One of the main actors in this Sunday’s gospel (John 20:19-31) is the apostle Thomas; the man we have come to know as Doubting Thomas, because he said, “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.” What is not frequently appreciated, though, is that Doubting Thomas is also Confessing Thomas, “My Lord and my God!” Confessing Thomas became the apostle who brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of India and died a martyr, after he was run through with five spears by five soldiers. That doesn’t sound like the story of a doubter, does it? He only started off his resurrection journey as a doubter, but the end story revealed to us how much this man had come to embrace the resurrection as a life-changing experience.
“Doubting” Thomas, therefore, was only a starting place for this saint and it was in this place that Christ met him. My friends, we, like Thomas, have our starting places; where we are with life and the circumstances surrounding us at this moment. It could be deep regrets, loneliness, sorrow, loss, illness, aging, disability, uncertainty, overwhelming darkness, disappointment, betrayal, you name it. The is the place where our resurrection journey needs to start; the room where Christ needs to enter to breathe peace, hope, and courage unto us, and saying as He does so, receive the power of the Holy Spirit; the strength to unlock the locked doors and to step out into the freshness of a new beginning.
Remember that the locked doors did not prevent Christ from entering the room where the apostles were hiding, filled with fear and disappointment. It is the same with us. Our resurrection journey begins with recognizing Christ as He enters our places of darkness and with willingness, allow him to take us and walk us out of our encasement. Will you welcome him? Will you trust him? He came back to reassure Thomas and He will do the same for us only if we are willing to let him in. So let us extend to Christ the chains of our fear, anger, wrath, hate, addiction, jealousy, envy, unforgiving spirit, and every and all things that may be holding us down at this time, so that He may break them down and set us free by the power of his resurrection. Let us confess Christ resurrected into our lives, just as Thomas did, and embrace His gift of freedom to live life in its fullness; to become witnesses of the gospel of salvation to all; to become the hand of Christ for all who need to be touched by His grace; and to welcome Him into our lives as our personal Lord and Savior.
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