Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.
--John 20:29b
The gospel reading for the second week of Easter features a disciple named Thomas. Down through the years, he has been referred to as "doubting Thomas." I think the poor guy has gotten a bad rap! I mean, what's so wrong with insisting on proof? Proof brings certainty along with it, and certainty is in short supply -- in Thomas's day as in our own.
For Thomas, the news that Jesus rose fom the dead required, to borrow a phrase from Hillary Clinton, a "willing suspension of disbelief." That news was too good to be true, so he demanded proof. Only proof would get him past his honest and reasonable doubt.
Doubt is in vogue, and it often brings along with it a sibling called cynicism. When those two (doubt and cynicism) hang around for awhile, the atmosphere turns into one of existential despair.
Thomas had his doubts, but I'm not persuaded that he was a cynic. He was just a straight up, tell-it-like-it-is kind of guy. My hunch is that Jesus admired that about Thomas, and I think our Lord was smiling when He looked at Thomas and said: Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen but yet have come to believe!
When Thomas saw the Lord, he exclaimed: My Lord and my God! As I said, he was a straight up, tell-it-like-it-is kind of guy!
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