Cheers for Thomas?

Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my fingers where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it (John 20:25).

“Doubting” Thomas, that wet blanket on the resurrection party.  Talk about being in a confined space: “Unless I stick my hand into the spear wound in his side, I won’t believe it.”    

Poor Thomas has become the go-to illustration for all kinds of sermons: on the limitations of human reason; on the important role that doubt plays in the Christian life—or, oppositely, that doubt is the buzzkill to a life of faith; on the opposition between “seeing is believing” versus “believing is seeing.”

I’d nonetheless like to propose cheering for Thomas.  If not a full three cheers, at least one or two.

I think Thomas stood his ground because he understood, at some level, all that was at stake.

If what his friends are trying to tell him is really true, it changes everything.  The resurrection changes everything we’ve thought and believed about God, life, ourselves, what matters, what counts—everything.  

Resurrection means there are no God-forsaken places, despite what our feelings often tell us.  It means that the tightest of spaces—remote caves, fiery furnaces, jails, and whatever other forms our “locked rooms” might take—can actually be places of peace, abundant life, meaningful worship, work and witness.  A manger held more than the cosmos could contain; the grave could not hold the manger-born One who holds the keys to Death and Hades.

Resurrection means there’s a ton of work yet to be done, which is why I think Jesus readily granted Thomas’ demand: Jesus knew Thomas needed it in order for him to fulfill Jesus’ call on him as an apostle, a herald of God’s great Good News.  God’s not interested in plucking us away to safety, he is intent on equipping us to steward the new creation that burst from eternity into time when God raised Jesus from the dead.  Even when that stewardship must be undertaken in tight spaces.

So if not three cheers, let’s at least thank God for Thomas. His confession, “My Lord and my God!” helps make ours possible.  His doubt, delivered into the hands of Jesus, releases blessing: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed.”

Can you name one of your common “unless” moments--- when you, like Thomas, say “Unless God does ___, I will not do ____.”  What might be one small but practical step from resistance (doubting Jesus) towards obedience (believing Jesus)?

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