The Relationship between Friendship, Doubt, and Faith

By David J. Wood

I will preach this Sunday in the small Episcopal congregation I now attend. 

As is the case for the second Sunday of Easter, Thomas and his refusal to accept resurrection will be the focus of attention. 

As with most of us, I have always had a fondness for Thomas and his resistance to resurrection. Living as we do on this side of the dying, rising from the dead is hard to get my faith around. 

I have always wondered where Thomas was when Jesus makes his first appearance.  What was he doing?  Peter’s absence would have been understood.  He had something to hide and to hide from.  But there is no indication in the text that Thomas had turned his heart against Jesus. 

I think that after he heard the story from the women that Jesus was alive, he was out searching for himself.  While the rest stayed boxed in by fear and confusion—he went in search of the truth.  I admire that tenacity.  And the most remarkable thing in the story is that when Thomas stubbornly refuses to take their word for it concerning Jesus, they do not reject him.  A whole week passes before Jesus makes his appearance and Thomas is brought to his knees.  Jesus took his time in getting back to Thomas. 

That time in between was the first test for the first witnesses: how were they going to live with those who refused to believe.  We don’t know exactly what they did.  We know what they didn’t do.  They did not cast Thomas aside.  Just as they did not cast Peter aside.  The community was large enough to embrace them and keep them close so they would come to see Jesus for themselves.  Friendship and faith are bound up together. 

Sometimes, it’s hard to believe our friends.  But one thing is for sure, we won’t come to believe without them.

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