The Holy Apostles Thomas and John

“When the other disciples told [Thomas] that they had seen the Lord, he declared, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were…I will not believe it’” (John 20:25)

“When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home” (John 19:25)

To grasp the full flavor of the Thomas type of personality, it may help to set him against his consummate opposite, St. John Divine. How could we not enter into the bond of affection between our loving Lord and the apostle so proud to bear the title of the one whom Jesus loved—certainly Christ loved them all, including Thomas and even Judas Iscariot. And yet it is St. Thomas who is given a special Sunday for reflection, and that being the very Sunday following Pascha. Several reasons explain that privilege:

It had been stated by skeptics that the resurrection from death was a massive hallucination. The disciples had been somehow hypnotized, or perhaps having such an intense yearning for it to have happened that they convinced themselves it indeed did take place. The episode of St. Thomas, first being absent and then even present demanding tangible proof upsets that theory.

St. Thomas might be considered the patron of skeptics, cynics and doubters. Many who don’t even know his name had heard of the apostle who was not taking Christ’s resurrection at face value. They want proof, evidence of His victory over death explained objectively. The witness of the believers and the empty tomb won’t satisfy them. Even if they make no progress on the way of faith, at least they can stand outside and peep through the opening offered by St. Thomas.

St. Thomas is a fascinating study. The gospels focus on Jesus, leaving little place for personalities of disciples; however, we can discern something about them from the included fragments. We learn that St. Thomas was not a coward. When Jesus had word that Lazarus was ill—actually dead—and He with the disciples were in seclusion across the Jordan, He announced that they would return to Bethany, close by Jerusalem. The disciples tried to dissuade Him, but St. Thomas said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us go also, that we may die with Him.” (John 11:16) Words of a fatalist. They may explain why he stayed away from the others after the crucifixion. Those who think like him create an idée fixe, a mental “I told you so” attitude that is reinforced by circumstances. No good would come of it, he thought, and what St. Thomas predicted did indeed come to pass.

What of St. John, perhaps the youngest and with St. Andrew first to follow Jesus? He tossed his heart towards the Lord long ago; therefore, his fate was bound up with Christ wherever that may take him. Didn’t he reflect on the consequences of going to the grave of Lazarus and comforting his sisters? No doubt. Yet he heard a call: “Follow Me,” and he never stopped to consider how far he would do so—even to the very Cross. All the other disciples took their places in unwavering loyalty between those two disparate apostles. Their personalities bore out their missions following Pentecost. St. John having been adopted as foster son of the Mother of God, at first accompanied St. Peter in Jerusalem and throughout Judea, then later making his home in Ephesus. St. Thomas set off to faraway India, as distant as an apostle would travel to take the gospel to the world. The Church includes and has need of both types, as well as all in between.