Thoughts for the Day

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.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Are you a 'Doubting Thomas'? If so join the queue. Our bible is full of those who doubt. Here's just a few:

• Abraham, an elderly man, laughed at God's promise to make him the father of many nations (Genesis 17.17)
• Sarah, Abraham's elderly wife, doubted God's promise to have a child (Genesis 18.12)
• Moses, doubted that he could get Pharaoh to free the Israelites (Exodus 3.11)
• Gideon, doubted his tiny clan could defeat the Midianites (Judges 6.15)
• Zechariah, an elderly priest, doubted that he and his wife would have their son, John the Baptist (Luke 1.18)
• Thomas, doubted the existence of the resurrected Jesus (see reading above).

Doubting is often the default position when something strange happens, and we need to be convinced otherwise by some concrete example. So nothing will do but for Thomas to touch Christ's wounds before he will believe that Jesus has defeated death and risen from the grave.

But doubt is not a bad thing! It's a kind of halfway house between absolute disbelief and belief. Doubt leaves the door open to belief, as we can see with all the examples above. May we continue to say in our prayers "Lord, help my unbelief", and prayer for all who struggle with faith.

Lord Jesus Christ,
as You understood Thomas' doubt
concerning Your resurrection,
and helped him to have faith in You,
so we pray that You will encourage us
when we struggle with our faith.
Help us also to be supportive of others
whose faith may waver,
and show us how to reassure
those who struggle.
Amen.