Doubting?

Acts 5:27-32
John 20:19-31

I consider myself a woman of deep faith yet it is the apostle doubting Thomas in whom I most identify with. Like Thomas, I am a very analytical person. Whenever I am presented with a new idea, situation or problem I have to pick it apart and analyze it. I enjoy the task of studying the stories of the bible and analyzing them word by word to find out just what were those writers really saying back in the day. And, like Thomas, I’m not going immediately believe in something without first seeing it for myself. I too would have said to my fellow disciples, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."


Imagine if you will, being in Thomas’s shoes in this story. He had been sitting in a locked-up house with his fellow apostles “for fear of the Jews.” Eventually Thomas gets over his fear and leaves the house. Now, why would Thomas leave the house in the midst of such dangerous circumstances? According to the Gospel of John, it was earlier that afternoon he heard Mary Magdalene announce to Thomas and his friends that she had “Seen the Lord.” Thomas probably thought to himself, “There goes Mary again, excitable Mary, emotional Mary, hallucinating Mary. What is that crazy woman saying to us now.”

If Thomas is anything like me, he had to leave the house to go for a walk to blow off some steam. He was probably going stir crazy from being locked up in a house with 10 other guys who were only sitting around talking about how scared they were. Perhaps he left the house to go to the new Starbucks in Jerusalem to get an Iced Caramel Macchiato with a reduced fat banana chocolate chip muffin on the side. We just don’t know. What’s interesting is that it is when Thomas leaves the locked-up house that the resurrected Christ appears the other disciples.

After his outing, Thomas comes back to a house full of frenzied apostles. Thomas asks them, “What’s happening? What’s going on?” One of his friends grabs him and says, “We have seen the Lord.” I imagine that Thomas probably rolled his eyes and thought to himself, “Oh no, here we go again. Have they been nipping at those jugs of wine while I was gone?” He says to his friends “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later, Jesus appears in the house and this time Thomas is in the house. Imagine his shock when he sees his beloved leader who was just executed a week and a half ago. Jesus says to Thomas "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." And Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Biblical scholars have long debated what Thomas meant by his exclamation. Was he supplicating himself to the Risen Lord or was he just so shocked that all he could say was, “Oh My God!”

Then Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Is Jesus condemning Thomas for not believing in something that he could not see. Just what does Jesus mean when he says the word ‘blessed’? Blessed in the scriptures has different nuances, it can mean praise, favored by God, or praised by God. In this case, the particular Greek word used in this text is makarios (mak-ar’-ee-os) which means to be happy. So what Jesus was saying was “Happy are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Jesus is not shaming Thomas for questioning or doubting, what Jesus does is give Thomas what he needs in order to believe that Jesus was risen. He offers himself to Thomas so that Thomas can touch Jesus’ hands and side to truly know that Jesus is resurrected. Some believe that when Jesus says “Happy are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” That he is giving a promise “to later generations that they too will experience the grace of God in Jesus. As bold as Jesus’ gesture to Thomas is in this reading, Jesus’ care for the faith of those who come after Thomas, who will not see, is equally without limit and measure.”1

In life we have to make choices on hope and faith alone. We take risks, make leaps of faith whenever we decide to do such as start a business, pursue a higher education or even get married. In a scene in the movie “A Beautiful Mind.” mathematician and Nobel prize laureate John Nash tries to use logic and reason to develop a “proof” on which he can make a decision as to whether or not he should marry his then girlfriend Alicia. Using mathematical reason Alicia gives John the proof that he is seeking.

She asks him how big the universe is and he answers “infinite.”

“But how do you know” she asks.

He replies, “I know because all the data indicates it.”

“But it hasn’t been proven nor have you seen it. How do you know for sure?”

Flabbergasted John tells her, “I don’t, I just believe it.”

“Hmmm” Alicia says with a mischievous smile on her face, “It’s the same with love, I guess. Now...the part that you don’t know is if I want to marry you.”

With wit and charm, Alicia helps him understand that some things have to be taken on faith even within the realm of mathematics

To believe in the Risen Christ is a radical thing. When we claim that we are part of the Christian Church, we are professing faith in something that we have not seen. We were not eyewitnesses to the life and ministry of Jesus. We did not touch the hands and the side of the risen Christ. Yet we believe. We take a leap of faith when we confess that we believe in Jesus Christ who died and rose again and in whom we find life. We believe that by the act of Jesus’ resurrection, God shows us that good will always overcome evil, love will always overcome hate and that not even death can contain this.

For us, it is the everyday resurrection stories that cause us to see the resurrected Christ standing before us just as he stood before Thomas. Whenever someone gives up drugs and alcohol to lead a sober life, we see the resurrected Christ. Whenever we reconcile a relationship with someone that is broken, we see the resurrected Christ. Whenever we see previously dangerous neighborhoods revitalized, we see the resurrected Christ. The data indicates it! But it hasn’t been proven yet. We only know for sure because we just believe in it. Thomas also came to believe when he saw with his own eyes the risen Christ standing before him, showing him that through God all things are possible and that not even the violence of nails, spears and death can contain God’s aim of life everlasting for all of God’s creation. He believed and he was happy! May we too see the risen Christ standing before us and be happy!

May it be so. Amen.

1. New Interpreters Bible. 852-853.