John 20.24-29

THOMAS AND THE RESURRECTION

(John 20.24-29)

‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed'. John 20.29.

It was on board the Indian merchant ship, the Vishna Nidi, berthed at Langton Dock in Liverpool, that I first became aware of the connection between St Thomas, whose feast we celebrate on 3 July or 21 December, and South India.

It happened quite by accident. I was sitting in the crew mess room talking with a group of Indian seafarers. Just before I rose to leave, I asked them to put their names in my little black book, so I could remember them in my prayers, later that day.

When I got the book back, I discovered that they were all called Thomas, and that they were all Christians. This was a real eye-opener, since I had always assumed that all Indians were Hindus as regards their religion.

And it was also an eye-opener to the early Portuguese explorers who, when they reached South India in 1520, found that there was already a Christian community firmly established there. In fact, they were later shown the place where the Apostle Thomas is alleged to have been martyred and buried at Mylapore, today called San Tome. In fact, the Syrian Christians of Malabar called themselves Christians of St Thomas, claiming that they were first evangelised by the Apostle Thomas.

How true this is it is difficult to assess. Certainly, the apocryphal 'Gospel of Thomas" dated about the third century, suggests that the early apostles, after Pentecost, decided to carve up the known world between them, with a view to evangelisation, and that St Thomas was allotted India.

As I just said, this is an apocryphal book and should not be taken too seriously; however, there is no doubt that the apostle Thomas has had a great influence upon this part of India, though scholars have not been able to prove or disprove that the origin of the Christian church there goes back to St Thomas.

Dairmaid Macculloch, in his book A History of Christianity, following upon his television series on the BBC writes, ‘One of the Syrians’ earliest extensions of the Christian faith was to India. The "Mar Thomas' church there treasures a claim to have been founded by the Apostle Thomas, which is not beyond the bounds of possibility, given the evidence that archaeology has revealed vigorous trade between the Roman Empire and India in the first century’.

"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'

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The problem is that we know very little about St Thomas except that his name is included in the list of the disciples called by Jesus in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

However, John's Gospel makes three other references to him.

Firstly, we know that he was a very loyal and brave disciple, who, when Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill at Bethany, suggested that the disciples should go with Jesus to see him, even though it could mean death, in view of the mounting opposition towards Jesus.

Secondly, we also know that he was a humble, down-to-earth sort of person, who, when Jesus talked about going to prepare a place for his followers, asked, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?'

And finally, we have the story of Thomas not being with the other disciples, when Jesus appeared to them on Easter Sunday. Even though the disciples told him, that they had just seen the risen Jesus, Thomas said that he could not believe it. 'Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hands in his side, I will not believe.’

And of course, we all know what happened a week later. Jesus appeared again in the upper room, where the frightened disciples were still hiding from the Jewish authorities. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus showed Thomas the mark of the nails in his hand, where he had been nailed to the cross, and the mark on his side, where the Roman soldier had thrust his sword in to ensure that he was really dead.

Having seen the marks of the Passion, which confirmed that the risen Jesus was the same Jesus who had been earlier crucified, Thomas exclaims: ‘My Lord and my God’, and thus becomes the first person to recognise Jesus as God Incarnate.

Then in order to link the original disciples with subsequent disciples throughout the ages, Jesus says, 'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'

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I always feel that Thomas has had a rather bad press over the years, because of his doubt. Hence, he has been nicknamed 'Doubting Thomas'.

It seems as if it is almost sinful for him to doubt. But, it is not that Thomas did not want to believe. He simply wanted more proof, hence he says, ‘unless I see’. He did not want a second hand faith but a personal faith.

As far as he was concerned, no one had ever come back from the dead, and therefore he wanted to be reassured that the Jesus the disciples had seen was indeed the same Jesus who had been crucified, and not some impostor. Hence he wanted to see the marks of the passion. Now that does not seem to me to be too unreasonable,

After all, Mary Magdalene did not immediately recognise the risen Jesus in the garden when she thought he was the gardener.

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In doubting the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead - the greatest miracle of all time - Thomas is not alone. Throughout the ages, men and women have found it difficult to believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. They have wanted to believe, but somehow doubt has often always got the better of them.

Take for instance Frank Morrison. Some years ago he wrote a book called Who Moved The Stone? In it, he surveys all the New Testament evidence of the resurrection, and explores all the theories that have been put forward to explain away the resurrection, such as: the disciples went to the wrong tomb, or the body of Jesus was moved by person or persons unknown, or that Jesus was not really dead and that he revived inside the tomb, and so on. The book reads like an Agatha Christie detective novel.

However, by the time he came to the end, he concluded by writing the following words, 'There may be, as the writer thinks there certainty is, a deep and profoundly historical basis for that much disputed sentence in the Apostles’ Creed: ‘The third day he rose again from the dead’.

Perhaps the greatest evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is not to be found in the pages of the New Testament, but in the lives of those who have followed him throughout the centuries, and who make up the Christian Church.

I find it impossible to believe that men and women would have been prepared to die for their faith for over two thousand years if it was not true. Can you really believe that so many people have built their faith upon a hoax?

We and they may not have had the privilege to see the marks of the Passion left on the body, as did the apostle Thomas, nevertheless there is something compelling about the continued existence of the Christian Church throughout the centuries, often amidst much opposition, even in South India, where Thomas is still fondly remembered.

No wonder Jesus concludes his conversation with Thomas, with the words, 'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'