Thomas’s Disbelief.

(John 20:24-31).

Evangelist John notes that when the Lord first appeared to all His disciples, who were gathered together, Thomas (called the Twin) was absent. As can be seen from the Gospel, the character of this Apostle was distinctive in its persistence, bordering on the stubborn, which was natural for a simple, yet firmly arranged viewpoint. Even when the Lord was traveling to Judea to resurrect Lazarus, Thomas expressed his conviction that nothing will come from that journey: “Let us also go, that we may die with Him” (John 11:16). When the Lord stated to His disciples in His parting dialogue: “And where I go you know, and the way you know,” Thomas started to contradict: “Lord, we do not where You are going, and how can we know the way?” (John 14:5).

That’s why the Teacher’s death produced an especially severe, overwhelming feeling in Thomas: it was as though he became steeled in the conviction that the forfeiture of His was irredeemable. He was so low in spirit, that he even wasn’t with the other disciples on the day of resurrection; he evidently decided that there was no reason for them to be together, because everything was finished, everything had fallen apart and now, every disciple had to return to their previous, individual and independent lives. And now, having met the other disciples and suddenly hearing from them: “We have seen the Lord.” Consistent with his character, he sharply and definitively refuses to believe their words. Regarding the resurrection of his Teacher as being impossible, he declares that he would believe this not only if he saw this with his own eyes, but also felt with his own hands the wounds on the Lord’s hands and feet, as well as the wound inflicted by a spear to His side. “and put my hand into His side” — it can be seen through the words of Thomas, that the wounded inflicted by a soldier upon the Lord, was very deep.

After ten days had elapsed from the Lord’s first appearance to the ten Apostles, the Lord again appeared when “the doors being shut,” evidently in the same house. This time, Thomas was with them. Perhaps under the influence of his association with the other disciples, the obdurate disbelief began to leave him, and his soul, slowly but surely started anew to be capable of believing. The Lord appeared especially to rekindle his faith. As in the first instance, the Lord appeared among them quite unexpectedly, and after conferring peace upon them, the Lord turned to Thomas: “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands…” The Lord is answering to Thomas’s doubts with his own words, with which he preconditioned his belief in the Lord’s resurrection. Obviously, Thomas would have been stunned by the very fact that the Lord knew of this. And the Lord added: “Do not be disbelieving, but believing,”” i.e. you are in a position to decide definitively: there are now only two avenues before you — absolute belief and conclusive spiritual hard heartedness. Although the Gospel doesn’t say as to whether Thomas really touched the Lord’s wounds — it can be assumed that he did. In any case, belief inflamed within him, and he exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!” confessing with these words, not only his belief in Christ’s Resurrection, but also in His Divinity.

Nonetheless, this belief is still based on sentient verifications. That’s why in His instructions to Thomas, the Lord reveals to the other Apostles and all the people the ultimate path toward faith, praising those that have achieved it, in other than the way that Thomas did: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And in the past, the Lord more than once gave preference to that belief, which is based on the word rather than on a miracle. The spread of the Lord’s teachings throughout the world would have been made impossible, if everyone demanded either a similar confirmation of belief like Thomas did, or continuous miracles in general. That’s why the Lord praises those, who attain faith through trust only, through oral witness — trust in the Teachings of Christ. This is the best type of belief.

Saint John concludes his Gospel with this final passage. It is thought that, on the basis of reports that he was decreed to live until the Second Coming of Christ, his 21^st chapter was written some time later. Now, Saint John concludes his narrative with the witness that “truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.” Even though Saint John positioned himself to supplement the narratives of the first three Evangelists, he didn’t record everything, by far. At the same time, as can be seen, he feels that what has been written is sufficient “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” — and what little has been recorded, is sufficient to confirm the belief in Christ’s Divinity and for salvation through such faith.