The Burden of Proof
Thomas gets a bad rap, don’t you think? He has inherited the nickname “Doubting Thomas” over the years, because he simply wanted proof that the one with whom he was speaking was indeed Jesus. After all, Jesus had been crucified, of that he was sure. Who would not have asked for the same thing? Most thinking people want proof of the unbelievable; proof of the resurrection, proof of the existence of God, proof of what happens after death.
The story of Jesus and Thomas is a gift because Thomas moves from doubt, to belief, to confession. He goes beyond calling Jesus “Lord” to naming him “God”, the highest confession in the New Testament, by the way! Thomas moves from doubt to belief so that we who have not seen may also believe. While it is logical, particularly following a crisis to say, “if there were a God this would not happen” or “unless I see for myself, I cannot believe”, Thomas invites a way through this. He experiences the risen Christ and believes. It’s an intriguing story. What exactly does he touch? And more importantly, how exactly is he touched? He asks for proof and he gets it. While the Gospel does not say he actually touches the flesh of Jesus, he is invited to touch the wounds. It is a subtle but significant distinction.
Most people can probably identify with the experience of having a wound touched. Perhaps reopening an emotional wound is more difficult than opening a physical wound. That place where pain never really heals is a vulnerable place in the human psyche. We know how to protect that place, lest we feel the pain of the original injury. That place is the very spot that can be healed by the risen Christ. That place, where care and love and attention and understanding can make the past hurt disappear, and turn the focus toward new life, is a place of God. It is a place of resurrection. Healing happens when we allow our wounds to be touched by another, when we open ourselves to vulnerability and when we in turn are open to the sacred healing of love and compassion. Indeed, Thomas invites us to new life. To a new way of understanding what it means to declare the presence of Jesus alive among us, and to be the example for those who are yet to believe.
The burden of proof lies in human interaction, and in trusting that the spirit will work within us to create hope and new life. If we need anything in the spring of 2017, we need this. May God bring us to this kind of faith for today.