Poor Thomas, if anyone in history has a bum rap it would be him, saddled for all time with the moniker Doubting Thomas.  The gospels don’t mention where he was when Jesus came to the upper room.  It’s not important.  He was absent, that’s all we know.  It seems to me, though, that since Jesus knew that the apostles were gathered in the upper room, he would have known that Thomas wasn’t there.  So why didn’t he wait until everyone was present?

Thomas had to hear about it second hand.  The biggest thing to happen  in the history of the world and he missed it.  We have to admit that the very idea of someone resurrecting from the dead and dropping by for a visit sounds like a whopper.  Perhaps he thought that Peter was playing a cruel joke.  I’m sure he was in no mood for it.  Just imagine if someone came up to you and said, “Remember your best friend that  you saw cruelly tortured and murdered?  Remember how you saw him dead in his mother’s arms?  Well, he stopped by last night while you were out.  Yep, walked right through the walls.  No, really.”  I don’t blame Thomas a bit for saying, “Yeah, right.  I’ll believe it when I see him and touch his wounds.”

I’m convinced, though, that Jesus came to them while Thomas was out for a special reason.  When Thomas finally got to see Jesus he delivered one of the most important acts of faith of the New Testament, “My Lord, and  My God.”

Jesus didn’t seem the least bit upset by Thomas’ hesitation.  After all, he had just spent 33 years in human form complete with all it’s feelings and emotions, surely he understood why Thomas wouldn’t just jump on the bandwagon.  Yet, Jesus was the supreme teacher and, like all good teachers, he used this as a “teachable moment.”  “You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me.  Blessed are they who have not seen me, but still believe.”