Thomas` Distrust Caused the Greatest Proof of Christ`s Resurrection
Thomas’ Sunday
Acts 5:12-20; John 20:19-31
When Jesus Christ, after terrible suffering on the cross, died and was buried, according to many researchers of the Gospel events, His disciples, out of fear of persecution from Christ’s enemies and stunned by the death of their Divine Teacher, scattered and hid somewhere.
But, as this may seem surprising to some, Christ, although His body lay buried in the tomb, gathered His disciples together again. This is somewhat similar to when a father or mother suddenly dies; even though they are physically dead and absent, the shared love for the father or mother brings their children together. They begin to grieve together, pray, and discuss how to act respectfully and lovingly so that the memory of their parents remains bright.
It was the same with Christ's disciples. And this is not our conjecture, for, as testified in The Gospel,
“Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week [i.e. Sunday –T.S.], when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst” of them.
As The Gospel narrative goes on to show, ten "of the Twelve" of Christ's closest disciples, all except Thomas, were together (ibid., verse 24).
They, as can be seen from the testimony of the evangelist John, still had “fear of the Jews” (John 20:19), feared persecution from their fellow Jews, yet those disciples of Christ met to be together, to grieve and pray together, to consult together. For more than three years, their entire life, their entire course of action, their highest aspirations were centered on and connected to their Divine Teacher.
Their shared love for Christ spiritually united them into one spiritual community, into one community of faith, into familial closeness and friendship. Although Jesus Christ had died and was buried, He also resided in their hearts, in their inner longings. That is why we say that the deceased Christ gathered His closest disciples together. Everyone was present, except Thomas.
And so, when they, grieving over the deceased Jesus, were praying and consulting, without any warning, the risen—living Jesus Christ appeared before them and said:
“Peace be with you.” (John 20:21)
Imagine the astonishment, the confusion that filled the minds and feelings of His disciples: they were speaking, grieving about Jesus as the deceased one, and He stood alive before them and greets them:
“Peace be with you.”
Christ's disciples had the same human feelings as we do, so it is not surprising, as the Apostle Luke testifies,
“they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.” (Luke 24:37)
Jesus saw and understood those feelings and experiences of His disciples, so He said to them:
“Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet— that it is I Myself! Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” And having said this, He showed them His hands and feet.” (Luke 24:38-40).
On His hands were the wounds from the crucifixion, from the nails, so that Christ's disciples might be assured that it was not a spirit, but truly the bodily risen Jesus Christ, who had indeed risen from the tomb, appearing to them physically.
And even after such an appearance of Christ, the disciples of Christ, evidently, did not believe their eyes and ears, stood as if paralyzed; “while they still did not believe for joy,” and were amazed, He said to them:
“Have you any food here?”
“They gave Him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it, and ate it in their presence.” (Luke 24:41-43).
So, essentially, it was not only later that Thomas did not trust the words themselves; other disciples of Christ were also somewhat distrustful, as can be seen from The Gospel account.
Let us keep in mind, also, that, as the evangelists Mark and Matthew narrate, Mary Magdalene and the other women who brought spices informed the disciples of Christ that they had seen the risen Lord, but they did not consider the women's testimony convincing. The disciples of Christ evidently shared the common male prejudice, which still exists among men today, that women are often too impressionable and might imagine something that did not actually happen.
(In that vein, an example: in New York City, a woman woke her husband in the middle of the night and said that she had seen her father sitting in a chair and clearly heard him calling her:
“Maria!”
Her husband waved his hand, as if to say that women always imagine impossible things, turned over to his other side, and went back to sleep.
However, the next day they received a telegram about the death of Maria’s father in Italy, and a few days later they received a letter in which the relatives wrote that indeed at such-and-such a time, when it was still night in New York but already day in Europe, Maria's father, sitting in a chair, called out to his daughter Maria before dying. All his other children were around him in Italy, while Maria lived in the USA.)
Where there is true closeness and sincere love, people can feel each other across thousands of kilometres, clearly through some invisible elements of the soul, with the help of some, as yet unknown, “wavelengths”.
Returning to the topic of today's gospel story, we note that Thomas not only did not trust the account of the women, but also the account of his spiritual companions, the other ten disciples of Christ.
Therefore, we can state with certainty that the disciples of Christ—the apostles, in particular the apostle Thomas—were not gullible people; they wanted to see indisputable evidence, but when the risen Christ appeared to them and gave such evidence, no force, no punishment, and no persecution could stop their testimony—the preaching about the resurrection of Christ.
So, that initial disbelief in the news of Christ's resurrection among His disciples, and the Apostle Thomas in particular, until they saw the risen Christ with His wounds, until He, while eating food, convinced them that they were seeing not a spirit, but indeed the bodily resurrected Jesus Christ, serves as one of the greatest proofs of the truth of Christ's resurrection.
When the Lord addressed doubting Thomas with the words:
“Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
And Thomas answered and said to Him:
“My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27-28),
This gives us and all people who desire to know the truth the reason to also proclaim that the truly risen Jesus Christ is our Lord and God.
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
