A very few verses contain the sum of all we know about Thomas.
They tell us nothing of his history. His travels, sufferings, missionary toils, death; tradition speaks of these One account says he preached the gospel in Persia, and was buried in Odessa. Another that he went to India and suffered martyrdom there. We need not imitate Thomas himself too closely by receiving all such accounts with incredulity. It would seem all but certain that he went eastwards, and that he laboured, and suffered, and died for Christ, thus meeting the fate he was prepared for when he said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go that we may die with Him.” Probably he was by birth a Galilean, although this is by no means certain, as some accounts give him a foreign birthplace. The name Thomas is connected, especially by St. John, with the other name he bore, either synonym or surname of it, “Didymus.” He had a brother or sister (sister says one account, called Lysia), the same age as himself. Therefore he was called “the twin.” This is the origin of the name. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
The spiritual significance of Thomas’ name
Is there any mystery here? Did St. John intend us to see any coming out in the name bearer of the qualities which the name expressed? Many have thought he did, and the analogy of similar notices in this gospel (Joh_1:42; Joh_9:7) would lead to this conclusion. It is very possible that Thomas may have received this as a new name from his Lord, even as Simon and the sons of Zebedee, certainly, and Levi very probably, received in like manner names from Him. It was a name which told him all he had to fear, and all he had to hope. In him the twins, unbelief and faith, were contending for the mastery, as Esau and Jacob, the old man and the new, wrestled once in Rebecca’s womb. He was, as indeed all are by nature, the double, or twin-minded man. It was for him to see that in and through the regeneration he obtained strength to keep the better and cast away the worse half of his being. He here utters words which belong to one of the great conflicts of his life--words in which the old and the new, unbelief and faith, are both speaking, partly one and partly the other; and St. John fitly bids us note that in this there was the outcoming of all which his name embodied so well. There was faith, since he counted it better to die with his Lord than to live forsaking Him--unbelief, since he conceived it possible that so long as his Lord had a work to accomplish, He, or any under His shield, could be overtaken by death. Thomas was evidently of a melancholy, desponding character: most true to his Master, yet ever inclined to look at things on their darkest side, finding it most hard to raise himself to the loftier elevations of faith--to believe other and more than he saw, or to anticipate more favourable issues than those which the merely human probabilities of an event portended. Men of all temperaments and characters were to be found in that circle of disciples, that so there might be the representatives and helpers of all who hereafter, through struggles of one kind or another, should at last attain to the full assurance of faith. Very beautifully Chrysostom says of this disciple, that he who would hardly venture to go with Jesus as far as the neighbouring Bethany, afterwards without Him travelled to the furthest India, daring all the perils of remote and hostile nations. (Archbishop Trench.)
Thomas’ doubt and faith
I. HIS DOUBT
1. As to the victory of life.
2. As to the way to heaven (chap. 14).
3. As to the certainty of the Resurrection (chap. 20).
II. HIS FAITH.
1. Prepared by his ardent love to Jesus and the brethren (chap. 11).
2. Introduced by his longing desire for a higher disclosure (chap. 14).
3. Decided by his joy at the manifestation of the Risen One (chap. 20). (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)
Let us also go that we may die with Him
1. Let us with Jesus go.
2. Let us with Jesus suffer.
3. Let us with Jesus die.
4. Let us with Jesus live. (J. P. Lange, D. D.)
Thomas desponding
I. HE IS AN EARNEST MAN. We might almost conclude this from the fact that he is one of the twelve. Some of them are ignorant, some quiet and simple, some strong and passionate, but all are earnest. Take all the verses that relate to Thomas, they bring before us very different mental states--deep depression, rejoicing, confidence; but they all pre-suppose a spiritual concernedness about himself, his duty, and his Lord. He is sometimes called “unbelieving Thomas,” but he is better than worldly Demas, or a vacillating Peter. What hope can there be for a creature like man, intellectual, spiritual, responsible if he will not think. You can do nothing with a man who is not earnest--but you may do much with an earnest man, though a doubter.
