But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Thomas has taken a bad rap for lots of years and I am not sure he deserved it. Whether he deserved it or not is still unknown. We do know that he is the one who said “let us go also so that we may die with Him”. Sounds like an awful brave man to me. He may not have been the one full of faith but he definitely was willing to go to the death at that time with Jesus. Says something about him that does not include doubt. Perhaps he was the type of person who was upset/disappointed by the loss of the human Jesus that he knew and expected to be the savior of the Jewish race. We know Thomas would ask questions to try to understand because in John 14 we see him say to Jesus, “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Brave, curious and trying to understand the mystery of Jesus. That’s what I see in Thomas.
One other thought about Thomas is that in his seeing Jesus and believing He has risen from the dead, he gives us all hope. When Jesus tells him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” we all who are believers today hear a blessing pronounced upon us all. We have not see and yet we believe.
Yes, there are times when we are brave and stand up for Jesus. Yes, there are times when we question things Jesus says because we just don’t understand and yes, there are times when Jesus is real enough to us to feel His wounds. Thomas may have doubted the resurrection of Jesus but his love for Him never faltered.
What I have learned from Thomas is that it is okay for us to be brave and bold in our witness, to not understand what Jesus is saying to us and to have doubts about the mystery but our love for our Savior must never falter.
God’s Peace and Blessings,
Randy
Wesley United Methodist Church, Orange TX 
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