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Have you ever been told something that just seemed too good to be true? Even though the news came from someone you trusted, the words that came flying out of your mouth was, “I doubt it.” In today’s world we call such people realists.
Realists need to be able to have a logical explanation in order to believe something. Most scientists are realists. Scientists base their conclusions on observations.
In our modern age we have benefited greatly from the discoveries and inventions of realists who applied scientific data to create spacecrafts and computers. Most of the technology that many of us now take for granted happened through the research of realists testing data to discover new ways of seeing and doing things.
In today’s gospel reading from John, the Apostle Thomas is a realist. He knows that Jesus was crucified, died and buried. He knows the tomb in which Jesus’ body was placed was sealed and guarded by Roman soldiers. All these things were facts. So when his peers tell him, “We have seen the Lord.” Thomas like any modern day realist does not believe them. In fact, Thomas tells the disciples rather bluntly what he thinks about their story. He tells them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Because of these remarks, the Apostle Thomas becomes known as ‘Doubting Thomas’ a name that he has been stuck with for nearly two thousand years.
In defense of the Apostle Thomas, if the Resurrection had taken place today, the other disciples would be labeled has hysterics and Thomas would be known as the sane one of the bunch. Even more, Thomas would be seen as reacting logically and scientifically to the disciples’ story. Then the impossible happens. A week later, Jesus appears again to the disciples and Thomas is present to witness it for himself. The impossible is real.
Not only does Jesus make an appearance, but he challenges the astonished disciple with his own words. Jesus tells Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side.” Then Jesus confronts Thomas’ view of reality with these words, “Do not doubt, but believe.”
Realistic Thomas has flunked Faith Class 101. He has been with Jesus from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He has heard Jesus’ teachings including the secret seminars the Jesus gave the Twelve. Jesus’ resurrection should not be a surprise for him, but it is. Perhaps like many modern day believers, Thomas believed in the spiritual resurrection of Jesus. Yet, standing before him is the physical resurrected body of the Christ. The evidence is overwhelming.
Thomas response to Jesus is his epiphany moment. He finally gets it. Jesus is not only his Teacher, but his Lord and God! Thomas put God to the test and God won. Why is it that we humans have to test God before we believe Him? Apparently, this is not the first time God was tested and passed.
In the Old Testament there is the story of Gideon’s fleece. Gideon is told by the Angel of the Lord and then later by the Lord Himself to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Midianites. Before Gideon goes into battle, he tests God to give him not one sign, but two signs through a fleece of wool.
In the Book of Judges, chapter 6, beginning with verse 36, we read, “Then Gideon said to God, "In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said." 38And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39Then Gideon said to God, "Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew." 40And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.”
Although God proves His Word to Gideon by giving Gideon the sign he wanted, as Jesus points out to Thomas, those who believe without physically seeing are the ones who are blessed. John writes, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Both Thomas and Gideon believed because of the signs they were given not because of their faith. Yet, it is the act of faith that pleases God, not the act of testing God. Those who believe through faith are the ones who are blessed by God. The ones who require signs and evidence for their belief miss out on the blessings that only faith in God can bring.
When Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He rebuked Satan for tempting Him to test God. From the translation The Message, Matthew writes, “For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, "Since you are God's Son, jump." The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: "He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won't so much as stub your toe on a stone." 7Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: "Don't you dare test the Lord your God."
Testing God is not living by faith. According to St. Peter, it is God testing our faith by fire that brings glory to the Lord, not our testing God. In this world we have the choice of living our lives like the Apostle Thomas or Gideon – believing only in physical evidence or we can choose to live by faith. The first is living a life that is spiritually short sighted; while the latter is living life with an eternal perspective. In closing, the author of Hebrews reminds us, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” May we choose to please God.
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