This Sunday’s gospel reading is the account of the disciple Thomas’ scepticism when hearing about the resurrection of Jesus. He has gone down in history as ‘Doubting Thomas’ but we can have some sympathy with his caution. It’s not until he has the evidence in front of him that he knows it to be true.
For us, belief is based on faith but also on those accounts we read in scripture. There is a story in chapter 9 of Mark’s Gospel of a man who brings his very ill son to Jesus asking him to heal him. Jesus says to him “Everything is possible to those who believe” and the man, in a mix of faith and doubt, cries out to Jesus “I believe, help my unbelief!” There is something hugely important in this for us – we don’t have to understand everything, we don’t have to be able to explain everything. Faith is, by definition, a step into the unknown – if there was no doubt there would be no need for faith. However, we are feeling this week – perhaps, like the disciples who met Jesus, full of faith or perhaps like Thomas you feel like you need some more convincing – at whatever point we are, like the father Mark’s gospel, we can come to Jesus with the mix of faith and doubt that we have and say “I believe, help my unbelief.”
Revd Liz
