they said He walked
amongst the living
thomas did not feel well
it was all too strange
his head reeling at the sight
of Him standing there before them
please let this be a dream
it made it worse
feeling the nail imprints
the niggling fear
that it might all be true
fear of the magnitude
of too great an event
which never goes away
can you imagine being thomas. or even peter who said he would not doubt and yet he did. it would be so hard to believe on the heals of all they thought coming crashing down on that cross. one of those too good to be true moments.
ReplyDeletehappy easter.
Happy Easter Brian.
DeleteNo I cannot imagine...My coping mechanisms are not the best at any time:))
Oh, I'm sure you can imagine, Cressie. Besides, there's no need to, it's all been recorded.
DeleteThomas said, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."
Jesus arrived from nowhere and said to Thomas: "Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing."
Thomas humbly answered, "My Lord, and my God."
And Jesus replied: "Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed."
Hmmm...blessed are those who have not seen and believe. This is not an easy one.
DeleteBecause of the story being told over and over being passed down through the years I would say that it might be true. The leap of faith required when it concerns the existence of God is easy for me but the Resurrection is not. If only the Roman soldiers had seen Jesus wandering about on his own. That would have been better proof rather than just the apostles and other Jesus supporters.
Believe in a God is easy. Faith in Jesus more difficult.
DeleteNo one but God can reveal God; God is His own evidence. So Divine faith is necessary, because it comes from Divine revelation. Revelation means that the Supreme Truth has spoken to man and revealed to him truths which are not evident to the human mind. We must either reject revelation altogether, or accept it by faith; we must submit our intellect to truths which we cannot understand, but which come to us on Divine authority. And, faith is a gift!
Anyway, who's to say the Roman soldiers didn't see the Risen Christ and thought it best to stay stume? I mean, imagine Pilate's response if he heard - their pay would most certainly have been docked.
We must either reject revelation altogether or accept it by faith
DeleteToo arbitrary. I am not afraid to think. I am not afraid to express doubt and my faith allows for this. It is no longer the middle ages.
Noone can understand God and His nature with intellect alone.
DeleteThat is correct and anyone who has expectations of doing so is missing that important intellectual dimension of mystery,mysitcism magic or whatever you call it. The 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension is too sketchy ...something happened!
DeleteOh, Cressida, this is skillfully drawn and deeply resonant. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan. Happy Easter.
DeleteI have been thinking a lot of the nails this Easter season. I cannot imagine how horribly painful it must have been to be nailed with one's hands and one's feet to the cross. Makes me nearly pass out thinking about it. I am sure that Thomas' thoughts never went away....maybe that is not a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteAn intelligent mind is an enquiring mind,undoubtedly.A creative artistic mind is open to everything.The combination is the ultimate.
DeleteHappy Easter Mary!
A very timely take.. Very good, the other day I thought about using Barabas in a poem, have read great stories trying to walk in his shoes.
ReplyDeleteDo it...sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteI love this, Cressida. So timely, so succinct, so much said with so few words, inviting investigation by the reader. The Bible doesn't say whether Thomas actually touched Jesus' wounds; I think in his place I couldn't have.
ReplyDeleteAnd also to have denied him three times before cock crow and then to see the risen Christ before you :) You got right inside this, well done:) Happy Easter.
ReplyDeleteThe Apostles doubted the women who were the first to encounter the risen Christ. Men! How on earth could His message possibly spread with such a bunch of cowardly dullards?
ReplyDeleteMen have their place but are only effective when directed by women who love them:)
DeleteWell now that all depends on the area of activity we are referring to and what we mean by effective.
DeleteIn all areas of activity.
Delete