RBWords

     Like so many of the vivid characters in the Gospel of John [e.g. the Samaritan Woman at the well (ch. 4) and the Man Born Blind (ch. 9), Thomas serves more than one purpose in his role in this scene.  Although he is known as "Doubting Thomas," he doesn't simply doubt, he refuses to believe in the experience of the other apostles and insists on his OWN experience (somewhat like the villagers in the story of the Samaritan Woman [4:42]).  He gets his wish, and also leaves us the profound profession of faith, "My Lord and my God!"  But he also serves the purpose of the evangelist who is writing for a generation well after the time of Jesus' death and resurrection!  "Have you come to believe because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

 

     When we recite the Nicene Creed on Sunday, we profess a belief in an "apostolic" church.  In short, we accept the testimony of the apostles from the beginning, without having had their personal experience of Jesus before and after his resurrection.  Jesus' words to Thomas make our faith a "blessed one."  Thomas' experience is also a reminder to us of the skeptical world that we live in that places its faith in "scientific" evidence.  Ultimately that insistence will lead a person to a crossroads where a choice will be made between this life only and a future life.  The apostles' testimony points us to the future.  AMEN