For the Feast of St Thomas
΄Άγωμεν καί ήμείς ίνα άποθάνμεν μετ΄ αύτοϋ
Thomas who is called Didymus (Δίδυμος)[2], apart from being ranked among the lists of the apostles, is first revealed in the gospel of St John as a brave and resolute disciple of the Lord. The episode of this initial revelation of his character records that Jesus was sent for because Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary of Bethany was gravely ill. The sacred text reports that Jesus lingered for two days before responding to the call, then announced that he would return to Judaea. The disciples protested “Master, the Jews just now were seeking to stone you, and you are going there again?” Jesus replied: “Lazarus is dead: and for your sake I am glad I was not there so that you may believe: but let us go to him”.
It is Thomas who voices the lead quotation, “let us also go …“, note that he has perceived that the Lord is in great danger, yet he aligns himself with him and determines to share the same fate if necessary. It is also significant that Jesus makes the point that by going to Bethany and insisting that Lazarus can be raised from the tomb after four days, he reminds Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God.”[3]
Isn’t it a remarkable quirk of human nature, that throughout human history, there is a tendency that mistakes, weaknesses, follies and above all scandals are featured over virtues, contributions and achievements? St Peter, for instance, is remembered for his denial as much as for his martyrdom or magisterial post-Pentecostal teaching; St Thomas is remembered for his demand for verification of our Lord’s resurrection, so much so that the expression “a doubting Thomas” is an idiom enshrined in the language. Yet this is not the full picture. From the various mentions of St Thomas in the scriptures one can get a glimpse of the qualities that characterise his faith-searching nature: a fides quaerens intellectum. Those are the qualities that emboldened him to go to the “ends of the earth” in order to proclaim the risen Lord and to invite conversion to his teaching.
The second reference to Thomas occurs in the upper room on the night of Maundy Thursday. Jesus prepared the Twelve for his imminent departure with the words: “when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am, you may be; and you know that I am going and you know the way”.[4] At this point Thomas interjected and said “Lord we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”[5] This elicited that majestic assertion from the Lord: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, unless through me.”[6]
It was Thomas’ need for clarification that prompted Jesus to explain further what he had previously intimated, “Whoever believes in me has eternal life: I am the bread of Life”, and again, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”[7] One might begin to understand that Thomas was not so much a slow learner as one who was doggedly determined to fully understand and not rest until he was satisfied that here was the Lord to whom he could give his utmost loyalty. Jesus took the explanation further: “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him”, reinforcing the doctrine of the unity of the divine Persons of the Trinity.
The upper room was once more the place where Thomas would have the most significant encounter with Jesus. It was a week after the first appearance at which Thomas had been absent. When he learned of this, he typically wanted forensic evidence so that he could be certain of the Lord’s resurrection. When Jesus appeared in their midst on this occasion, he allowed Thomas to be satisfied through his personal invitation to examine and touch the scars of his crucifixion. It was the moment when every doubt would vanish and he could recognize him as: “My Lord and my God!”[8]
The final gospel reference to Thomas is when seven of the disciples met Jesus at dawn on the shore of Lake Galilee. John enumerates as follows: “There were simultaneously Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathaniel who was at Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee and another two of his disciples.”[9]A miraculous draught of fish was landed and those present took breakfast with their Lord. In this instance, Thomas witnessed not only the physicality of the risen Jesus a second time, but also the commissioning of Peter to “Feed my lambs; feed my sheep.”[10]
Once the certitude of the resurrection of the crucified Jesus established him as Lord and God, Thomas was set to go and “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that the Lord commanded”.[11] There are two traditions concerning his missionary life, not necessarily conflicting. Eusebius quotes Origen[12] who maintained that Thomas was sent to Parthia, roughly present-day Iran and Iraq. Egeria, a fourth century Spanish nun who diarised her travels to the Holy Land[13] confirmed this, writing that she visited Edessa for three days where the remains of St Thomas were housed in a large and beautiful church dedicated to him. It is not unlikely that Thomas also travelled as far as India where there is a strong and ancient tradition of his presence there. An erudite former colleague of the present writer was skeptical of this tradition. However, we do know that the Jews of the Malabar coast[14] trace their origins to the time of Solomon and the trading activities of the maritime routes of the ancient world[15].
In the first century BC, Augustus ordered a detailed survey of both sides of the Persian Gulf, while Strabo, the contemporaneous Greek geographer-historian asserts that after the occupation of Egypt up to 120 boats were sailing for India each year. Present-day communities of the Malabar coast, known as Nazrani or St Thomas Christians trace their origin to the Thomas who converted many of the Jewish settlers there. This group was visited in 190 AD by Pantaenus of Alexandria, who recorded that they were using the gospel of Matthew in Hebrew. Their Syro-Malabar rite has used Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, to this day in their liturgy. Without doubt the people of Kerala cherish their time-honoured Christian ancestry which they attribute to the preaching and teaching of their apostle, their guide and their patron, St Thomas. We too, can acclaim with him, “My Lord and my God” and “Let us also go that we may die with him.”
PMW
[1] Jn 11: 16.
[2] Among the Jews he was called Thomas. Didymus is the Greek translation used by Greek speakers.
[3] Jn 11: 40. Ούκ είπόν σοι ότι έάν πιστεύσης όφη τήν δόξαν τού θεού.
[4] Jn 14: 3-4. Έάν πορευθώ καί έτοιμάσω τόπον ύμίν πάλιν έρχομαι καί παραλήμφομαι ύμάς πρός έμαυτόν, ίνα όπου είμί έγώ, καί ύμείς ήτε. Καί όπου έγώ ύπάγω οίδατε, καί τήν όδόν οίδατε.
[5] Jn 14: 5. Κύριε, ούκ οίδαμεν πού ύπάγεις, καί πώς δυνάμεθα τήν όδόν είδέναι?
[6] Jn 14: 6. Έγώ είμι ή όδός, καί ή άλήθεια καί ή ζωή; ούδείς έρχεται πρός τόν πατέρα εί μή δί έμού.
[7] Jn 6: 47-8; 64 .
[8] Jn 20: 28. Ό κύριός μου καί ό θεός μου.
[9] Jn 21: 2.
[10] Jn 21: 15-17.
[11] Mt 28:19-20.
[12] The biblical scholar of the second century.
[13] Itinerarium Egeriae, ch. 19.
[14] Kochi is the centre for those who claim descent from the Solomon seafarers of tenth century BC.
[15] Note especially the first century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Greek map and directory of navigation and trading in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean as far as the west Indian coast.