Seeing and Believing

On July 3^rd we celebrated the feast day of an apostle who, while not knowing very much detail about him from the New Testament, nevertheless, is the central figure in one of the most memorable scenes from the Gospels: St. Thomas the Apostle.

In John’s Gospel we read that when the resurrected Jesus first appeared to his disciples, Thomas was absent. When the others informed him that they had seen the Lord, Thomas famously responds: “‘Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe’” (Jn 20:25). Eight days later, when Thomas was with the other disciples, the resurrected Jesus again appeared to them and encouraged Thomas to touch and see his wounds, saying “‘do not be faithless, but believing’” (v. 27). At this, Thomas responds with one of the great confessions of faith in the New Testament: “‘My Lord and my God!’” (v. 28).

I’ve sometimes thought that the phrase “doubting Thomas” should really be “believing Thomas.” Firstly, in a way, one can hardly blame Thomas for his incredulity. After all, at the appearance of the resurrected Jesus which he missed, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon his disciples (vv. 20-23). Thomas did not have the opportunity to receive the Holy Spirit as the others did, and faith is always a gift of the Spirit. Thus, lacking the gift of the Spirit is an adequate theological reason for Thomas’ doubt. But what further strikes me about Thomas is that, according to tradition, after he believed in our Lord’s resurrection he then went on to preach the Good News as far as southwest India!!! In fact, about half of the population of the state of Kerala, on the Malabar coast of India, is Christian to this day; many of whom identify as “Thomas Christians.” After his confession of faith in our Lord’s divinity and resurrection, Thomas goes on to preach the gospel further than any other apostle. So, remember, if you’re struggling with doubt – and as St. J.H. Cardinal Newman once wrote: “Ten thousand difficulties do make one doubt” – the one who was most famous for doubting also fulfilled Jesus’ commandment to the greatest extent. “‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation’” (Mk 16:15).