Most all Christians have heard of “Doubting Thomas.” They can tell with ease the well known story of his refusal to believe the disciples’ claim that Christ had appeared to them. It may not always be used with an air of condemnation, but Thomas’ doubt remains the defining mark of this particular disciple.
But what if this title is a misnomer? What if Thomas’ refusal to believe the witness of the other disciples was not doubt (as we think of it), but obedience? What if Thomas should be commended, rather than criticized, for his “doubt”?
My aim is to raise at least the possibility (I think it’s a probability) that Thomas’ “doubt” is not the kind of doubt we think it is–the impermissible kind–but a kind of doubt commanded by Jesus. As I see it, there are three reasons why such a view of Thomas’ disbelief is warranted.[1]
There are eight instances where Thomas is mentioned. Four of these (Matt. 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, and Acts 1:13) are lists of the original 12 Apostles. The other four are found in John’s Gospel. In John 20:24-28 you have the doubting scene. Immediately following, Thomas is said to be with Peter, Nathanael, James and John, and two other disciples fishing. The remaining two are the most up close and personal look at Thomas that we get before his main cameo in chapter 20. Let's look at those.
Jesus has just been told that Lazarus is sick and that he is being requested by the sisters of Lazarus to come quickly. Jesus, famously, waits and Lazarus dies. Jesus tells the disciples this, and that this is all for their sake, “so that you may believe. But let us go to him” (v.15).
Thomas is the only one of the 12 to reply. But before we look at his response, we need to understand why he says what he says. Earlier in the passage Jesus tells his disciples they are headed to Judea to Lazarus. The 12 respond, alarmed, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, are you going there again?” (v.8). The disciples are concerned that Jesus will die if he goes back, they may also be concerned that they may be killed if they accompany him (which might be why they only mention his possible return).
When Jesus, as we have seen, says at the end of the passage, “Let us go to him,” he makes it clear that he is going back and the disciples will be coming with him. The disciples, if they were originally concerned about their own well-being, would have been scared speechless. Death was not what they had signed up for.
The disciples, that is, except Thomas. He, no doubt, would have been apprehensive about a return as well. But rather than walk silently with a potential death sentence looming over him, he speaks. And he speaks not to Jesus, but to the other 11. “Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him’” (v.16). Like a soldier whose captain just said to follow him and charge the hill against all odds, Thomas turns to his comrades and shouts, “Well you heard him, let’s go!”
In light of this scene, it is actually very surprising that Thomas should end up doubting. Out of the 11 remaining disciples, it shouldn’t be him. Thomas was not one to cut and run or be quick to abandon his Lord. In this passage, Thomas’ character is presented as bold and courageous. He’s willing to die. He is, as Eric Hoffer writes about, a True Believer. He’s decidedly dedicated and devoted unto death, even when the other disciples are not. The fact that this Thomas winds up doubting should either shock us, or cause us to reconsider just what we should make of his “doubt.”
These pictures of Thomas are incongruent. Is it not at least possible that this earlier account of Thomas should inform what we make of his infamous doubt?
In this passage Jesus is teaching about heaven and how he is soon going there. After telling them he is going to prepare a place for them, Jesus says, “And you know the way to where I am going” (v.4).
To this Thomas replies, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” There are three ways to read this question. One that commends Thomas as an ardently loyal devotee, another that paints as a deeply troubled cynic, and finally, as a neutral question about something he is confused about. I believe the first or last option are far more likely.
Thomas could be asking because, more in line with how we typically read John 20, Thomas is a skeptic. He questions everything and believes nothing. He will not be had, by anyone, even the Christ. And so, he asks, “Come on Jesus, we actually do not know where you are going. So where is it and how do we get there?” This reading would allow John 20 to interpret it with no attention paid to John 11. For that reason, I believe it should be rejected.
Or, at almost the opposite end of the spectrum, Thomas could be asking because he is desperate to know where Jesus is going. If he is going to die, Thomas wants to be right there beside him, taking the first bullet if possible. If he is going to a heavenly abode, same deal. He wants to be where Jesus is and can’t stand the thought of being anywhere else. And in the moment, he realizes he isn’t quite sure where Jesus is going or how he’s supposed to get there to be with him. And so, he genuinely asks, “Where are you going and how can we know the way?” This reading meshes well with the above reading of John 11. Though it is not (yet) clear how it relates to John 20.
