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.
POINTERS FOR PRAYER
1. Thomas, doubting and questioning, is possibly a person with whom we can identify. What part have doubting and questioning played on your faith journey? How has your faith been strengthened by such moments?
2. Note the way that Jesus dealt with Thomas. He did not give out because he doubted. He accepted how he felt and led him along to see the truth of his resurrection. Who has been that kind of teacher for you, gently taking you where you were and leading you to a deeper knowledge about some truth about life? For whom have you been that kind of teacher?
3. “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believed”. That requires great trust. Perhaps you have had the experience of being trusted without having to justify every step along the way. What was it like to be trusted in that way? Whom have you been able to trust in a similar manner?
Doubting Thomas moves from a position of stark resistance to faith to an extraordinary confession of faith, equally stark: My Lord and my God, the highest confession of Jesus on the lips of anyone in John’s Gospel.
Part of the message is not to be afraid to name our doubts and to own them, even to “inhabit” them. Is there a God at all? Is Jesus the person Christians claim he is? What is my experience of prayer and spirituality? By what values shall I choose to live?
The word of today’s gospel is encouraging: deepest doubt is the royal path to deepest faith.
But the climax of the story is not Thomas’ journey, impressive as it is. The climax is in the ‘beatitude’ which follows: Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.
This final beatitude of only two in the Gospel addresses the later generation, wondering if it is somehow at a disadvantage. The answer is a resounding ‘no’. On the contrary, Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’ It was true then and it is true today.