John 20:29 NLT

Then Jesus told [Thomas], “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

Thomas has been known down the centuries for his doubts, when in fact he was full of belief. While originally demanding to place his finger in Jesus’ wounds as the basis for his faith in the resurrection, when he encountered Jesus, he immediately acknowledged him as Lord and God.

We learn to differentiate between the conventions family, school, employment – society generally – demand of us, and our own inner preferences. Here is one battle many face over faith. In rejecting a Christian faith that is understood to be a social and religious convention, and in going in search of something to meet my inner spiritual need (“Our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you” declared Augustine of Hippo), we can miss the reality of God completely. Jesus is most certainly not constrained by social convention, as the gospel reveals. His whole message is an invitation that we make our way back home and find rest for our troubled soul.

Thomas here is unmoved by the stories of his fellow disciples, yet in his demand to see and touch Jesus’ wounds, he reveals the deep desire he carried within to meet the divine truth. The fact that this truth required the suspension of rationality to embrace the reality of resurrection was a step he could take once his eyes were open.

We may, depending upon our upbringing and personality, baulk at setting convention aside. Yet, the rational convention that nothing is true until it is established as measurable fact offers no way into the presence of God. For love, be it either human or divine, lies beyond objective measures. It is a conviction born of encounter and experience. God lies beyond formulation, yet never outside of friendship. In our risk-averse age where even ‘friendship’ has been reduced to little more than a means to personal advancement or advantage, conviction based upon such abstracts as encounter and emotion requires courage. This is the courage Thomas demonstrates. For us, faith is a courageous walk every day.

QUESTION: Do you have demands of God without which you refuse to entrust more of yourself to the promises of God?

PRAYER: Lord, help me to trust unconditionally your goodness, your love and your truth.

John 20:19-20a NLT

'That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side.'

Fear is an emotion that is difficult to deal with. I feel the tightening of my chest, faster breathing and my body temperature rising, as well as mental activity, usually imagining the most catastrophic outcome to whatever it is I fear, real or imagined. Hence why Jesus’ words were “Peace be with you”, rather than “fear not”! Any attempt to calm my fears by denying their reality only amplifies the presence of such fears.

Life is frightening. I’m not sure I recognised that when younger, but now I can reflect upon any number of fears. For me, having experienced the death of my spouse some years ago and though now happily remarried, I fear the lack of companionship. Another of my fears is that I worry about making ends meet the older I get, having failed to pursue a career successfully. In reality, compared with the majority of the world’s population I’m well-set, yet with few savings and no company pension, I am prone to worry.

However, the fact that Jesus is true to his word and stands before them resurrected, is intended to bring reassurance that God’s provision is all they, and I, need.

The good news is, Jesus shows the wounds his resurrected body retains. I draw comfort for myself, for the real battles and pains I experience in life will be evident after my death, as a clear witness to those times when I’ve clung to faith when fear and its logic encouraged me to abandon God and take personal responsibility for my welfare. I relish the thought, but still struggle with the practice.

QUESTION: Are you able to calm your fears long enough to hear Jesus say, “Peace be with you”?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you that you overcame the enemies of sin and death and in you I find life.