Solemnity of St Thomas – Apostle of India – 3^rd July, 2026 – John 20:24-29

The text of today takes us to the first Easter Sunday. The Lord had risen and no sooner that he stepped out of the tomb, Jesus chose to appear to the apostles. John 20 tells us the narrative of that first encounter. It was on the evening of that first Easter Sunday that Jesus appeared to the apostles. He showed them his hands and side. The apostles were not only terrified of the Jews but now mortified that this could be a ghost that their eyes beheld.  

At the height of their fear, Jesus gives them the gift of peace and then breaths the Holy Spirit on them. He gave them the power to forgive or retains sins. He had given this power earlier only to Peter, now he gives it to them all. Then, scripture tells us, that Thomas was not there!

I don’t want to make St Thomas our favourite whipping boy for what happened next. Too long, we have thrown St Thomas in the dock with a label that says, ‘doubting Thomas!’  If Peter had his confession, “you are the Christ the son of the living God”, then Thomas had his too, when he said, “My Lord and my God.” If Peter is the Rock, Thomas is the Mirror; reflecting the honest questions we are all too afraid to ask. Peter denied Jesus with his words, but Thomas sought Jesus with his questions. Both were met with grace. Unfortunately, we never hear the confession of Thomas spoken with the same adulation as Peter.

Thomas has been maligned unfairly for centuries from the pulpit for what seems to be a moment’s weakness of unbelief.  He has forever been tarnished with the name ‘doubting Thomas’ when in reality he is like you and me, a ‘seeking Thomas’; seeking answers all his life with a thousand questions. He is the patron saint of the inquisitive; forever our ‘Seeking Thomas.’

St Thomas has patiently borne centuries of name calling for ONE single lapse of faith. That is a punishment too harsh to bear. If we are to be fair to Thomas, let’s look at the rap sheet of some of the other apostles. Peter denied the Lord, three times but we don’t call him denier. Nathaniel scoffed when he said, “What good can come from Nazareth’’ but we don’t call him a scoffer. James and John were fighting for the right to sit at the Lord’s left and right seats but we don’t call them opportunist.  The rest abandoned the Lord at Gethsemane but we don’t call them cowards.  Poor Thomas, he got the worst end of the Christian preacher’s stick, and a name, ‘doubting Thomas’ which has stuck to him like feathers to tar.

There was another ‘mistake’ he made that day, one that seems to be overlooked. It is true he would not believe; it is true that he wanted proof. What is also true is that while the others accepted the resurrection on Easter Sunday, Thomas chose to wait another full week to celebrate Easter. It was a week later that the Lord appeared to Thomas, it was a week later that Thomas relaised his foolishness; it was a delayed Easter for Thomas because he chose not to believe. The true cost of his doubt was not just a label, but a week of unnecessary isolation and grief while others were already rejoicing. While the upper room echoed with resurrection joy, Thomas spent seven days trapped in Good Friday. Here is a lesson for us; doubting does not change the resurrection; it only delays our invitation to the party.

We all have our moments if not several episodes of ‘unbelief’ or ‘apistos’, in Greek. The English word ‘to doubt,’ is a poor translation of the word ‘apistos’.  The Bible uses the word unbelief and not doubt. To doubt, in the Greek language is translated as ‘distazo’. In John’s Gospel, believing or apistos is more a statement of ‘abiding in Jesus’, a relationship shared with Him, not merely a belief in a doctrine. Distazo means you can’t decide; Apistos means you feel disconnected. Thomas wasn’t indecisive, he was heartbroken.

This is why Jesus, in John’s Gospel asks us to ‘abide in Him.’ The English translations, loosely translated, should really read, ‘do not be ‘unbelieving’ but believe in the relationship we have which did not die on the cross’. Thomas wasn’t wavering in his thoughts; his personal connection to Jesus had been fractured by the trauma of the cross, and he needed that relationship restored.

This relationship between Jesus and Thomas was repaired the moment Thomas opened his heart to renewing his faith when he said, “My Lord and My God”. These are loaded words. He uses the word MY, indicating a relationship, an expression of abiding. He did not say you are ‘the Lord and the God’.

For Thomas, Jesus is not only his Lord but also his God and the two are cemented by that three-letter word AND.  Thomas is not merely renewing a confession of faith; he is making a confession of relationship.

We all live through our ‘thomistic’ moments of unbelief in our relationship with the Lord. How can Jesus die on me when I need Him the most? Where was He when I was clinging to the last straw of hope? Why did He not send someone to help me carry my cross? The How’s, Where’s and Why’s plague our mind like it did with Thomas. Yet He becomes the model of ‘faith restored’ when He renews his relationship with the one who never abandoned him. We don’t doubt God’s existence; we doubt His location when we are hurting. The reality is that in moments likes these, it is not that we doubt God’s existence; we doubt His location when we are hurting.

The words of Thomas, “My Lord and My God’ are meant to be whispered as words that give us strength in our moments of ‘unbelief’. It is in these words that we can find comfort, knowing that the Apostle of India shared in the same experience of unbelief that we go through. Thomas teaches us that a relationship can survive the questions if we stay in the room.

Thomas can no longer be in the dock. He has been acquitted by the Lord himself, he is not guilty and no pulpit can try him again. His title of “doubting” was but for a single week, but the “Apostle” crown was his for a lifetime of service. It is time we retire the name ‘Doubting Thomas’ and recognize him for what he truly was; a ‘Seeking Thomas’.