Eastertide

April 19, 2020

Scripture Reading:
John 20:19-31

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. John 20:24-31

How do we decide when we must have unquestionable proof of something or when we take things at face value? It is a puzzle. I tend to take things at face value if they are routine and nonthreatening to my way of being. I can stew over something for weeks or months when my decision is life-changing yet straightforward.

I guess Thomas and I have that in common. Back in John 11, Thomas was the first disciple to recognize the danger of returning to Judah when Jesus and the Disciples learned of Lazurus’s death. Still, Thomas supported Jesus’s decision to go.

Thomas, …, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’ (John 11:16)

We do not remember Thomas so much for that action. His history accentuates his doubting his fellow disciples’ report that Jesus had risen from the dead. I cannot imagine the shock Jesus’s followers experienced following his crucifixion. Sharing his story was helpful to new converts when the book of John was written sometime toward the end of the first century. They like us are the ones who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your patient and steadfast love that continues as we struggle with melding our ways with your ways. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.