Who Was the Doubter?

I have probably shared this before but I get frustrated with the phrase doubting Thomas. It is taken right from our Gospel lesson today in John 20:19 and following. Let’s compare Thomas to the rest of the disciples. The women had gone to the tomb and had seen Jesus. They ran back and told the disciples. Where did Jesus find those disciples? Behind locked doors for fear that they might get arrested and face the same death as Jesus. Now we have all the disciples except Thomas. Jesus appears. He showed them His hands and His feet so that they could see the nail marks on His hand and believe. He greets them with a common phrase, “Peace be with you”. What Jesus says next is important, not that some of His words are not important. Anyway, Jesus says, “"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Jesus gives them the Holy Spirit and a special calling... not to take away their fear or enable them to do miracles, but to bring healing to other people's souls. He gave them the authority to forgive. We take that for granted, but until Jesus died and rose, burnt sacrifices were their only way to have their sins covered over. Now Thomas enters the picture. He didn’t believe Jesus was really alive. No different than all the others that didn’t believe the women. Before I go on, if the disciples had received the Holy Spirit and if they had seen that Jesus was still alive, why were they still hiding behind locked doors? Who is really doubting? Thomas doesn’t see the proof of a risen Savior in the actions of his fellow disciples. Well, Jesus appears again and this time He specifically asks Thomas to see the nail marks and put his hand where the spear had pierced His side. Here is where I think Thomas shines. He responds with, “My Lord and My God”. It was considered blasphemy, claiming someone was divine who was not. It was punishable by death, yet Thomas is the first of the disciples to declare who Jesus really is... without fear or apology. So, what is your declaration? Do you see Jesus as a good teacher? A worker of miracles? A prophet? Or do you worship Him as God? Father, thank You for sending Jesus to rescue us from death and the Devil. We lift our voices in praise and worship. Amen