II. THIS EARNESTNESS HAS A TINGE OF MELANCHOLY AND IS CONNECTED WITH A DESPONDING DISPOSITION. As a certain vein runs through a geological formation, so a certain disposition runs through a human mind. You cannot expel it. It must be recognized and dealt with. Here Thomas threw himself on to the dark conclusion that all was over, and that nothing now was left to them but to die. This shows how truly he and all had lived for the kingdom and the Master. They all desponded in a while when the death came. It is characteristic of Thomas that he took the alarm sooner than the rest. One in a company will first say, “It is getting colder.” One in a family will be the first to see the death shadow, although it may turn out not to be that. So some among God’s children are nearer despondency than the rest, more quick to see the world going wrong, more keen to private troubles.
III. WITH WHAT DETERMINATION AND NOBLENESS THOMAS RESOLVES TO DIE WITH CHRIST, SINCE IN HIS OPINION NO BETTER MAY BE. Here is a melancholy man who yet can make the grand resolve that when his dearest visions and hopes are quenched in darkness, though what he cannot but regard as a mistaken judgment of the Master, yet resolves to follow that Master wherever He may choose to go. That purpose was the salvation of Thomas, and not less than that in principle will be the salvation of us. Thomas did not die with the Master. They all forsook Him for a little while. We shall not live up to the height of our best resolutions. But if our purpose be wisely and resolutely formed, and in dependence on Divine help, then we shall not renounce it; and it will be
IV. THE CONSOLATION AND THE CURE OF OUR DESPONDENCY. You cannot conceive of one abiding in it long whose life is ribbed by a great purpose reaching unto death--whose heart is moved and lifted by a great affection, as sun and moon lift the tide. With Him, come storm or calm! With Him, come life or death! Then the world will be brighter, and we shall go through it more bravely to our home in the world beyond. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Let us go with Jesus
We cannot tell whether this sentiment sprang from love, from dejection, or from conviction that such a resolve would lead Christ out of love for them to abandon His purpose. Leaving this discussion, let us go with Jesus.
I. THAT IN HIM WE MAY DIE UNTO SIN. In what frame of mind did Jesus enter on that course which led Him to Golgotha? If He knew so well, why did He go? Had He not perfect freedom to follow His disciples’ advice, and power to lay His foes at His feet? Why not then use it? Because He only desires to do the will of His Father. Now the hour arrives for Him to be obedient unto death. What urges Him thereto? The desire for reward or glory? No: love to His Father and sinful men. Thank God He went; and thank God we may still in spirit go up to Jerusalem. What for? To admire His heroism? Others have been as brave. To pity His agonies? Others have suffered more. “Weep not for Me, but for yourselves,” etc., and for the sin which cost Me so much. The resolution to go with Jesus implies more than reading the story of His passion, singing hymns or praying to Him, or repenting. It means union with Christ in the purpose of His death--the destruction of sin.
II. THAT FOR HIM WE MAY WIN SOULS. Ought we not to feel the sacred duty of gratitude to return His love, and resolve to go with Him, feeling unconcerned about our own death? He went for the purpose of raising Lazarus; let us go that the dead may become alive. Have we no loved friend who sleeps? May the love of Christ constrain us to awaken him.
III. THAT THROUGH HIM WE MAY INHERIT LIFE. If we die in Him unto sin, and for Him win souls, then our whole life shall be a walking in His footsteps to the Jerusalem above. (M. Coward.)
Devotion to the leader
General Grant had the faculty, in a large degree, of attaching very closely to himself all about him. His personal staff without exception, passionately reverenced him. Any one of them would have gladly risked his life for his chief. In the last year of the civil war they organized a system at City Point by which one sat up on guard of him every night to watch against the plots of the enemy; for there had been devices of dynamitic character, and attempts not only to capture, but to assassinate, prominent national officers. (H. O. Mackey.)
