Doubting Thomas and Blind Faith

April 7, 2024

What most of us remember about Thomas the Apostle is the story found in today’s Gospel about his doubting the Resurrection of Jesus.  What is interesting to note is that the words of Jesus to Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” are often used by religious authorities and parents etc to quell or quash any uncomfortable questions regarding our faith that a person (child, teenager, adult) may ask.  And so, one is forced to ask the question: Is it true that Jesus preferred his disciples to believe blindly?

A look at Jesus’ life would seem to challenge this assumption. As I have said repeatedly, taking one line or passage of Scripture in isolation from the rest is actually a very inadequate way of interpreting God’s word.  So we have to take this  statement of Jesus together with other actions/teachings of Jesus.  And it would seem that Jesus was clearly not against people asking questions of him regarding his own teachings.

 

So, for instance, we may remember the story of Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night (John 3:1-21). We are told in that story that Nicodemus had many questions as, according to him, some of Jesus’ teachings did not make sense.  Jesus does not rebuke him for asking these questions, but patiently spends time with him to explain.  It is this Nicodemus who later shows his faith/commitment to Jesus when he has the courage both to question the other Pharisees who were quite sure that Jesus could not have come from God (John 7:43-53), and who later went with Joseph of Arimathea and asks for the body of Jesus - an action that must have required considerable courage as there was every likelihood that their actions could not be kept secret.   

 

Aside from this incident, after the Resurrection we have the story of the two disciples who were running away to Emmaus and who meet Jesus on the way (Luke 24:13-35). And as the story tells us, Jesus spends a considerable amount of time explaining to them why the Messiah had to suffer, and thus clears all their doubts.

 

In fact, many of Jesus’ parables and teachings are offered by him in response to questions put to him. (Who is my neighbour?  Which is the greatest commandment? etc).  And Jesus himself, as a youngster, when he was lost in the temple, felt it was quite alright, even as a child, to ask questions of the religious elders.  

 

So the overall sense of Jesus’ approach to questions and doubts was that he did not denounce those who asked questions, did not ask them to offer a blind belief, but spent time trying to answer the questions.

 

Then how do we make sense of today’s story of Thomas the Apostle and Jesus’ response to his disbelief.  First of all, it seems clear that Jesus is not speaking about those who ask questions.  He is not saying: ‘Blessed are those who do not ask questions, but yet believe’.  He is saying: Blessed are those who do not see but yet believe.  So, he seems to be referring to those who ask for ‘sense’ual proof of all of reality, for he is quoted as making this statement in response to Thomas’ desire to have ‘sense-ual’ proof (TOUCH, to SEE) of the resurrection.

 

A second possible approach to understanding this statement of Jesus may be found in the distinction I made in an earlier blog (Three Elements of a Saving Faith) between BELIEF and FAITH. Belief can be understood as an assent to a particular proposition about God (God is One, God is Love, Jesus is God and Man, etc.). This may lead to a confidence/trust in God, to the point of even working miracles in God’s name.  But that too may not be enough to claim there is Faith (see Mathew 7:22-23).  The fullness of Faith is only found in the total commitment to God as a way of life.

 

Unfortunately, and this applies at least to the limitations of the English language, there is no VERB for the noun FAITH, and we have to make do with the term ‘to believe’ - which in itself is also connected to the noun BELIEF.  Hence it is no wonder that in our minds, FAITH and BELIEF are often seen as inter-changeable and meaning the same thing.  In fact FAITH can exist even when some Beliefs are lost. Thus Abraham, who is deeply committed (faithful) to God and is willing to do anything that he believes God is calling him to do,  probably loses his belief in God’s promise of many descendants, when he is asked to sacrifice his only son, the very son through whom these descendants were to come.  Similarly, Jesus who showed throughout his life a complete faith in God, seems to have lost his belief in God taking care of him when on the cross he cries out: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

If we keep this distinction in mind between a faith commitment and an intellectual belief, and check what little we know of  Thomas’ life in the Gospels, we will notice that he is different from the other apostles. Thus we have Peter, who extravagantly boasts how committed he is to Jesus, and even expresses his firm intellectual belief that Jesus is the Son of God, - and yet when pushed into a corner, denies that he even knew Jesus, thus betraying his lack of commitment to Jesus. We have Judas who betrays him.  We have John and James who asked for prime positions in the kingdom of heaven as a reward for following him, which of course questions their real commitment to Jesus (Mathew 20:20-28). But, on the other hand, we have a very telling incident in the Gospels about Thomas.  This happens towards the end of his ministry, as Jesus nears the time when he believes he is going to suffer. At that time, Jesus tells his disciples that he wishes to go to Bethany to visit Lazarus. Now Bethany is close to Jerusalem, the very place where Jesus had already told them he was going to suffer and be crucified. All the apostles hesitate, and it is ONLY Thomas who says to his fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16).  None of the other disciples were ready for that.  Only Thomas was ready at that point to give up his life for Jesus, and was willing to walk the talk.  After the Resurrection, Thomas’ courage is again shown in the fact that unlike many of the disciples who ran away, including the two who went to Emmaus, Thomas does not run away and remains with the other disciples in the room in which they were hiding out of fear of the Jewish establishment.  Apparently, the very fact that he was the only  one not present when Jesus first reveals himself to all of them together, also seems to indicate that he had the courage to go out from that hiding place where they all had gathered.  And perhaps it is this very outspoken courage of his that even allows him to say he will not believe (understood as a belief in the event of the Resurrection) even as he continues to hold to his commitment to, or faith in, Jesus - because remember, Thomas has NOT run away.   This is reminiscent of both Abraham and Jesus who lost their beliefs and yet remained committed.   

This understanding of Faith being a complete commitment to God, rather than as being limited to having certain beliefs about God, is further strengthened in the first reading of today, where we see the commitment of the faith of the early Christians where they were willing to sell off their goods and property and share with others in a stark expression of loving their neighbours.  It must also be remembered that the dogmas about who Jesus is, was a much much later development in the history of the Church, and so at the time of the early Church there was no clear belief in the dogma that Jesus was GOD and MAN simultaneously. Clearly the early church was focussed on Jesus’ message and they did not have clarity about the Godhood/Manhood of Jesus.

 

The understanding of Faith that was expressed in the commitment described in the first reading is also connected to the the second reading which speaks of a salvation that is closely connected to Faith in Jesus, and then makes it  clear that it is the following of Jesus’ commandments (the commitment that flows out of that belief) that actually saves.

 

So to come back to Thomas, it would seem that while his faith in Jesus (commitment to Jesus) was always present, it was his desire for empirical proof that was challenged by Jesus. Let us not then confuse the meaning of the passage, by drawing a conclusion that is not warranted by the Gospels,  and use this story to downplay or ignore any questions that people may have regarding beliefs that they have been taught to accept. In fact it is because of theologians and others asking such questions that the official Church too has evolved in its beliefs. Many of the current beliefs of the official Church would have been roundly condemned in earlier centuries - like the belief in the value of other religions to draw people to God, and even of atheists being able to reach God - all beliefs that are expressed in the petitions made in the Good Friday service every year.  Similarly,  I may have some wrong beliefs, I may refuse to accept certain beliefs, I may evolve in my beliefs, or I might even have all the right beliefs, and so on and so forth, but none of these are enough to judge whether I have that faith commitment to God i.e. the faith that saves. 

First Reading: Acts 4: 32-35

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

 

Second Reading: First John 5: 1-6

 

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

 

This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth

 

Gospel: John 20: 19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

 

But Thomas (who was called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

 

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

 

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.