Thomas was not with them, maybe because he was less afraid of the people outside, or maybe his fear was of something else. Maybe he had been reluctant to stay with the community, wary of its prayerfulness or of the uncertainty of its direction. When they told him Jesus had been with them they may have been angered or annoyed that he could not respond. He did not dispute their experience, but it was not his own.
They may not have realized believing is not an act of will, something you can decide to do, even when you want to. Maybe Thomas wanted to accept what his friends understood, but there was more to it than acknowledging how real had been their experience of Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment