“Unless I see the mark of the nails…I will not believe.”
Who is Thomas? Thomas was one of the twelve Apostles. He was known as a “twin” but we do not know anything of the other twin. He is mentioned in all four gospels, but it is in John’s Gospel that he has pivotal roles. First, when Jesus went back to see and raise Lazarus from the dead, Thomas knowing their lives would be endangered, spoke up to the others and said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him" [1] He also spoke up at the Last Supper asking how and where Jesus was going. Of course, the climax of his story in the Gospel was his doubting Jesus rose from the dead because he was not present the first time Jesus appeared to the other Apostles.
Why was he not in the upper room with the other apostles? There is no specific reason, written or known, why Thomas was not present when Jesus first appeared. St. Gregory the Great, however, gives an explanation of why Thomas would be missing. “Surely it was not by chance that this chosen disciple was missing in the first place? Or that on his return he heard, that hearing he doubted, that doubting he touched, and that touching he believed? It was by divine dispensation and not by chance that things so fell out. God’s mercy worked wonderfully, for when that doubting disciple touched his Master’s wounded flesh he cured the wound of our disbelief...So this doubting disciple, who actually touched, became a witness to the reality of the resurrection.” [2]
Why does he doubt? Can we honestly blame Thomas for doubting? In just seventy-two hours, he was eating supper with Jesus, and then saw Him arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. Thomas knew Jesus was dead. Now, his friends were telling him that Jesus was alive again. It is understandable for Thomas to question and even doubt that this could be true. It is through faith that we believe Jesus is God, and the Catholic Church is the one true Church He founded, and God is guiding it through the Holy Spirit. God permitted Thomas to doubt because as St. Gregory says, we should be strengthened in humble belief in the Resurrection of Christ. “When Jesus did come to Thomas all fears and doubts were removed”. [3] When have there been times you doubted? When was a time when something was “too good to be true”? Discuss a time when you may have doubted but later found out what you doubted to be true.
Why did Jesus come back again for Thomas? It was a merciful act of bursting through Thomas’ disbelief and doubts. It was so Thomas may fully embrace everything Jesus was, is, and ever will be. The Gospel of John is also speaking to us when Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” [4] We should never doubt that Jesus is our Lord, who died, and rose again. If we believe this, we will be blessed as Jesus promised.
Why did he proclaim, “My lord and my God”? St. Thomas, who is referred as the “doubter”, makes the most complete affirmation of Christ’s nature in all of the Scriptures. [5] These five simple words were confessed and speak of the true divinity of Jesus. Thomas through his faith has professed that Jesus indeed is the Son of God. “His faith springs not so much from the evidence of seeing Jesus as from an immense sorrow. It isn’t so much the proof, as his love, that leads him to adoration and to renewing his apostolate.” [6]
What did St. Thomas do after he saw Jesus? After witnessing the resurrection of Jesus, Thomas traveled the greatest distance of any of the Apostles away from Jerusalem. He is responsible for bringing Christianity Eastward to present day Afghanistan, Syria, and as far as India. He was a martyr in India, and his Shrine is still there today. To this day, the western and southern part of India is heavily Catholic, while the northern and eastern parts are Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim.
While Thomas gets a bad rep for “doubting” Jesus’ resurrection, his emphatic statement, “My lord and my God” clearly shows his doubt was removed. He traveled further than any other Apostle and is a great witness for all of us who have any doubts in our faith to no longer doubt, but to proclaim Jesus Christ as our king and our Lord. In the Gospel’s, there is a simple prayer uttered by the father of a son who was healed by Jesus. The Father says, “I do believe, help my unbelief.” [7] This is also the prayer of Saint Thomas and the prayer of every Christian. We believe, but yet we struggle with unbelief. We know, love and serve God, yet God is still a mystery, we prefer other things to the love of God at times and we serve self rather than God. This one short prayer sums up the desire of our hearts and the reality of our thoughts and actions. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
[1] John 11:16
[2] St. Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels, 26, 7
[3] The Church’s Year pg. 270
[4] John 20:29
[5] The Jerome Biblical Commentary pg. 464
[6] In Conversation with God 2.54.2
[7] Mark 9:24