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Station #12 of the Resurrection Story

Station #12 of the Resurrection Story

Station #12 ….. Jesus Convinces Cautious Thomas

But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.” But he said, ‘Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.” Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.” Thomas said, “My Master! My God!” Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”  (John 20:24-29)

Worth A Thousand Words: The Incredulity of Thomas, Caravaggio

A Reflection:

It is strange that of all the wonderful stories in the Gospel, this is the one of the very few that we hear every year. True, it is about the appearances of the Risen Lord – but most of us will probably remember Doubting Thomas and his frustration at the tall tales his friends – previously seen as fairly sane if not always quick on the uptake – are telling him, and their frustration at his not being able to accept what they say. You can imagine Thomas’ name (an Aramaic word equivalent to, ‘Yeah… right…’) is actually quite sensible under the circumstances. Like the other disciples, it would take a personal meeting with the Risen Christ to make sense of the things he has said earlier about dying and rising again. Legend has it that Thomas left Jerusalem and took the Gospel, through Iran and Iraq, to India. It is likely that there were times when he would have quite liked to have given up – and plenty of conversations with people who were not remotely interested in the Good News of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But that moment – the moment with Jesus and hearing his words “Doubt no longer but believe” – somehow kept him going. Perhaps we can bring Thomas alongside as a guide on our journey. When he set forth from Jerusalem, he probably had no idea of the way he was going to follow – but he did know who his Way was, and his Truth, and his Life.  (from a sermon by Dr. Walter Hansen)

Resurrection, Present Tense:

If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it – if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ – sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:13-15)