At minimum, it is at least worth considering if the immediately previous scene we get of Thomas being willing to die with Christ should shade how we read his question here. I think it should. If we let it, then the cynical reading of it just isn’t convincing and is only a result of reading a kind of skeptic disposition in John 20 back into Thomas as a whole.
If we let John 11 color his questions, then what we have is Thomas wanting desperately to follow Christ wherever he goes but realizing he isn’t sure where Christ is going, and so he asks the way. This is the die-hard making sure he doesn’t miss out. But again, this does make it quite incredible that Thomas so quickly bows out at the end.
And if we say it is neither, and the question is a neutrally charged one because he is just confused, that also would not lend itself to the picture of Thomas most of us have today nor the picture I believe we should have. And so, this second scene probably tells us the least out of the three where Thomas speaks and will be painted by whatever view of Thomas we take.
So, we have our biblical picture of the Apostle Thomas. There is the incident that comes first to mind, of his “doubt.” But that is not the only time we see Thomas speak and act. I think his first speaking part in John should carry as much weight as his last, while the middle is the least revelatory.
The options we are left with is that Thomas is either a loyal, faithful Apostle, maybe the most so; or, he is of a far more troubled character than we even think. Either his refusal to believe is in line with his loyal, True Believer, willing-to-die with Christ character, or it is in line with a deeply cynical one where he is sarcastic about following Jesus to death, potentially questions Jesus’ very teaching, and then truly lacks faith that Christ could be raised. I would like to at least hope and believe the former about our brother.
If nothing else, this full picture John gives of Thomas at least raises the question of how the (seemingly) only willing to die disciple became the (seemingly) only doubting one. If that is in fact what Thomas is doing in John 20. The next piece of evidence makes me strongly doubt that how we typically read John 20, is the case.
There are two other reasons to suspect that what is going on in Thomas’ doubt is not what we typically think it is: Jesus’ commands and Jesus’s response to Thomas’s “doubt.”
“See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray…Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.” | Matthew 24:23-26
Question: What is the general command here? Answer: Don’t be had by those claiming to be the returned Christ, and don’t believe anyone who tells you they have found him.
Scenario: You are one of the 12. You return from being out and about and the other disciples tell you, “We have seen the Lord!” Immediately, the above teaching of Jesus that you heard earlier that very week, bursts into your head: “See that no one leads you astray…If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it…If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ [the disciples saw Jesus while hiding in a house] do not believe it.”
What do you do? You have not seen him for yourself. All you have to go on is the testimony of others claiming to have seen him–the very situation presented in Matthew 24. What do you do? It would be entirely reasonable for you to conclude that to believe the claim would be in direct violation of Jesus’ command in chapter 24.
If this is the case, then rather than doubting, Thomas did exactly what he was supposed to do. People had come to him and said, “We have seen the Lord” (John 20:25). Jesus had said not to believe people who said such things (Matt. 24:23-26). So, Thomas replies, “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 in his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). He doesn’t say he will never believe. He doesn’t doubt that it is possible. His answer implies he believes it is possible; he just needs to see for himself because that’s what Jesus said to do. And because his Lord commanded that his followers not be led astray, he even has tests for validity.
Now, what may work against this at first blush is that the immediate context for the command of Jesus in Matthew 24 is his second coming. That is, admittedly, a different context than Thomas’ doubt occurs in. Two things should be kept in mind, however.
1) Thomas doesn’t know that. None of the disciples seem to because in the first chapter of Acts they ask if it’s time for Jesus to restore the kingdom of Israel–a second coming kind of thing. All of them, it seems, are cloudy on the second coming prior to Christ’s ascension. In John 20, all Thomas knows is that his Lord was gone, and now is said to be back. Understood in those simple terms this is not a different context than Matthew 24 deals with.
2) Commands have principles that lay behind them. The principle for the command in Matthew 24 is this: Do not believe those who say they have seen the Christ. Whatever the context, Sunday after Good Friday, or in the year of our Lord 2024, the principle remains. Do not believe those who say they have seen Christ. Why? Because there are false christs and prophets and you do not want to be led astray by them. Don’t even go to where they say they saw him. He will reveal himself to you, is the idea.
