Faith In The Midst of Doubt: Meeting Jesus in Our Skepticism
“Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” ~ Jn 20:28
Today is the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle (a.k.a. Doubting Thomas).
This account is often used to illustrate the virtue of believing without seeing, particularly for the modern Church, centuries removed from witnessing the resurrection firsthand.
I agree that Thomas represents the skeptical personality but I wonder if there’s something more to his reaction than skepticism.
One point to note is that Thomas’ encounter with Jesus is recorded only in the Gospel of John. While Mark and Luke mention Jesus’ appearance to the disciples, they omit this specific event. In fact, Mark explicitly refer to “the Eleven” (Mk 16:14), while Luke describes Jesus’ first appearance without listing who was present (Lk 24:36), and Matthew vaguely talks about Jesus telling the disciples to go to Galilee (Mt 28:9-10).
Why would John choose to mention this specific interaction?
I like to think John recognize that each of us has a unique path to genuinely proclaiming “My Lord and My God.”
Recall that the other disciples also freaked out the first time Jesus appeared out of nowhere. They thought He was a ghost or that they were hallucianting.
Hence, I place myself in the shoes of Thomas.
- The future I envisioned is now in ruins after my Lord’s death
- I’m certain roman and Jewish leaders want to get rid of us
- I’m afraid, confused, sad, frustrated, and worried.
- Suddenly, the rest of the group shows up telling me they have seen Jesus?
- I thought the resurrection was for everyone at the end of times.
In times of turmoil, I’m not sure how quickly I would believe someone telling me that our spiritual mentor and guide had come back to life.
I don’t think any of the apostles understood what Jesus meant when he said would rise again until they saw him Easter Sunday.
I think Thomas’ response came from a troubled mind needing certainty that everything would be okay. After all, it’s a phrase we use all the time “I need to see it with my own eyes to believe it.”
Lastly, notice that Thomas never followed through with what he claimed he needed to do. Jesus appeared, acknowledged his request, and Thomas believed without requiring further confirmation. I think the fact that Jesus repeated word for word his request, something only God could have known, was enough.
I suspect that John needed us to know that skepticism has a part on our faith journey and that Jesus meets us where we are.
As a bonus, Jesus speaks to Thomas on the second Sunday of Easter, which two thousand years later is known as Divine Mercy Sunday.
In peace,
~Juan
