Thomas answered Jesus, ‘My Lord and My God!’” (v.28) Uniquely, it is Thomas who, of all the disciples and all the characters in John’s Gospel, finally identifies Jesus as divine. None of the other disciples has yet made this declaration, despite being visited by the risen Jesus. It’s as if Thomas had been on the cusp of this point of conviction just before Jesus was arrested and killed. Those terrible events plunged him into a greater doubt than the others. But once he meets the risen Jesus, it is from his extreme position of doubt that he is the first to reach the conviction that Jesus is Lord and God. It seems then that doubt can be constructive in matters of faith. It can create space for Jesus to enter, where we can suddenly become aware of his power to change our lives and to declare him as our Lord and our God, just as Thomas did.

Revd Richard