Second Sunday of Easter
Year B
Readings: Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31
My Lord and my God
Thomas’s exclamation, after seeing the risen Jesus face to face, dissolves his doubt and fills him with such faith that it transforms his whole life. He is so overwhelmed with this experience that he calls Jesus God. This is the first time Jesus is referred to as God in the Gospels! And it comes from the lips of Thomas!
Historically, Thomas has always been referred as ‘doubting’. He has this very inquisitive mind that he can’t take things just with the face value. He has to clarify things before he can fully endorse or believe(!). One of the examples, other than the one we hear in the Gospel today is, where Thomas asks Jesus, “Lord we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?” (John 14:5) and Jesus gives a profound answer, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Thomas wants to clear things and ask questions! And his questions have Jesus giving profound answers and signs as we witness in today’s Gospel. If Thomas hadn’t asked to see the wounds of Jesus, this encounter wouldn’t have taken place, not that Jesus needs to prove a point, but to encourage faith.
I am impressed by Thomas’s ability to take courage and ask questions. Yes, it is easy to dismiss and say, ‘you are doubting.’ Jesus even chastises him saying, ‘doubt no longer, but believe.’ Yes, we do need to believe when things are not hundred percent clear, or we do not understand everything. But asking questions to deepen our faith is very important. We need to work towards understanding our faith and one way of doing that is asking questions. Just blind belief is not helpful when we want to know the Risen Christ.
How much time do I spend to learn about my faith? How often do I read the Bible? Do I ask questions to learn more about things I don’t understand? Yes, I need to be humble enough to accept that everything will not be answered, everything is not clear, and everything is not yet revealed. Yet, deepening my faith needs a better understanding and I need the ability to ask right questions. Let us be like Thomas who dared to ask, and Jesus did not disappoint him.