“Rebecca Sermon by: The Rev. Rebecca Tankersley
Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration | Dallas, Texas
April 28, 2019
Second Sunday of Easter

Texts:

Call Me Thomas

Unless I see … and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Thomas has gotten a bad rap: Thomas the Skeptic, Thomas-of-Little-Faith, Doubting Thomas.

These nicknames narrow our reading of today’s text, lasering our attention to the conversation between Jesus and Thomas. With this focus, we read that conversation without reference to the rest of the passage. With this focus, we miss not only what John wants us to know about the risen Lord’s appearance to his disciples; we miss the conclusion of his Gospel as a whole.