The Second Day

Abigail and Dolley readers I have been thinking about the Apostle Thomas lately.  Now stop for a minute, I will bet the vast majority of you thought to yourselves, Doubting Thomas.  Am I right?  I will bet that I am.  Have you ever stopped to consider though that that is not a fair assessment?  Have you ever thought that poor Thomas got a bad rap?  Has it ever occurred to you that Thomas had a moment of weakness and that his faith, his work, and his reputation have been unfairly maligned?

Go with me for a moment, back in time and let's see where it takes us.  Thomas was one of the Twelve, one of Twelve men chosen by the Lord to be his closest confidants, friends, and who would ultimately be responsible for establishing the church.  Thomas left his home and family.  He left his job.  Thomas would have been considered crazy by all who knew him for giving up his life to follow Jesus.  Any time a person is called by God to do extraordinary things there are those in their lives who throw up their hands in frustration!  He should be fishing, he should be farming, he should be staying home and providing for his family - instead he is galavanting around Israel following a Preacher!  The Romans were after them, the Jews were after them, the Darkness of this World was definitely after them.

Thomas gives up everything and follows the Lord.  At Calvary, everyone except the women and John flee, they hide, they are afraid.  Imagine this with me if you will - Jesus is dead.  Thomas had endured ridicule, persecution, the snide comments of his mother in law all because he believed, he believed in Jesus and now Jesus is dead.  In the tomb, buried.

Judas is dead, their friend had betrayed the Master.  The Sanhedrin was trying to find him and he knew what crucifixion looked like and he is afraid.  The remaining 10 hide out but Thomas has had it.  He's sick of the whole darn thing.  He's sick of church, he's done, and he leaves - by himself.  While he is gone the Resurrection happens and all the other Apostles get to SEE the Lord.  They don't believe either until they see, we do not call Peter, Doubting Peter, do we?

So after a couple days he decides to check in with his friends, they tell him the Lord is alive, but Thomas knows better.  You see the pain, loneliness, and confusion of the Second Day are with Thomas and he scoffs and says, "Then show me!"  When he receives the same confirmation the other Apostles had he repents and believes but he is no different than the others.

So I ask you, in his place wouldn't you do the same thing?  If you've ever had a Second Day, you will know what it is like.  Jesus is in the tomb, everything you have believed to be true at this point is in question, and you are scared.  So let's cut Thomas some slack.