Stop Calling Thomas Names

The gospel reading for the second Sunday of Easter is always the great story of Thomas. We often call him Doubting Thomas and he gets a lot of negative press. But that might be a little unfair. Let’s look at the story again.

A few days earlier (John 11) Jesus had said his friend Lazarus was asleep and that he was returning to Jerusalem. The disciples were shocked and afraid, but “…Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11: 16). Then Jesus is arrested, the male disciples scatter, and Jesus is crucified. Three days later Mary Magdalene meets the risen crucified Jesus in the garden and goes to tell the disciples that she has seen the Lord. They respond by hiding behind locked doors. We might call them doubting disciples. Thomas is not with them. Then the risen crucified Jesus joins then and gives them peace. They then find Thomas and tell him they too have seen the Lord. But he is not so easily convinced. He thought he was willing to die with Jesus, but this is a whole different thing. He asks the hard questions – the questions many of us want to ask. Before he recommits himself to this life he wants to be sure. He is honest. He wants what Mary and the other disciples have already had. He wants to see Jesus first. Maybe we should call him Honest Thomas. When he meets the risen crucified Jesus he is again willing to die for him.

Thomas the Brave goes the furthest of all the apostles. He leaves the relative safety of the Mediterranean and about 20 years later ends up in South India founding a church that becomes both the Jacobite Indian Orthodox Church that meet here, and the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, among others. Jesus’ resurrection changed everything for Thomas, as it did for the first community as described in Acts.

Thomas is the apostle for us. He gives us permission to ask our hard questions. He gives us permission to doubt.  He invites us to be as bold. He invites us to be honest and shows us happens when we are.

Today we welcome Odette Elizabeth as she is baptised into the worldwide church. Our role is to welcome her, help her grow into someone who can be honest in her faith questions, help her meet the crucified and risen Christ, and to be bold in her life choices.