Gospel of John
20:24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
20:25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to 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."
20:26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was
with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."
20:27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." …………….…………………………………………………………
According to the Gospels, Jesus, himself, appeared to be occasionally tired, impatient, annoyed and even angry. No wonder, he is also a fully human person, and getting annoyed with hostile and dull people is natural even for unshakable saints. However, he had very effective anger managing tools, such as the love of God and the holy prayers to emphasize that your will be done, O God, always.
In most cases, if you do want to manage your own anger, you have to go the extra mile as well as it is written in the Sermon of the Mount that Jesus said that " If any man would go to law with you and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two, ... and whoever
strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. "
Still we know that some wicked people are just unbearable, and it is more than very tedious to tolerate when somebody hates you just like they hated Jesus not only without a cause, but despite all the good that he had done. When our sworn enemies treat us badly, it feels bad, but what else we should expect. However, when our friends or family members treat us not exactly in a malevolent way, just coldly or not as we wished for, then it feels worse.
We know from the Gospels that one of Jesus' main disciples betrayed him on that decisive night on Maundy Thursday. A terrible blow to the soul and a horrible breach of trust. It was not on that level, but it could have been also very painful, when Jesus learned that his very close disciple, an Apostle, Thomas had been doubting in him. This is the same Thomas who is called also Didymus, who once said to his fellow disciples regarding the cause of their Master that "Let's go also, that we may die with him." Yet Jesus had to declare it to him that "blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed."
When the resurrected Jesus learned that after all his sufferings and crucifixion, he also had to deal with the doubts of his many disciples, it could not have been a pleasant and reassuring experience. It is clearly written in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28 that "the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them. When they saw him, they bowed down to him, but some doubted. "
They even saw him, and some still doubted, face to face. How incomprehensible is that?
These were among the chosen, who even witnessed his ascension a bit later. Nonetheless, when one of his closest Apostles, Thomas had doubts and said that "unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe", it could have been a sharp pain in Jesus' heart. It is true though, that Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, wasn't with them when Jesus appeared among them for the first time.
Present or not, it was almost irrelevant, because Jesus many times told the disciples in advance that the Son of Man will be betrayed, captured and tortured, sentenced and crucified, but he will be resurrected on the third day, according to the sign of the Prophet Jonah, that as Jonah had spent three days in the belly of the giant fish, so the Son of Man will be buried in the belly of the ground, but he will be resurrected on the third day.
Although the Apostle Peter rebuked him, saying that it can not ever happen to You, Master, still the cross and the resurrection was the ultimate reality Jesus presented them. Thomas was not able to take the word of his Master at face value, and he doubted. Jesus could have asked that this is an Apostle, and example of Faith and trust in God?
He could have said that he is not an Apostle anymore, I do not need disciples like him. However, the Lord went the extra mile as it is written that "after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the midst, and said, 'Peace be to you.' Then he said to Thomas, 'reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don't be faithless, but believing.' "
Sometimes even the top disciples were not able to show the faith hero example required from them, however the Lord always went the extra mile for his disciples. The chief disciples failed Him terribly, including Peter who denied Him and Thomas who doubted Him, meanwhile others just ran away, and others simply did not understand the events and the purpose of the events at all.
Some of them thought that not that they failed as faithful disciples, but Jesus failed them, he failed to become the invincibly victorious Messiah King according to the popular expectations. At first, they did not understand that Jesus' victory was not in destroying armies or in conquering lands, but in the triumph over sin, evil and
death. This understanding had a long way to go, like having a post-graduation or rather a post resurrection education, in order from students of faith to become to the teachers of faith, from accepting the life sacrifice of their master to offering up theirs.
And the Master went all the extra miles they needed to understand the ways of Heaven.
Sometimes, we think, contemplating about the events in our world, that God fails us. It is quite rare, when we are able to confess, that we are the ones who fail God, because of our disobedience, our straying from the divine law, our sins and our vanity, our pride and our arrogance. One by one, in groups, in communities, nationwide or worldwide as humanity, we fail God.
Still the Lord, as a Good Shepherd goes an extra ten thousand mile for us to gather
his sheep under his supervision to save them from every evil. We have a lot of expectations toward God, that we should be loved unconditionally, we should be saved unconditionally, we should be cared about unconditionally, like having
unalienable rights in a divine constitution for the constituents.
However, before enjoying the rights and privileges we have take upon our responsibilities as well, as the paraphrase says that we should not ask what the Heavenly Kingdom can do for us, but rather what we can do for the Heavenly Kingdom. We are waiting for divine intervention, the quick return of Jesus, the speedy establishment of the Messianic Era on Earth, and we blame God that he looks like tarrying. However, it is quite the opposite.
It is written in the second letter of Peter, in chapter 3 that “ The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.” Because “the heavens will disappear with a roar, elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to 9be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness.”
The Lord, who died for us and was resurrected for us, expects us to have no more doubts but true faith, to be able to repent and to pray, to turn to God and to amend our deeds by the Holy Spirit every day, striving on Earth for his always greater heavenly glory, AMEN.
