Psalm 145
Song:
Come and see the shining hope
Reading:
Exodus 15: 1-11
Song:
All heaven declares
Reading:
John 20: 19-29
Song:
His hands were pierced
Reading
1 Peter 1: 3-9
“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.”
What do we know about Thomas. He is perhaps one of the most famous of the apostles, and yet we know very little about him. Probably the thing that most people know about Thomas is that he doubted. The phrase “a doubting Thomas” would be understood by many people. The only other thing that we know for certain is that he was twin. He is referred to as Didymus, which is the Greek for twin, where Thomas seems to be derived from the Hebrew word for twin.
Unfortunately we have no record of the identity of the other twin. Various traditions identify his twin as an unnamed girl, Philip, Matthew and Jesus. Fortunately, it is not really important to the story to know his family history.
The background to the story is that the risen Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene and she had related her experience to the disciples. Subsequently, Jesus had appeared to the disciples whilst they were meeting behind locked doors, in secret. The implication is that they were fearful of being found by others. The appearance of Jesus is implied to be a miraculous appearance. Thomas was not present at any of these incidents.
For some years I was a science teacher. One question which I always hated was “What’s supposed to happen?” If people are told what is supposed to happen, then that is what they see. Thomas knew what was supposed to happen. He also knew that what he had been told was not what he thought should happen.
I have a great empathy with Thomas. My training as a scientist means that I try to follow the Scientific Method. This follows the basic system of: Observation, which leads to the formations of a hypothesis; experiment(s) which either confirm or modify the hypothesis; once all this has been done, a theory can be arrived at, which may be modified after subsequent observations and experiments. The basis of all this is observations, things which can be seen, touched, smelled, tasted, or measured.
In the world of law, evidence in court cases must be what a witness has seen or heard for themselves. It cannot be what someone has told them, or what they have deduced.
Susannah will tell you that I have to find out for myself. This can be infuriating for others, “You should have been called Thomas!” has been said to me several times over the years. In fact I could have been, it is a name shared by my father, brother, nephew, great uncle and great grandfather. The well-known Sheffield theatrical entrepreneur from the 19th century, Thomas “Tommy” Youdan is believed to be a relative, although we are not sure exactly how he is related.
I am absolutely certain that confronted with those circumstances I would have had to touch and see. Thomas got his chance. He touched. He received confirmation that he was not dealing with an hallucination, nor with a ghost. There are those who deny the physical resurrection of Jesus, who say that this was some sort of spirit body. You can’t touch a spirit body. Elsewhere in the gospels the risen Jesus is recorded as eating; ghosts don’t eat.
The important thing is that Thomas believed. He affirmed “My Lord and my God.” He was praised for believing, as were those who had believed without seeing and touching. Apparently there was no favouritism for either position.
St Thomas the apostle.
“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.
So we have St. Thomas the Apostle, so-called ‘doubting’ Thomas, though really he should be called ‘Courageous Thomas’, ‘Tenacious Thomas’, ‘Truthful Thomas’! Either way, thank goodness for Thomas, the one disciple who had the courage to say what many others were thinking but didn’t dare say, the courage to ask the awkward questions that drew from Jesus some of the most beautiful and profoundly comforting of all his sayings. “We don’t know where you’re going, how can we know the way”? asked Thomas, and because he had the courage to confess his ignorance, we were given that beautiful saying “I am the way the Truth and the Life”
Thomas was a firmly grounded man. He was what we would now called empirical. Empirical means "based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic." He is known for doubts, but importantly, because of his doubts, because of his experiences, He Believed.
He went on to do great things. Tradition has it that he went to India and evangelised there. There are the “St Thomas” or “Nasrani” Christians who trace their roots back to his work there.
How we get to faith is less important than that we do. More important is what we do with it once we have it. That we do something with it.
At the moment, it may seem that we have few opportunities to put our faith into practice, Stuck in our homes for long periods, bound by restrictions on movement restricts many of the activities that we take for granted. But, we still have contact with people by phone, email and post. We still have some conversation with people as we shop, or have groceries delivered. We can still be helpful and sympathetic. We can show God’s love to others. We can pray for each other and the rest of the world. As we believe Thomas did.
Song:
At your feet we fall
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we hear the news that Jesus is raised from the corruption of death, and walks this creation as the Prince of Glory. We pray for this tired old word with its illusions, that it may awaken to the new morning, and shine in your splendid light.
We pray for people who have compromised with evil, and find themselves on a downward path into the frightening dark.
We pray for those who have lost their sense of wonder, and expect no new idea; who no longer argue with their friends, and find that no answer is given to those who have given up asking questions.
We pray for those who have achieved the security they sought, but find themselves disappointed with only a semblance of life.
We pray for people who receive life with all its promise, and succeed only in burying it in the ground.
Please make us understand that as you raised Jesus from the dead you can recreate us to live in true glory.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Song:
See what a morning
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