Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Thomas the Doubter


From today's reading: Thomas said to him, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. . . If you know me, you will know my Father also.' John 14:5-7

Today is the day that we remember the disciple Thomas who was known for doubting the appearance of Jesus after his death. I have always felt like Thomas got a raw deal there - he was only asking for what the other disciples had already received - to see the risen Lord. In today's lesson he just wants to know the way so he can follow. In John 11, Jesus is headed for Jerusalem where he knows there are people seeking to kill him. Thomas tells the others, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." His loyalty is phenomenal - he is willing to go with Jesus even to death.

Tradition holds that Thomas went to an area in India to preach the gospel and built a church with his own hands. There is a Christian community in the Kerala district who claim to be descended from those converted by Thomas. (Thanks to James Kiefer for his research.)

Dear Lord, once we are sure of who we are following, give us the kind of loyalty expressed by Thomas that we too may be willing to follow Jesus even unto the end. Amen.

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