So, I would contend at least (which, I will give you, is not a check-mate by any means), that Thomas does obey the principle of the command in Matthew 24. Not only that, but he likely thinks he is obeying the literal scenario the command addresses–even if we know now that was not the case.
Thomas’ doubt is doubt, but it is a doubt warranted by Jesus’ command to doubt (“not believe”) those who say they have seen the Christ. Thomas’ “doubt” is, in light of this command of Jesus, obedience.
One of the most curious aspects of the entire scene of Thomas’ “doubt” is Jesus’ response to it. He does not rebuke Thomas. The closest thing to a rebuke Thomas receives is when Jesus responds to his belief by saying that those who believe without seeing are the blessed ones. But he never says anything that hints that Thomas had been in the wrong to not believe the disciples’ claim. If Thomas were a doubter in the sense that we have held him to be, where he had sinned by doing so, wouldn’t Jesus have responded differently?
If Thomas was in the wrong for his disbelief, we would expect Jesus’ response to be more along the lines of, “You of little faith,” or “How long must I put up with your lack of belief?” But Jesus, who is very comfortable saying such things, doesn’t venture near any of those statements.
Why? Might it be because Thomas had obeyed Jesus’ command not to believe quickly those who say he has returned, but waited until he saw for himself the returned-from-the-grave Christ? Might it be because Thomas’ doubt is actually his obedience, and Christ rewards it?
On this reading, Thomas is terrified of being had, of being led astray, of following a false Christ. Because, again, Thomas is a true believer. He will die with his Lord, the thought of following another claiming to be him is abhorrent to him and so he just can’t do it. He can’t, and thinks he shouldn’t, take the other disciple’s word for it.
And Jesus, knowing this about Thomas, knowing that he had revealed himself to the other disciples when Thomas was absent, knowing Thomas’ refusal to believe them, and knowing the very words Thomas had used for his validity tests, gives him exactly what he said he needed in order to really believe this person in front of him is Chris his Lord. And then, before Thomas can even respond, he gives him permission to believe. Jesus, in effect, tells Thomas, “Don’t worry, Thomas, it’s safe to believe. It really is me. You were right not to believe before, now believe.” Because Thomas has obeyed. He has doubted the disciples, but not his Christ.
If nothing else, what I hope I have accomplished is to demonstrate that John 11 and Jesus’ commands in Matthew 24 have import for how we understand what is happening in John 20. More than we typically assume. As I see it, we are left with four views on the matter:
If we land on either #1 or #3, then Thomas raises uncomfortable questions we don’t typically ask after reading John 20 such as, “How does the willing-to-die become the quick-to-disbelieve?” “How sure are we of our own resolve?” “Why in the world would Jesus intentionally reveal himself to the 11 sans Thomas in the first place?” “Why so much attention on such a cynical, dark character?”
As I said at the end of part 1, I would like to believe the best about our brother Thomas; and, I believe there is good reason for doing so when you take into account the full picture of Thomas in the John’s Gospel, the command of Jesus not to believe people who say they have seen the returned Christ, and Jesus’ response to Thomas’ doubt. My contention is that the reading of Thomas in John’s Gospel as a true believer who is willing to die alongside Christ and unwilling to believe without seeing Christ himself lest he be led astray (#3), is just as coherent of a reading as the traditional one. Perhaps even more so.
So, does Thomas doubt? Absolutely. The real questions are: who Thomas is, what Thomas doubts, and why Thomas does so. When these questions are probed, as I’ve attempted to show, we find that Thomas is one of the most loyal disciples of the whole bunch; that yes, he does doubt, but he doubts the claims of the disciples not Christ; and he does so because of what Christ himself had commanded him; and by doing so, his doubt is obedience.
If that is the case, it no doubt seems worthy of a change in nickname. Or, at least, the name should be viewed as a title of honor rather than derision.
[1] I recognize I am going up against nearly 2,000 of Christian history and overwhelming consensus here. So I readily admit that I surely could be wrong. At the same time, I do think the overall picture painted of Thomas complicates things more than many have acknowledged.