty-first-century ones — that when we hear the story of God’s love we come to faith and are blessed. Faith, after all, is hard, and believing something you haven’t seen first hand especially so.
All of this leads me to my most recent question: Do we long to see Jesus like Thomas? Do we look for a loving and accepting community of believers? Do we hope to see the mercy of God enacted in the service and witness of our congregation? Do we seek someone to hold on to us when we struggle in faith or life? Or do we just need to hear John’s acknowledgment that faith is hard and receive Jesus’ invitation to faith and promise of blessing?
Questions to reflect on!!
Solomzi