Thomas

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord! “       John 20:24 

I’m reflecting on Thomas this week, and his encounter with the resurrected Jesus. He's the disciple who argued they should all go to Jerusalem and die with him. For whatever reason he wasn't with the gathered disciples when Jesus first came, stood among them, said “Peace be with you”, and proved he was alive.
When Thomas said he wouldn't believe till he saw and touched Jesus, he was asking for no more than had already been given to the others. 

Peter couldn't face going into the tomb. If Jesus was still there and dead, he didn't want to see him. If Jesus was indeed risen, then Peter wasn't ready to meet him. The Beloved Disciple did go in, saw Jesus wasn't there and believed—but he still had no evidence and Jesus was elsewhere. Mary simply thought Jesus’ body was stolen. It's not only tears that blurred her vision; grief closed down her perceptions. Until Jesus spoke her name.
Then there is Thomas. Passionate, courageous, intelligent and realistic Thomas, not to be taken in by the wishful thinking of others. What is telling about John's telling of the story is that Thomas who had demanded to see, and touch and invasively poke the wounds of Jesus, did none of these things when the time came. Jesus invited Thomas to touch the evidence, but Thomas is far ahead of such needs for proof. His confession, "My Lord, and my God" are the crowning words of faith in the entire Gospel and of John's art as a storyteller of the Gospel. 
The Gospel of John starts with "In the beginning was the Word", the creative, light-shining, life-giving Word. And Thomas saw that Light of Life.  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth," and Thomas was persuaded and won by that same grace and truth. Throughout John there are signs of Jesus as the Word of God, water into wine, the feast of the 5000, the raising of Lazarus, and now Thomas was seeing in the risen Jesus the new wine, the bread of life, and the resurrection as promised. 
 
Grace and peace, 

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation