“Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, 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 in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’” (John 20:24-25)
Doubting Thomas: this is the man we encounter in this week’s gospel. According to tradition, Thomas was the apostle who originally brought Christianity to India. In 52 AD, he landed on the Malabar Coast, present day Kerala. He preached the Gospel to Jews living there and also to the Brahmin, many of whom became followers of Jesus. He established 7 Churches in Kerala before moving to the east coast of India. He was martyred in 72 A.D. near Madras. His body was brought to Mylapore where he is buried.
Thomas was a brave and spirit filled man who died preaching God’s word. He was changed by his encounter with the risen Jesus. Yet the world remembers him as doubting Thomas for he refused to believe the testimony of his fellow disciples, men who had been his brothers and companions for 3 years, men he should have been able to trust implicitly. He failed to believe because, from what we see of him in the scriptures, he was a pessimist, a skeptic, a man filled with questions.
Few of us would probably admit to it, but I think most of us identify with Thomas. We have doubts, we have questions, we have times of unbelief. Yet as we see in this account, these times of doubt and uncertainty when we wrestle with God for answers, often lead to great revelations. And the resurrection of Jesus is the greatest revelation we have. It fills us with joy. We feel ecstatic when we recall that His resurrection is the assurance of our own and the assurance of eternal life. No matter how much the wicked may prosper in this life, no matter what they may do to us or say to us, that does not matter. We know that we serve a risen savior. Only we Christians can state that. No other faith can make that same claim.