"Doubting" Thomas - Sermon notes from the Harmony Service

Father John's sermon covered John 20:19-31 when Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection.  Verses 19-23 tell us: 

"..the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  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!”  But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

It is from this exchange that many now think of St. Thomas as “Doubting Thomas.”  Father John pointed out that it is patently unfair that he would be branded this way…like most labels, it is not a complete, or even an accurate reflection of the man.  He defends Thomas noting that he was really just asking for the same experience that the other 10 disciples had just had.   

Father John then showed us a painting “St. Thomas, also called Saint with a Pike” by Georges de La Tour and reminded us that Thomas was killed with a spear (or a “pike”) as a Christian martyr.  The painting shows Thomas holding well-worn scripture reminding us that he traveled as far as India to spread the good news of the Gospel.  In addition to dying for his faith, he lived his life spreading his faith over 1,000 miles from home.  To this day, many Christians in India attribute the existence of Christianity in their country to the work of St. Thomas.  His is a life that certainly should make us think twice before referring to him as “doubting Thomas.”

Rather, Father John noted that we can learn from Thomas that our lives are our best ways to witness to others.   He quoted Karen Armstrong who said that “we should not seek a single good deed for the day but a 24/7 commitment to others.”  We can only realize this level of witness the same way St. Thomas did…keeping our focus on and giving our lives to Christ.



posted by m white