The Assurance of Apostle Thomas
Fr. Nicholas delivers a sermon on St. Thomas Sunday, also known as Antipascha. He explores the historical context of the celebration and delves into the Gospel account of Jesus' appearance to the disciples, focusing on Thomas' response. Fr. Nicholas offers insights into the nature of belief and doubt, emphasising Thomas' ultimate declaration of faith.
Transcript
In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Today is called St. Thomas Sunday and also Antipascha, that is, in place of Pascha. One of the reasons for the existence of this service is historical. The celebration of Antipascha appeared because many pilgrims who came to the Holy Land, to Jerusalem, to celebrate Pascha were late for the feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ. For various reasons, not everyone arrived in time. This was understandable since there were neither planes, buses, modern ships, modern timetables, nor computerization. It was sailing ships, horse and coaches, or shanks' pony, that is, walking. If you have read any material about the Russian pilgrims making their way to the Holy Land in the 19th century, it would take them months, walking miles a day, sleeping in the open or in some rough, cheap accommodation. Our modern-day pilgrimage experience is super easy in comparison.
Today's service on the first Sunday after Pascha was compiled for them. Although it is a Sunday service, its composition resembles that of the 12 great feasts and thus is really the renewal of Pascha. It is on this day we also read the Gospel account by St. John concerning the appearance of Jesus to the disciples on the first day of the week, that is, Sunday, the eighth day after Pascha, and St. Thomas's response to not being present at the appearance. Often this event is titled as Doubting Thomas, but I think a better title is the Assurance of the Holy Apostle Thomas.
As we heard in the Gospel reading, our Lord appeared to the apostles in the upper room in Jerusalem without Thomas being present. Our Lord, after giving them peace, "Peace be with you," proceeded to breathe over them to receive the Holy Spirit, and then he gave them authority to forgive or retain sins. Upon his arrival, Thomas was not able to believe what he was being told: "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will never believe." This is reiterated in Matins at the praises: "When you did not appear unto your most blessed disciples, O our Lord, Thomas, who was also called the Twin, was absent from their midst. Wherefore he believed not in your resurrection, and he cried out unto them that had seen you, 'I will not believe that he has arisen save that I put my finger into his side and the prints of the nails.'"
Let us place this in context. St. Luke the surgeon has this to say: It was very, very extremely hard for the apostles to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ had risen. They considered the words of the myrrh-bearing women who brought them this news to be lies. When they went to Galilee, to the mountain as Jesus had commanded them and saw him, some fell down and worshiped him while others stood petrified and did not believe their own eyes. When Jesus appeared to all of them in the upper room in Jerusalem, they thought that they were seeing a spirit. Strongest of all was the unbelief of the Apostle Thomas, who had to place his fingers on the wounds with the nails on the Savior's hands and feet and his hand on his side before he would believe.
Why did the apostles believe even their own eyes with such difficulty? After all, they were witnesses to the Lord Jesus resurrecting the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of Jairus, and even Lazarus, the four days dead. But after all, these were the acts of a very great miracle worker, and the dead did not resurrect of their own strength. But to believe in the possibility of a dead body coming back to life by itself, of its own power, was immeasurably difficult. Thus, it was extremely difficult for Christ's apostles to believe even what they saw with their own eyes.
Another commentator has the following to say: We usually remember him as having doubted, but we do not perhaps more properly think of him as having been cautious. When the disciples heard that Christ had risen and had appeared to the apostles, we know that at first all of them had their doubts because the miracle was too great for human minds to fathom. When Thomas, who was not present at their first appearance, heard that Christ had risen, he surely had the same doubts, but he also was wisely cautious. Was this Christ indeed? Is this a deception or a phantom? Let me be certain that I will be believing in and glorifying the true God, the true Lord Jesus Christ, and not a fantasy or a false image. Let me first put my fingers in the nail prints in those precious hands that had once reached out and touched the unclean, making it clean. Let me feel the hands that had once reached out, and though the leper was unclean and untouchable according to the law, not judged him so, but rather had touched him, embracing his humanity and making him clean. These precious hands that had acknowledged the humanity of the despised and outcast, sheltering them under the wings of his love, cleansing with his love that which before had been unclean. Let me feel the source of that life-bearing spring, that wellspring that poured forth the blood of our Savior, covering our sins and shortcomings, lifting up our humanity and calling it into communion with his divinity. Let me witness for myself the marks of his victory over death, that wounded side which brought forth immortality upon mankind, which healed the ancient alienation between God and man and made us once more truly children of the living God and the heirs to the heavenly kingdom.
Christ again returns to the disciples in the upper room when Thomas is present, and we hear in Matins at the praises: "To Thomas did Christ the Lord exclaim, 'As you will, put your hand forth, touch and handle me. Know that like yourself, I too have bones and an earthly body. Do not harbor further doubts, but rather, like the others, believe in me.' Then Thomas cried to him, 'You, O Jesus, are my Lord and God, my Savior. Glory to your rising, Lord.'"
A Troparion in Ode 5 Matins has the following to say about this event concerning Thomas: "O how praiseworthy and truly awesome is Thomas's undertaking, for daringly he touched the side that does flash forth the lightning of the divine fire." This imagery takes us back to the Old Testament, to 1 Samuel 6:1-7 and 1 Chronicles 13:9-12, when Uzzah touched the Ark of the Covenant and died. Also, when we pray the pre-communion prayers, we say at the verses of instruction: "When you intend, O man, to eat the Master's body, approach with fear lest you be burned, for it is fire."
In Matins, Ode 7 Troparion: "Thomas the Twin, who alone was bold and who by his unbelieving belief has brought us benefactions, does by his believing unbelief dispel gloomy ignorance from all the ends of the earth, and he does clearly plate a crown for himself by saying, 'You are Lord, O our supremely exalted God, the God of our fathers, blessed are you.'" Note how Thomas's doubt is described: unbelieving belief and believing unbelief. As I said at the beginning of the sermon, I think a better way to understand is the assurance of the Holy Apostle Thomas.
Thomas is the first of the disciples to declare, "My Lord and my God." So from his reassurance comes the revelation to Thomas, and he declares, "My Lord and my God." We hear in Matins, Ode 4 Troparion: "Your all-blessed tongue is praised, O Twin, your all-blessed tongue, for it was the first to proclaim piously that Jesus, the giver of life, is both God and Lord, for when you did touch him, it was filled with grace."
So what can we learn from this account concerning Thomas? At times, all of us, and most probably will in the future, have had or will have, in some description, unbelieving belief and believing unbelief, just as Thomas did. To varying degrees, we will meet many people who have unbelief, but we need to remember our Lord and God Jesus Christ does not forcibly draw people's hearts to himself, something of course he could do with his divine power, but looks for voluntary love and faith. We saw this in the Gospel reading for today. He presented himself again to the disciples with Thomas present so that Thomas may be reassured, with the result that Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God." It was a spontaneous and heartfelt exclamation of utter faith. Christ is risen!
