John 20: 24-29
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "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 his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said 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." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 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."
We have now passed the Sunday after Easter. Just like the disciples of Jesus we have had to worship in our own rooms behind locked doors of fear, confusion and self-imposed isolation. Those first disciples feared for their lives, believing that the authorities who crucified Jesus would be now hunting down his followers. We have been fearful for our lives also, if not from the death that can be caused by COVID-19, then by death from poverty due to our nation’s economic shut-down.
But one disciple in particular has an Easter story that can be inspirational and comforting for us in our time. That disciple’s name is Thomas, also known as Didymus, the Twin. You may not have heard of that alternative name for him because all too often we like to refer to him instead as “Doubting Thomas.” Today, I wish to defend him and expunge that negative moniker from our impression of him.
This story, as recorder in the Gospel of John, begins on the evening of that first Easter day. It is possible that ten of Jesus’ disciples were gathered in a closed up room. Their grief over the crucifixion death of Jesus had been replaced by confusing but hopeful joy that Jesus had risen from the dead.  Mary Magdalene had reported the tomb of Jesus as being empty. Peter and John had confirmed the good news, but they were still filled with doubts and fears.
Two of the disciples were absent. Matthew and Luke report the death of Judas as he was filled with remorse and guilt. But we are also told that Thomas was not there, without any excuse given. Was he not aware of the day’s events? Had he been out of town? Was he practicing social distancing from the other disciples? Was he too afraid to even join them? Or did he just plain not believe any of it? We’ll never know. But the ten gathered experienced the presence of the Risen Lord Jesus who blessed them with peace (shalom) and the forgiving gift of the Holy Spirit.
Then, eight days later, again gathered on the evening of the first day of the week, it was the first and last time that there were more gathered for worship on the Sunday after Easter than on Easter Day itself! Because this time, Thomas was with them. He couldn’t believe what the other disciples had told him. He demanded proof for a claim so inconceivable. Proof of death: nail holes and pierced side; and proof of resurrection: to be able to see and to touch Jesus.
Then Jesus is present as before in words of peace and in offered physical proof, saying to Thomas, “Do not be faithless, but be faithful.” Did you hear in that any accusation of doubt? I didn’t!
Jesus makes the distinction between being without faith and being full of faith and trust. That is to say that, doubt is not the opposite of faith. The opposite of doubt is certainty. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit, designated in our baptism. It is a gift you might deny, but you can never refuse because it is a gift of God, once given, that can never be taken away. Under the overall umbrella of our faith, we all wrestle with what it is we believe and what it is we question and challenge. And that is a healthy process. How many times have I shared this thought with people who are ashamed of their doubts, who then find relief and comfort in being assured that the mustard seed of faith remains planted and growing in their hearts and soul!
So why the confusion over faith and belief? Most English translations of the Bible use them interchangeably, and in many ways they were. In the Greek, the noun pistis means faith, and the verb pisteo means to have faith. Even up to the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther would speak of believing with your heart. That is faith. But today, the meaning of belief has changed. We don’t believe with our hearts, we believe with our minds. We gather data, evidence, facts and then decide what we do and don’t believe.
Nowhere in the Gospel text are we told that Thomas actually did put his finger in the holes of the nails or place his hand in the wounded side of Jesus. He didn’t have to. He did not require the proof he thought he did. In fact, his faith response is the climax of John’s Gospel. Thomas declares, “My Lord and my God!” That is to say he recognized Jesus to be Yahweh, the Lord our God. Other statements about who Jesus truly is had come close: Rabbi, Messiah, Son of God, but none as complete in truth as Faithful Thomas saying, “My Lord and my God!”
But wait! There’s more. Jesus then questions Thomas, “Have you come to faith because of the blessing of being able to see me? How blissed are those who have not seen and yet have faith!” Jesus is talking about us, you and me, and sharing with us a beatitude, a powerful blessing. What I like to call a blissing. How blissed are we to be able to live each day in the blessing of faith, no matter what it is we have to deal with in our every day lives. The revelation of Faithful Thomas, not Doubting Thomas, resides in every Tom, Dick, and Harry and in every Susan, Karen and Mary.
So we gather as imperfect, even at times doubting, disciples on every first day of the week to be filled with the peace of Jesus, to be inspired and renewed by the Holy Spirit of God’s forgiveness, and to praise the crucified and risen Jesus as Thomas did: “My Lord and my God!”