Today's Gospel in Art - Doubt no longer but believe

Doubting Thomas, by Jessie Boston, 2016 © Jessie Boston / Sandra Morris Illustration Agency

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 11th April 2021 - John 20:19-31

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with you', and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, 'Peace be with you.

'As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.'

After saying this he breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.'

Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, 'We have seen the Lord', he answered, 'Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.' Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. 'Peace be with you' he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.' Thomas replied, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him:

'You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.'

There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.

Reflection on the Drawing

What I like about today's drawing by Jessie Boston, is that the hands on the bottom left that come into the sheet of paper could well be our own hands, not just those of Saint Thomas. He was inspecting the wounds of Christ, including putting his hand into the wound of Christ, as we read in today's Gospel reading.

I have written about this before, but I am not keen on labelling St Thomas as 'Doubting Thomas'. In popular tradition it somehow implies that 'doubting Thomas' was just a skeptic who refused to believe anything without direct personal experience; or refused to believe that the resurrected Jesus had actually appeared to the ten other apostles, until the very point that he could see and feel the wounds received by Jesus on the cross. Thomas was not a doubter.

Calling him a doubter somehow seems to imply that doubt is opposed to faith… and it isn't. Doubt is what can drive us to learn more, to read more, to be more inquisitive, to search… and in all of this our faith grows. Look at all the other apostles just after the Resurrection of our Lord. They all had their doubts, frustrations and moments of disbelief. Thomas was certainly bolder in voicing his concerns, but he wasn't the only one doubting. We all often doubt in our faith.

Also, calling Thomas a doubter somehow seems to imply that in order to have faith, one needs to have certainty. So are we saying that people who doubt don't have belief or faith? Of course not. Doubt is not opposed to belief. Doubt is part of belief. In the original Greek text of the New Testament, the meaning of 'doubter' is the same word as 'inquirer'. And that is what Jesus is asking us to do: to inquire, to seek, to learn, to ask, to search and thus delve deeper and deeper into the mystery of our faith.

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/772
Christian Art - www.christian.art/index.php