Sermon - Advent Midweek 4 2022 - St. Thomas

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio, circa 1601-1602

Believing Thomas

1. Thomas was a great confessor of the faith

2. Thomas’s momentary doubt quickly gave way to strong faith

St. Thomas, one of our Lord’s chosen twelve apostles, is unfortunately known almost exclusively as “doubting Thomas.” We read that account this evening, and heard how Thomas said: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” But defining Thomas by this one particular statement of his is not very generous. Why don’t we call Peter “denying Peter” or call John “violent John?” Afterall, they both said foolish things too. But we don’t do that, rather we remember them for what they got right. We should do the same with Thomas. The highlight of today’s Gospel isn’t that Thomas doubted, but that He gave the most powerful confession of all Jesus’ apostles. Thomas confessed Jesus by saying: “My Lord and my God!” 

Thus, Thomas isn’t “doubting Thomas” so much as he is “believing Thomas” or “confessing Thomas.” Thomas was a great confessor of the faith! Thomas’s momentary doubts quickly gave way to strong faith. So before we consider Thomas doubting, let’s remember Thomas believing.

Earlier in John’s Gospel we had such an account of Thomas believing. When Lazarus had died, Jesus said to His apostles: “Let us go to Judea again.” But they responded to Him: “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and you are going there again?” So He told them that Lazarus fell asleep, and He’s got to go to awaken him. But the apostles, cleverly trying to find a way out of going, said: “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” So Jesus said it bluntly: “Lazarus has died… let us go to him.” Boldly, Thomas then told the rest of the apostles: “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” No longer was Thomas afraid of death, but he was willing to suffer death for the sake of following Jesus.

Lazarus had died so that Jesus could raise him from the dead and others would then learn to believe in Jesus and in the resurrection that Jesus came to bring them. When Thomas hears this his fear of death departs and he gains a sort of willingness to die alongside Jesus. That doesn’t sound like a man wavering in doubt. This is a bold confession of the faith from St. Thomas! You don’t offer to die for just anything or anyone, but only those things and people to whom you are truly committed. You only have one life to give, and if you give your life to one cause, you can’t give it to any other cause. If you give your life to your work, it means you can’t give your life to your family. It’s a rather final thing. 

Thomas’s willingness to die with Jesus is the ultimate statement of commitment. Thomas did eventually die for the sake of Jesus. Thomas went on to become missionary to India (and possibly even China), where there are still Indian Christians who refer to themselves as Christians of St. Thomas. Eventually he was martyred for his faith in India while praying by being speared to death. 

Thomas’ willingness to die alongside Jesus is an important lesson for all Christians in what it means to be one of Jesus’ disciples. Soldiers are willing to die for their country, parents are willing to die for their children, and Christians must be willing to die for their faith. Thomas knew the risks, and yet he still went to pray the day that he died. May we also be as confident as Thomas in the one true faith that we too could say: “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

Afterall, part of the reason we Christians can be so confident in the faith, that we are willing to die, is because Jesus is our Lord who raises the dead to eternal life. Jesus told His apostles that he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, and He did. Later Jesus told His apostles that He goes to prepare a place for them in paradise. Thomas asked where He was going and what was the way. Jesus declared: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” 

So finally, in the account read today, Thomas sought certainty in the resurrection. He had heard Jesus speak of the resurrection, but now Jesus had died. So Thomas needed to see that the One who spoke of resurrection had now actually risen from the dead, that what He said was real and true! But Thomas didn’t just want to see the risen Jesus, He needed to see the risen Jesus who had been crucified! He needed to see the marks of the cross! Why? Because the scars of Jesus are the guarantee that Jesus’ death and resurrection are also for us. A man risen from the dead is great, but Thomas had already seen Lazarus rise from the dead. Thomas didn’t just need to see a miracle man who could come back to life, but he needed a Savior who had taken the punishment of sins on the cross and also risen from the dead. He needed the crucified and risen Jesus! 

When he saw the marks of the cross in Jesus’ living body he made the clearest and strongest confession of Jesus’ divinity in the entire Bible: “My Lord and my God!” Jesus wasn’t just like Lazarus, or the other people whom Jesus had risen from the dead, because those people had no power to come back to life. Only Jesus was able to lay down His life for others and then take it back up again. Every other death, as noble as it may be, is imperfect. For example, if I die protecting my family today, I can’t fight for them the next time they need me to die for them, I can only do it once, and imperfectly at that. But Jesus’ death was perfect, because in His one death He laid down His life for all people of all times. All sins are forgiven in His one death, not just our past sins, but even the sins we will commit in the future are forgiven by Him. He doesn’t have to repeatedly die every time we sin, because His one death is enough to atone for all the sins of all people. That is the faith which St. Thomas confessed in Jesus when he recognized that Jesus is his Lord and his God. May Thomas’ strong commitment and confession also be ours.