Sometimes I think Thomas gets a bad rap.
Growing up in church, whenever I heard Thomas mentioned, he was labeled “Doubting Thomas.” It’s true that Thomas had doubts. He couldn’t bring himself to believe that Jesus had really risen from the dead. But who can blame him, really? It was the first and only time a resurrection had taken place in the history of the universe. We can understand his reticence.
But the label “Doubting Thomas” is unfortunate. The truth is, he became “Believing Thomas.” The moment he personally encountered the risen Christ, he fell to his knees in belief. Not only that, his description of Jesus as “my Lord and my God” becomes the highest Christological confession in the Gospel of John! His tipping point from doubt to faith is in many ways the pivotal moment the book has been building toward from the onset.
So I like to remember Thomas as “Believing Thomas.” Because it is not where we start, but where we finish that counts. Every one of us could be labeled with all kinds of negative adjectives of who we were before we encountered the risen Christ. But that was before he came to us and changed everything. Now in Christ, we are new creations. The old is gone, the new has come. Who we are now in Christ is what defines us forever.
So let’s give Thomas some grace. We all need it, after all.
You are loved, more than you know!
Pastor Philip
Amen!! Those were thought provoking comments. I have always looked at Thomas as being a doubter, but it is true…we have all been doubters at one time or another. So, yes, I agree, we should give Thomas a break. Wouldn’t we want some grace? God’s grace IS sufficient.