Thomas the Apostle - Faith and Courage
Caravaggio (Italian, 1571-1610).The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, circa 1600. Sanssouci Picture Gallery, Germany.
Thomas the apostle is mostly known for wanting material proof of Jesus's resurrection. He declared that until he placed his finger in Jesus' wounds, he would not believe. This has earned him the nickname "doubting Thomas". But before we get complacent and accept this simplistic and one dimensional description of the man, let us revisit another instance when Thomas showed incredible faith in Jesus in the face of imminent danger.
It happened when Jesus and the apostles found out about the death of Lazarus. Thomas, fully aware that Jesus had almost been stoned when they recently were in Judea (where Lazarus lived), so believed in Jesus that he encouraged the other apostles not to abandon him: "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
“Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Then Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.””
James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). Jesus Traveling, 1886-1896. Brooklyn Museum.
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