Soaking in the Resurrection #1

Throughout Eastertide, we hear the stories of Jesus' resurrection appearances. On the Second Sunday of Easter - also known as Divine Mercy Sunday, we will hear the story of Thomas, known as the doubter. Have

If I told you there in Japan, they grow square watermelons because they will stack better in the shops, would you believe me, or would you be filled with doubt? Leave that one in the back of your mind for a moment, and come with me on a journey with Thomas, commonly referred to as the doubter.

He wasn’t in the room that day when Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples. Perhaps he had gone to organise dinner or have some time on his own. While he was gone, Jesus came and appeared to the rest of the disciples. He showed them his hands and his side, offered them peace, breathed the power of the Spirit on to them and sent them forth to offer forgiveness of sins.

Thomas returns, and maybe this is projection, but I imagine he felt a little disgruntled. The other disciples had an amazing experience and he had missed it. And when they told him, his response indicated something like being expected to believe that they grow square watermelons in Japan. He wanted proof, he wanted to see the mark of the nails and place his hands in the hole on Jesus’ side.

It was a week until Jesus appeared again – a whole week. I wonder what Thomas was like in those days. Was he swallowed by dejection? Did he pray and seek God in his confusion? Did the changes in the other disciples start to convince him that what he had been told was real? The day comes and Jesus appears again – this time Thomas is present. Jesus invites him to touch his hands and his side, and he utters, ‘My Lord and my God’.

Jesus responds by saying, ‘Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe’. We have not seen Jesus in the same way that the disciples did, so how are we called to respond to the story of Thomas.

I think two things stand out for me – we are invited to SEEK JESUS and BE SOUGHT BY JESUS. We seek him and invite him into our doubt, our fear and our confusion. Yet we also open ourselves to being sought by him, so that like Thomas, he can meet us in a deeply intimate and personal way in the midst of our deepest vulnerability.

Mel Edwards