You must have heard the story of how Jesus' disciples sat eating
together after His death and resurrection and suddenly He appeared in
the midst of them. They were amazed. They could not believe
their eyes. And so they tested Him, they gave Him a piece of fish
and He took it. He put it in His mouth, He chewed, He
swallowed. They looked very carefully and the fish
disappeared. It did not fall through; it was taken up. The
figure before them had passed the test. He was real. For no
ghost, spirit or dream could eat fish or anything else!
Satisfied, they believed the evidence of their eyes. Jesus was
alive.
Thomas, however, came along later. Enthusiastically, they told
him of their encounter,but he wasn't having any of it. He must
have thought that the others had been dreaming, or drinking. That
their desire to see Jesus again had affected their imagination, just as
a hungry man dreams of food, and a thirsty man in a desert sees the
water he is longing for. They told him about their fish test and
he laughed at them. He disqualified their test and proposed his
own, the Thomas Test with stricter norms, a more realistic
experiment. He said, "Let him show me his hands, let me see his
side, let him show me his wounds. If he has the wounds, I will
believe, but if there are no wounds, if there are no scars, then forget
about him and forget about your silly fried fish!" A week later
Jesus appeared again. This time Thomas was present. He rose
and approached the apparition, and he said, "Please, Sir, may I see
your hands? Please, Sir, may I see your feet? Please, Sir,
may I look at your side?" He saw Jesus' hands, His feet, His side, the
wounds and the scars of love, and Thomas believed.
In that moment he bequeathed to all Christians who have come after his
test, the Thomas Test of authentic Christianity. It works this
way: if we claim to be Christian people, then the world, our families,
neighbours or community has every right to ask us, "Please, Sir, may I see your hands?
Please, Madam, may I see your feet? Please, Your Reverence, may I
look at your side?" If, when we are thus examined, we have the
wounds and the scars, because of our interest in and thirst for
justice, reconciliation, true community, willing service, and
everything else that Jesus lived and died for, then the world will
believe. Then, but only then, will we have passed the Thomas Test.