Biblical Profile: Thomas

Thomas

Thomas, also known as “the Twin,” was one of the twelve apostles (Matt 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). He is remembered most for his unbelieving response to Jesus’ resurrection.

Nothing is known of how Jesus first met and called Thomas to be his disciple. The only personal accounts of Thomas are found in the Gospel of John. Thomas voiced his willingness to follow Jesus, even if it meant death (John 11:16); he openly told Jesus that he didn’t understand what he was saying (John 14:5); and he was one of the seven disciples who returned to fishing after the resurrection, when Jesus appeared to them (John 21:2).

When Jesus first appeared to his disciples after his death, Thomas was not present. When Thomas heard the report from the others, he did not believe it, insisting he would have to see the evidence of the crucifixion on Jesus’ body with his own eyes and feel it with his own hands (John 20:19-25). A week later, when Jesus once again appeared to the disciples, he specifically addressed Thomas, telling him to examine the marks of the nails and the spear on his body and challenging him to believe and not be skeptical (John 20:26-27). Thomas’s response represents one of the strongest statements of Jesus’ deity in the New Testament and serves as the culmination of the Gospel of John’s portrayal of Jesus: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

Later tradition speaks of Thomas working as a missionary in the East: in Parthia (Eusebius), Persia (Jerome), and India (Acts of Thomas). The Mar Thoma church on the west coast of India traces its roots back to the early missionary work of Thomas. The historical reliability of these accounts is uncertain.

Thomas’s name is also unreliably linked to several later apocryphal writings: the Acts of Thomas, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, the Epistle to the Apostles, the Apocalypse of Thomas, the Book of Thomas the Athlete, and especially the Gospel of Thomas, a Gnostic collection of Jesus’ sayings.

Passages for Further Study

Matt 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; John 11:16; 14:5; John 20:24-29; 21:2Acts 1:13