"I do myself"

Every parent has experienced the 'I do myself' stage of toddler development.  It is that period when their will exceeds their skill and a parent's job is to hover very near by to avoid total disasters.  (And of course, to be able to discern what are totally beyond reasonable jobs for the little one to 'do myself').


Thomas, the famous Doubter, needs to see for himself.  Does he doubt the sanity of the other disciples?  Were they prone to punking one another?  Is he a skeptic in all things, including this so called 'sighting' of the risen Jesus?  Is he hungry, tired or so weighed down with grief he has no room for new knowledge or nuanced emotions?

Or, is Thomas just like every one else.  Until he 'sees', he cannot believe.  Until he encounters Jesus, he cannot believe.  Until the God who raised Jesus from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit is somehow experienced, by him, in person, he cannot believe.  It's not that he doesn't want to believe.  He needs an encounter to move from his disappointment, heartbreak, maybe even despair, to hope.  He needs to see for himself.

So Jesus comes and makes himself known.  Not in judgment, not in sadness, not to mock Thomas or anyone else.  Jesus comes to bring Thomas the peace he needs, a peace that passes all understanding, the very peace which was made possible in the person of Jesus.

Faith is born from an encounter with God.  Faith in the risen one is born in that space between two people when forgiveness happens, or mercy is given, or love is expressed, or life slides into death, or, at the last, peace calms all things.