Reflections: Aligning our purpose with Christ’s purpose

I’ve always thought the Apostle Thomas sort of gets a bad rap in some sermons and Bible study lessons. The whole “doubting” thing seems to be what people focus on. But after studying some other passages where Thomas is mentioned, I admire him and find him very relatable. 

The John 20 account of the Resurrection tells us about Jesus appearing to the women following their visit to the tomb, and Peter and John going to see the empty tomb for themselves, followed by the risen Jesus appearing to the assembled disciples. Thomas apparently missed that meeting, and they told him about it; he refused to believe until he saw Jesus for himself. 

Thomas is the only one mentioned, but any of the disciples might have felt the same if they had not been there! I think Thomas may have been struggling with a sense of lost purpose. We don’t have specific details about Jesus’ calling of Thomas, but he had been a disciple from early on. His dedication was obvious in John 11:16, “Then Thomas called Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.” The context is Jesus’ decision to go to Bethany, where his friend Lazarus has died. 

Additional context, though, is that the religious leaders were growing more and more upset with Jesus’ teaching. They had tried unsuccessfully to seize Him, and heading toward Bethany seemed like giving them another opportunity, but Thomas apparently was ready to face whatever happened. Perhaps when Jesus’ arrest didn’t happen immediately, the disciples grew more confident that He would confront both the religious establishment and the Romans, and his arrest and crucifixion likely left them shocked and confused. 

I’m pretty sure Thomas wasn’t the only one—he just didn’t happen to be on hand at the first post-resurrection appearance. However, once he saw Jesus, his exclamation of “My Lord and my God!” shows confidence and a re-directed sense of purpose. 

When Jesus replies, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (v. 29, I don’t think He was personally scolding Thomas; I think He was speaking prophetically over Thomas and the others to clarify a purpose they originally had not quite understood. As the disciples spent time with the risen Christ, they began to see what He had been telling them all along: Their job was to share the Gospel, building Jesus’ kingdom in the hearts of mankind and looking forward to his future physical return and eternal kingdom. Most of them died a martyr’s death while doing just that; Thomas is believed by historians to have been speared to death in what is now India, but not until after many people had converted to Christianity. 

I find Thomas relatable because it’s so easy for me, or any of us, to lose sight of our God-given purpose, especially if things aren’t turning out the way we thought they would. Maybe our missionary assignment is delayed, perhaps by finances or because war has delayed air travel. Maybe we worked to establish a career, only to find an elderly parent needing us in another location. Maybe we struggle with a medical diagnosis. 

I have found myself regrouping more than once, but God as I spend time in prayer and the Bible, I begin finding renewed purpose in the new direction. I have been inspired by friends who have done the same after a curve ball of health, finances, or other circumstances; they serve faithfully in the new context and trust God for the outcome. 

Regardless of whether I understand how things are working out, I want to still say, like Thomas, “My Lord and my God!”