Honest Thomas

Holy Tuesday

Honest Thomas

Thomas, the twin, one of the twelve is usually known by the adjective, ‘doubting. This is always quite strange given the fact that he gets this title because he could not believe his crucified friend had come back to life. Sometimes, I might wish that he was given the adjective, ‘honest’ instead partially because I believe that faith and doubt are siblings, that sometimes wrestle, often play and maybe pray together. Honest Tom does though have the ring of used car salesman about it though.

Thomas, by tradition, was martyred in India. The Orthodox Church on the subcontinent tracing its roots back to the witness of the Apostle.

Biblical Text – John 11

¹¹ After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ ¹² The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’ ¹³ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ ¹⁶ Thomas, who was called the Twin,^[c] said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’

Questions

1.    What does Thomas mean, do you think?

2.    When he finally saw Jesus. He did not believe Jesus was raised from the dead because he was not with the others, what do you think he meant by declaring, ‘My Lord and My God’

3.    The image of faith and doubt dancing together is evocative. What do you think about it? Would you use a different image?

Reflection for Holy Tuesday

“We do not know… how can we know the way?”

Courageous master of the awkward question,

You spoke the words the others dared not say

And cut through their evasion and abstraction.

Oh doubting Thomas, father of my faith,

You put your finger on the nub of things

We cannot love some disembodied wraith,

But flesh and blood must be our king of kings.

Your teaching is to touch, embrace, anoint,

Feel after Him and find Him in the flesh.

Because He loved your awkward counter-point

The Word has heard and granted you your wish.

Oh place my hands with yours, help me divine

The wounded God whose wounds are healing mine

                                                                        © Malcolm Guite

Divine and mortal

Fragile and Immortal

Constrained and Expansive

The God in the human

showing us what it means to be human;

so that we might understand the divine

© Kevin Ellis