"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
It's Wednesday, so I'm thinking it's about time we give Thomas a break.
On Wednesdays, I workshop the sermon. It’s ‘Doubting Thomas’ Sunday - and I think it’s time to give him the credit he deserves.
Reading:
John 20:19-31
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
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.
Scripture: Thomas gets a lot of grief for his doubting; in fact, I think it is now safe to say that he will never live it down.
Thomas, too, demands proof, demands that he get verification of the miraculous post-resurrection sighting of Jesus. And he is no fool – he wants evidence that he can not only see, but touch. He is not prepared to place his faith blindly. And, of course, this is what we all understand.
But unlike so many, when Thomas gets what he asks for, he passionately declares his faith.
And we might stop here and notice that he does get what he asks for.
We might think to ourselves that if only we were there, if only Jesus were here, beckoning us to touch him, then our faith might be different, too.
And yet, is this really true?
The disciples, for example, even though they saw Jesus the first time, are still inside with the door closed when Jesus comes to greet Thomas.
Their lives didn’t change until after Thomas made his bold statement, ‘My Lord and my God!’
Remember, this is the first time Jesus is seeing the disciples since he died, and notice that Jesus does not make it his business to hold them responsible for their questionable behavior during the past week.
Jesus does not start off by saying, "OK, where were you guys while I was being crucified? Why are you hiding now that you think I am gone? And hey, Peter, what about that denial in the garden? Three times? And I thought you were my friend."