亞瑟˙約翰（Arthur John Gossip）寫道：「基督向門徒顯現的那晚，多馬不在他們當中。我們不知道他為什麼缺席，但適足以警告我們不要停止聚會。那些偶爾到教會敬拜上帝的人不知道已經失去了多少寶貴的經驗。」基督應許說：「無論在哪裡，有兩三個人奉我的名聚會，那裡就有我在他們中間。」（太18：20）。

        約翰筆下的多馬是個認命、大膽（11：16），又直言不諱的懷疑論者（14：5）。他講實際，也很誠實。他不想和那群失控、困惑的門徒一樣沈緬於虛幻的想像中。不錯，他和其餘的門徒一樣，因耶穌的死感到失望、痛苦。但他不打算參與他們「重建」耶穌的計畫。耶穌死了，一切也結束了。所以讓我們接受事實吧，愈快恢復正常的生活愈好。

        老實說，我很認同多馬。他愛惜真理。

        真理也愛惜他。一個禮拜後，耶穌仁慈的對多馬的疑惑作了讓步：「伸過你的指頭來摸我的手，伸出你的手來探入我的肋旁，不要疑惑，總要信！」（20：27）。多馬的反應正是教會的反應：「我的主、我的上帝！」

        教會歷史告訴我們，多馬後來到遙遠的印度宣教，將復活之主的信息帶到那塊大陸，並在那裡為主殉道。我們為多馬感謝上帝！

        「我的主、我的上帝」，我們與多馬一同承認您是主、是上帝的真理。求您現在也賜福，使我們能在生活中成為這句宣言活生生的見證。奉主耶穌基督聖名，阿們！

English

        Arthur John Gossip writes, “That night Christ came, here a warning for us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together? How much many miss, who make only an occasional, spasmodic, irregular appearance at the worship of God in His house! ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I the midst of them’, so Christ promises (Mt. 18:20), and sometimes surely had they been there, to them, too, He would have appeared!” (Interpreters Bible, Vol.8, p.798).

        John has already presented Thomas to us as fatalistically daring (11:16) and bluntly skeptical (14:5). He was pragmatic and honest. He wasn’t about to be caught up in the hysteria and the unreal imaginings of a distraught and devastated group of cloistered disciples. Yes, he was disappointed, bitterly so, just like the rest of then. But he was not going to be party to a delusive reconstruction of Jesus. He was dead, period. So let’s accept that and get real. The sooner we can get on with life, the better.

        Frankly, I identify with Thomas. He cherished the truth.

        And the Truth cherished him. A week later, Jesus made a gracious concession to Thomas’ skepticism. “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place in it My side; do not be faithless, but believing” (20:27). Thomas’ response is the response of the Church, “My Lord and my God!”

        Church history tells us Thomas was the one disciple who traveled the farthest to a martyr’s grave. In so doing, he brought the message of the risen Savior to the sub-continent of India. Thank God for Thomas!

        “My Lord and my God”, we confess with Thomas the truth of who You are Lord Jesus. Grant to us now the blessing of being living proofs of the reality of that statement in our lives.