Ecclesiasticus I: Introducing Eastern Orthodoxy
Ecclesiasticus II: Orthodox Icons, Saints, Feasts and Prayer
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If
Pascha is the climax of the entire ecclesiastical year, then the first
Sunday after Pascha, which the Church appropriately calls "New Sunday",
should rightly be considered as "the first after the one", namely
higher then all other Sundays of the year.
Consequently, it was only natural that on this prominent and great,
day the Church should have appointed the celebration of the memory of
a Saint with appropriate spiritual splendour. Thus, we see that on this
Sunday, we celebrate the memory of the Apostle Thomas and it is for this
reason that our people know it as "Sunday of St Thomas". Yet,
this Apostle seems to be the most defamed man of God in popular piety. Faithlessness was, more than any other sin, the accusation that
was dreaded even by the Fathers of the Desert. St Peter, who at a moment
of human weakness denied Christ, was not characterised — faithless or
traitor. On the contrary, St Thomas without having been really faithless,
was called "the disbelieving Thomas" and became for all Christian
time the symbol of disbelief and of doubt par excellence. It is obvious
that such characterisations are incompatible with the Apostle and Saint.
What happens, then? Surely, something must be wrong with the whole question.
Something must be missing in the story that does not allow us to see the
sequence in this curious subject.
To be able to see the matter in its perspective and to understand
this contradictory impression in the Christian world, we must examine
more carefully, using as our basis the appropriate text of the Gospel
(John 20:19-29), which was precisely the behaviour of St Thomas towards
the Risen Lord, and how Christ Himself characterised such behaviour.
We are reminded, therefore, that while the disciples "were
gathered for the fear of the Jews", Jesus came and stood in their
midst. Before showing "His hands and His side" so that they
might be persuaded that He is precisely Himself who was crucified and
not some ghost, He said to them "peace be unto you". It is in
these two words that the key lies for the solution of the problem that
concerns us. Peace was the indispensable presupposition and the only power
that would remove the panic and confusion from the scenes of the passion,
and that would enable the Disciples to accept without any doubt the miracle
of the Resurrection. It is for this reason that Christ projects His
peace before extending His hands and His side as proof.
Thus, it was a natural consequence that "the disciple rejoiced
having seen the Lord". However, Thomas was absent from this first
meeting. By hearing from the other Disciples "we had seen the Lord"
he could not remove fear and confusion from his soul. In addition, since
he wanted to be honest both with himself and with his Teacher, in order
to confess Him not simply with his lips, he made direct experience
of his meeting with the Risen Lord a condition of his belief. Thus, "after
eight days" when the Disciples were again assembled, "and Thomas
was with them", Jesus appeared again in their midst and followed
precisely the same order or gestures and words. He begins again by saying
"peace be unto you", so that He may also free Thomas' hard heart.
And immediately afterwards He tells him "bring here your finger and
see my hands and bring your hand and place it in my side and do not become
disbelieving but believing".
Now, we must here take note of a series off substantial details:
- Although St Thomas is invited to touch Christ,
he does not dare to do so. Perhaps it would be correct to say that it
is no longer necessary to do so. He has received peace and now free
from his fears he is able to see and to believe.
- In calling St Thomas to touch Him, Christ does
not tell him "do not be disbelieving" but "do
not become disbelieving", which means that He only safeguards
him from a possible not an already existing disbelief.
- When Christ concludes the dialogue with the stirring
statement "you have believed — because you have seen me — blessed
are they that have not seen me and yet believed", we must admit
that He neither accuses nor reprimands Thomas that he believed only
after seeing. In any case, even the other Disciples rejoiced only
after having seen the Lord, as was already mentioned. Yet, with
this beatitude the Lord wants to remind His Disciples that man has received
from God a multitude of other faculties and feelings, not only the eyes!
If already the Ancients knew how deceiving and unreliable witnesses
"the eyes and the ears" are for mortal people, then the God-man
had all the more right to remind the priority of these deeper roots
man has in order to perceive truth. It is for this reason that he considers
those who trust these deeper roots to be blessed, without condemning
in any way those who use the five senses, which again God gave to man.
- It is characteristic that St Thomas did not satisfy
himself simply by rejoicing when he saw the Risen Lord, as did the other
disciples. His passion and sincerity made him seek to plunge himself
with hands and fingers into the open wounds of Christ so that he might
in some way feel Him again "flesh to flesh". And, it is his
exuberant nature that leads him to exclaim the incomparable confession
"My Lord and My God" — a confession that none other of the
eye witnesses of the resurrection was able to make, not even the most
tender and expressive women who first saw the Lord.
- We must also note that the confession of St Thomas
was not merely a general and irresponsible recognition of the
Divinity of Christ, but the personal affirmation and unconditional dedication
of the entire existence of the Disciple to the Teacher who vanquished
death. Such total surrender to the ocean of divine lordship is surely
expressed by the pronoun "My" to the Risen Christ.
After all the above, it becomes clear that St Thomas (who during
the three official years of the earthly life of the God-Man did not stand
out at all among other Disciples, such as St Peter, St James and St John)
is now particularly projected in the eyes of all faithful and of history,
because of the Resurrection of Christ and his behaviour towards it. Yet,
he is not projected negatively, as one would believe from a superficial
appreciation of the events, but positively. He now stands out to a degree
that is not merely and absolutely equal with the other Disciples (since
he did not need anything more than the others needed in order to believe),
but to the degree that he became, with his fiery and unique confession,
in a way "the highest bidder" of the miracle of the Resurrection.
The Church, therefore, rightfully honours him as Apostle and Saint, and
rightfully has appointed the celebration of his memory on such a prominent
Sunday of the entire year.
It remains now to answer a final question. How, in view of all
these positive and even doxological points, popular piety has dared to
call an Apostle of such importance and fiery confession "disbelieving
Thomas"? In the first instance, it is necessary to state that popular
piety (which expresses spontaneously and unpretentiously the deeper collective
memory and conscience of the one people of God), could not possibly result
in such a blatant error and injustice. We must rather suppose that this
unwavering faith and devotion of popular piety to the person of the God-Man
could not endure a trace of reservation, even for a moment, in all that
concerns the divinity and uniqueness of the fife of the God-Man (both
in its entirety or in its particular details). It is precisely for this
reason that popular piety hastens to express such sensitivity with an
adjective which, no matter how it "exposes" the Apostle phenomenally,
does not prevent in the least rendering him throughout the ages the due
official honour in the worship of the Church.
from Voice of Orthodoxy, vol 11/5, May 1990
the official publication of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
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