INTRODUCTION
Thomas and doubting have become an idiomatic expression, yet the Galilean’s name means “twin.” One wonders why the other half of the twin is never mentioned. Thomas is called by another name, Didymus, that also means the same (John 11:16; 20:24). Most Christians view Thomas negatively for requiring physical evidence before believing his peers’ reports about a risen Jesus being alive (John 20:24–29). But such hasty judgments may reveal more about us than accurately describe Thomas. The Gospels reveal more about the man Jesus chose to be one of His disciples (Matt 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13).
I. BRAVE THOMAS
When Jesus heard that His friend Lazarus was ill, He delayed going to Bethany two days, during which time Lazarus died. When Jesus decided to return to Judea, the disciples protested that the journey could lead to further confrontation with the religious leaders and result in their Master’s death. Previously, Jesus was nearly stoned twice for His teachings (John 8:48–59; 10:31–39). Jesus started toward Jerusalem. Brave Thomas courageously influenced the other disciples to accompany Jesus with these heroic words, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him” (John 11:16).1 His love for Jesus made him intensely loyal. Thomas may have had questions and doubts, but he was no coward. He was a practical realist who saw things as they were.
II. INQUIRING THOMAS
Later in the upper room, Jesus tried to prepare the disciples for what would soon happen: His arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, and ultimate triumph over evil. He promised to prepare a place that where He was, they would be also. Sincerely wanting to understand spiritual complexities, Thomas asked Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” (John 14:5). Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). The answer mystified Philip, who was pragmatic also and wanted the facts, “Show us the Father” (John 14:8). Many people are like Thomas and Philip. They rely on common sense and what they can experience to determine the reality of spiritual truths. Accepting the theoretical is challenging and hard to grasp.
Faith links reality with theory and experience with knowledge. Faith reaches beyond common sense to uncommon knowledge. It discovers the invisible aspects of life. The biblical definition of faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1).
III. QUESTIONING THOMAS
When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, He told the mob, “If you seek Me, let these [His disciples] go their way” (John 18:8). Most of them fled to save themselves. Peter and John stayed to observe what was happening to Jesus. Apparently, Thomas went off by himself for the next ten days, and the other eight hid behind closed doors “for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19). Even when told by the women and confirmed by John and Peter that the tomb was empty, the disciples “did not believe” (Mark 16:11). The evening of resurrection day, Jesus came and stood in their midst. To allay their fears that He was not a ghost and convince them He was alive, “He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20). Thomas was not present, but he was told of the event. He declared, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails [proof], . . . I will not believe” (John 20:25).
After fleeing from the garden, Thomas worked through despair and disappointment alone. He was not huddled in a house with the other disciples fearing the Jews. His reluctance to be swayed by the testimony of others gives proof of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. A questioning mind may well be evidence of superior thinking rather than just trusting acceptance based on what friends say. Doubting is not necessarily wrong when it is exercised to make certain of facts and faith. Doubts can be stepping stones towards belief. God answers honest questions as He did for Job and Habakkuk. The issue is one of integrity. Are you humbly seeking to discover truth, or are you trying to show how smart you are by cynical insinuations and posing questions that instill and spread doubts? The Lord promises, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer 29:13). So, “seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near” (Isa 55:6). Thomas wanted to believe from personal conviction and experience, rather than from someone else’s beliefs. He needed solid evidence as a firm foundation for faith.
IV. CONVINCED THOMAS
A week later Jesus suddenly appeared amid the disciples again. This time Thomas was present. Jesus invited him to “look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (John 20:27). Egyptian census documents from AD 48 record people identified by their scars. “A freed woman is described as medium height with honeycolored complexion, having a long face and large scar on her right knee.”2 Thomas saw Christ’s scars and proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). His declaration uses the word “Lord” as the sacred substitute for YHWH, thereby associating Jesus with the Jehovah God (Yaweh) of the Old Testament. Then he further ascribes deity to Christ equating Him with the Father by using the divine title theos or ‘Elohim, the living God. Thomas’ confession is the most profound and far-reaching than any made earlier by the other disciples.
In response, Jesus pronounces another Beatitude, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). If belief in the resurrection were limited to eyewitnesses, then only a hundred pagan soldiers guarding the tomb to keep the body of Jesus inside would be credible. Only those who saw Christ in His risen form could be expected to believe the report. You and I would have to accept it on hearsay. Thankfully, the unwillingness of Thomas to believe friends lends credence to the resurrection of Christ as a fact. He saw Jesus with his own eyes. Thomas experienced what we face today. Chrysostom observed, “He doubted that we might have faith.” We must decide on what to base our faith.
CONCLUSION
Thomas continued to actively serve Christ as one of the apostles. During the early years of church formation, Thomas participated in choosing a replacement for the betrayer, Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:13– 26), and for the seven deacons (Acts 6:1– 7). Tradition says he worked in Parthia and Persia. He may have been a missionary to Malabar on the coast of India where he is said to have died in Madras (AD 72).
When Thomas experienced the reality of faith, he openly lived and proclaimed his faith. Will you be like the faithful disciple Thomas, openly living and proclaiming faith in our soon coming Saviour and Friend, Jesus Christ?
1 All Scripture references are from the NKJV.
2 “Census,” Biblical Training, accessed December 9, 2024, https://www.biblicaltraining.org/ library/census.
Gary R. Councell is a retired teacher, pastor, chaplain, and departmental director. Immediately prior to his retirement he was the director of the Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries, at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, MD, USA
