Just Show Me.

I’m going out of town to visit my mom, so will miss the worship service this week. The gospel text is one of my favorites though, so I especially hate to miss it.

Thomas is my kind of guy. Even though all his buddies tell him they saw Jesus alive, Thomas is not going to buy it. It makes no sense. It doesn’t matter to him that all of them are saying the same thing. He’s not swayed by popular opinion. He’s no idiot. He is a man who thinks for himself. All he wants is some evidence.

That is where I can connect. I wanted evidence, too. My major was in biology and I learned pretty quickly that you don’t make statements that you can’t support with data. You don’t get to speculate in a lab report. You have to be able to demonstrate how you came to your conclusion. Faith wasn’t based on anything I could measure, so it was a waste of time as far as I was concerned.

So I am a big fan of Thomas. I get the feeling that even if he did see Jesus alive, he still wouldn’t trust his eyes. He wants to believe, but he just needs something tangible to work with. He has to actually touch the nail marks in Jesus’ hands and put his hand in that spear wound.

Can’t you just hear the other disciples? “You think we’re just making this stuff up? Why can’t you just believe what we tell you? Do you always have to be so difficult?” What would Thomas have to lose by just going along with the other disciples’ account? Maybe Thomas values his reasoning ability and he does not want to be made a fool. That’s what I imagine because there is nothing I hate more than looking stupid.

Well, we find out that Thomas gets just what he asks for. The other thing I like so much about this story is how Jesus reacts, or rather, how he does not react. Jesus does not say, “Too bad for you. If you can’t just believe what you’re told about me, then you’re out of luck.” He doesn’t make Thomas feel bad for asking. He doesn’t say, “Fine. If you think you’re so special that you need to have it spelled out for you, then here, touch me.”

Jesus Is patient with Thomas as he is with us. Thomas asks to be shown, so Jesus shows him, gently and lovingly. Neither should we be afraid to ask Jesus to show us. And neither should we judge those who aren't yet able to believe as we do because Jesus doesn't do that.

After a long painful struggle, I was eventually blessed with faith, a gift I could not secure by my own efforts. I couldn’t see, so He found a way to show me.

Alleluia. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe. Alleluia. (John 20:29)