St. Thomas Sunday by Neetha Mamoottile ( St. Gregorios Orthodox Church, Bellwood, IL )

St. John 20: 19-31

Have you ever experienced a time when you were scared, challenged, intimidated or just plain didn’t know what was happening? How did you react in that situation? Did you run, hide, disassociate yourself, get upset or cry? In this Gospel we see how the apostles reacted to Christ’s Resurrection.

By vs. 19, the disciples have already heard about Christ’s Resurrection from Mary Magdalene earlier in the day. Then we see the disciples huddled together behind closed doors “for fear of the Jews.” Despite their choice to avoid any sort of confrontation, Jesus comes and meets them where they are and He shows them His wounds; reminding them of who He is. Christ doesn’t scold, isn’t disappointed, but encourages them and gives them a command; “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you”. Hearing this, the disciples don’t wait and come up with a plan or weigh their options, but they go and tell Thomas about what they saw. Let me remind you, that these were the same people who moments ago were hiding fearfully. The disciples didn’t keep what they saw to themselves. They ran the risk of being mocked or being seen as crazy, but they told others about Christ’s Resurrection anyway.

Hearing the disciples testimonies, Thomas responds that He will not believe until he sees and touches Christ’s wounds. Eight days later, Christ visits the disciples and now Thomas was with them. He tells Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Then Thomas confesses a profound truth; “My Lord and My God!” We see three things here; Thomas seeking Christ (Truth), his declaration of his faith and Christ’s response towards him. The Gospel reading doesn’t indicate if Thomas touched Christ’s wounds, but seeing Christ in front of him was enough for Thomas to believe. Thomas acknowledges that the man in front of him is indeed God and the person to whom He will submit his life. Today, we know him as the disciple that came to India to spread the Gospel. The fact that he came to India shows the depth of his belief; it has to be an irrefutable Truth for someone to risk their life for it. Today, we are benefactors of his faith; through his belief, multitudes know Christ. Last but not least, we see how patient Christ is with his disciples. This reminded me of many instances when I was unbelieving as well. In those moments, Christ patiently waited for me; He was faithful even when I was not. Similarly, haven’t Christ been patient with you when you didn’t believe?

Throughout this Gospel we see the disciples and those who knew Christ, slowly coming to a fuller understanding of Christ. The disciples heard about Christ’s Resurrection from others, but hadn’t fully believed or understood until they themselves experienced Christ. So, let us not just hear of Christ, but, as the disciples, let us experience Him. Let us not stay in our unbelief, but like Thomas, let us seek Him, experience Him, be convicted and live a life that glorifies Him. Let us be receptive to Christ, so that we too, like the disciples can be vessels for Christ!

Questions for Meditation

1) In your unbelieving moments, what do you do?

2) How can we be more receptive to Christ?

Author’s Information

Name: Neetha Mamoottile

Area: St. Gregorios Orthodox Church, Bellwood, IL