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     There are times when reading the Gospel According to John that I feel as if various characters become almost archetypes of classes of people in the process of hearing the gospel and coming to faith.  The sheer vividness of the characters makes it seem as if they are more than just themselves.  The apostle Thomas, with his ominous comment about going back with Jesus to Judea to mourn Lazarus ("Let us also go to die with him! John 11:16) and his question at the Last Supper, ("Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" John 14:5) and his confession of faith in the Risen Christ, after doubting the initial message ("My Lord and my God!" John 14:28) seems to come off the page into our imagination.  He is like so many other colorful characters in the Gospel According to John:  Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the Man Born Blind, not to mention Peter and "the disciple whom he loved."  We can find ourselves identifying with these people.  We are those whom Jesus speaks of in replying to Thomas' confession: "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."  We are the ones who "are no longer strangers and sojourners, but...are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets.." as we read in the first scripture for today from Ephesians.

     Characters, like Thomas,  of the kind we encounter in the Gospel According to John  remind us that Jesus did not choose plaster of Paris or porcelain figurines as his followers, but rather imperfect flesh and blood people who would struggle to know him and then risk their lives to tell others about him.  We are the others who know Jesus because of their preaching.  Like Thomas, we may find it hard to believe at times.  Perhaps, like Thomas, we need to have a personal experience of Christ or at least meet someone who personifies Jesus and inspires us.  Thomas waves to us from the page and says, "I did it.  So can you!"  AMEN