Monday in the Week of the Fourth Sunday of Advent
Thomas the Apostle, Apostle and Martyr
1st century
Today the Church celebrates the feast of Thomas the Apostle, who confessed the risen Jesus as his Lord and God and carried that confession into the service of the Gospel.
Thomas was one of the Twelve whom Jesus called to accompany him. He heard the Lord teach, saw his works of mercy, and shared the journeys that brought the disciples toward Jerusalem.
When Lazarus lay dead at Bethany, Jesus told the disciples that he would return to Judea. They knew the danger. People there had already tried to stone him. Thomas answered his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
At the Last Supper, Jesus spoke of his departure and of the place he would prepare for his disciples. Thomas could not follow the meaning of his words. He told Jesus plainly that they did not know where he was going. How could they know the way? Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The way to the Father was the Lord who sat among them.
Yet Thomas’s willingness to face death did not keep him from the unbelief that followed the cross. On the evening of the Resurrection, Jesus came to the disciples behind closed doors. Thomas was absent. When the others told him that they had seen the Lord, he refused to believe unless he saw the wounds of the nails and put his hand into Jesus’ wounded side.
Eight days later, the disciples gathered again, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came among them and gave them his peace. Then he addressed Thomas. He invited him to examine his hands and his side, and called him from unbelief into faith.
Thomas answered, “My Lord and my God!”
The wounds belonged to the Master who had been crucified. The living man before him was his God. Jesus received his confession and pronounced a blessing upon those who would believe without having seen him.
Thomas remained with the disciples. He was among those who went fishing with Peter and met the risen Lord beside the Sea of Tiberias. After the Ascension, he joined the apostles, the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus in prayer.
His apostolic ministry carried him eastward, and he brought the Gospel to India. There he preached Christ among people who had not heard his name. The Christians of India kept his memory as the apostle who had brought them the faith.
When Thomas’s preaching reached the household of King Misdaeus, it brought converts into conflict with the king. Misdaeus ordered soldiers to take the apostle outside the city and kill him on a mountain. Thomas prayed. Four soldiers pierced him with their spears, and the Christians buried him.
Later, one of the king’s sons suffered under an evil spirit. Thomas appeared to the king and assured him of Jesus Christ’s mercy. Misdaeus went to the apostle’s tomb seeking help. The apostle’s body had already been carried away, so the king took dust from the place where it had lain. He confessed his faith in Jesus Christ, and his son was healed. Misdaeus then came among the Christians. The priest Siphor asked the brethren to pray that their former persecutor might receive Christ’s mercy, and they received him into their fellowship.
Thomas had once demanded to see before he would believe. The risen Christ made him a witness through whom others came to faith. May the Lord meet us in our fear and uncertainty, bring us to Thomas’s confession, and make our lives bear witness to his resurrection.
Let us pray
Everliving God, who strengthened your apostle Thomas with firm and certain faith in your Son’s resurrection: Grant us so perfectly and without doubt to believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that our faith may never be found wanting in your sight; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.