Thomas' Doubts
Thomas was referred to by the Greek name Didymus. In Hebrew, Thomas means “twin,” and in Greek, “Didymus” means the same thing.
We don’t know much about Thomas, as an individual, until close to the end of Jesus’ life. He has been there with Jesus, but Thomas has been just one of the crowd.
Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22) where he wasn’t well received (John 10:31-33,39). From there, Jesus travels to the east side of the Jordan, across from Jericho (John 10:40). Eventually word is sent to Jesus that his friend Lazarus was sick and dying. At first, Jesus does nothing, but two days later he announces that he is heading back to Judea. His disciples object because he was nearly killed by the Jews in that area (John 10:8). Jesus pointed out that there are times – the daylight hours – when a person can walk without fear of harm because the world is well-lit (John 11:9-10). Since there is still time before his one end (the darkness), Jesus is saying to the disciples that he can safely go to Judea because the end has not yet been reached. It doesn’t matter that the Jews were seeking his life, it wasn’t yet time for him to die.
While the disciples are not thrilled to return to danger, Thomas expresses what all the disciples were probably thinking, “Let us also go, so that we may die with him.” Perhaps Thomas was being a bit over dramatic, but he said if Jesus insists on going into danger, then they might as well all go – that way, they can at least die together.
The next time the spotlight appeared on Thomas was after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus appeared to the rest of the apostles, but Thomas wasn’t present at that time (John 20:24). Though the other apostles all testified to seeing the Lord, it was not sufficient evidence in Thomas’ mind (John 20:25). Eight days later, Jesus appears again in a similar situation but this time Thomas was there and we see a dramatic change in Thomas (John 20:26-28). It is Thomas, and not the rest of the apostles, who declares that Jesus is his Lord and his God. Thomas saw the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection, accepted the evidence presented, and saw the undeniable conclusion the evidence led to. Jesus’ scolding of Thomas for holding out is relatively mild (John 20:29).
It isn’t wrong to demand evidence. Jesus supplied evidence for Thomas and for the other apostles (Acts 1:3). Truth has nothing to hide. What Thomas wanted was to see the same evidence that was already shown to the other apostles (John 20:20). He wasn’t making an outlandish request.
You see, faith has to be personal (Philippians 2:12). Because Thomas saw the evidence personally, he could testify of the facts from his own knowledge. Once the evidence was presented, Thomas didn’t reject it.
Thomas’ request is important to us. Because of his refusal to accept the other apostles’ testimony, we realize that this wasn’t a conspiracy among the apostles to create a false report. Each apostle had to be convinced of the facts. Their witness becomes more sure so that we might have confidence ourselves (John 20:30-31).
According to Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, Thomas taught in Parthia, which was located on the eastern edge of Iran and modern-day Pakistan. Later dating traditions state that he went into India and reached the southern portions of that country. He is said to have been killed by a spear in A.D. 72 near Mylapore, India.
