What do you make of Thomas? We give him the adjective ‘doubting’ and the combination is a modern idiom: Doubting Thomas. I wonder how he would feel about that. Maybe he’d be glad for the part he continues to play in confirming the truth of Jesus’ resurrection? Maybe he’d happily accept his own imperfection and point to Jesus’ gracious acceptance of him and the transformation that resulted? We don’t talk of a ‘Denying Peter’ or a ‘Scared Simon’ – and the evidence suggests Thomas was an effective apostle in the years of the early church – it’s just that his ministry didn’t get into Luke’s Acts of the Apostles (he’s only mentioned in chapter 1).
Jesus’ tells Thomas to “stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27) – and he does.
Today, we don’t have the opportunity of a physical Jesus – pierced hands and feed offered to our touch; today some continue to have doubts. And the word from Jesus is the same “stop doubting and believe”. And he adds “blessed are those “who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29).
What better way for us to come to worship the risen Lord Jesus than by using Thomas’ own words: My Lord and My God.
Raymond