THOMAS SUNDAY

In the prologue to the Acts of the Apostles, it is stated that after his Passion, the Lord Jesus showed himself alive with many certain proofs. He appeared to the Apostles for forty days and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). The appearances of the risen Christ took place nearly two thousand years ago and will never be repeated in history.

The Lord Jesus ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father. He will return at the end of time to judge the living and the dead. The Creed speaks of this.

The Church constantly prays for the imminent return of the Lord Jesus in the words of the Lord’s Prayer. “Thy kingdom come,” believers in Jesus Christ all over the world say repeatedly, every day, every hour, every second. Not a moment goes by without someone on earth saying the “Our Father” in prayer and asking the heavenly Father for the immediate coming of the Lord Jesus and the advent of His Kingdom.

The Lord will return and destroy all evil on earth. He will cast the devil and death into the lake of fire. This is written in Revelation (Revelation 20:14). Sin makes people accomplices of the devil and death. Redemption in Jesus Christ frees humanity from the same fate they will face in eternity.

In the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul speaks of the forces in the world that are slowing down the Lord’s Second Coming: “It will not be until he who is now holding back has passed away” (Thessalonians 2:7). Considering Paul’s words, he who holds back—in the original Greek this term sounds like “Katechon”—is he who delays the Lord’s Return, that is, the Antichrist.

“Be ready—always be ready”—the motto of the Soviet-era pioneer children perfectly conveyed the essence of the messianic era but gave it a distorted meaning. Atheistic ideology called for the expectation of a utopia. In Christianity, history is the preparation of the Throne for Jesus the Messiah.

The Lord’s appearances after the Resurrection were intended to confirm the authenticity of His resurrection from the dead. In a mysterious way, they prophetically represented the image of His Second Coming. The Resurrection of Christ is celebrated from Easter to Pentecost.

During Lent, the Church, as a society of believers, the righteous, and sinners, strives to repent and purify itself to separate itself from hell and death, which will ultimately be subject to destruction. During the long Easter season, the Church becomes accustomed to living in expectation and preparation for the Coming of the Lord.

On the eighth day after Easter, the Church celebrates Thomas Sunday. According to the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus appeared to the disciples, among whom was Thomas. Previously, he did not believe what the Apostles said about the Resurrection of Christ and therefore remained ignorant of the expectation.

Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and appeared to his disciples on the third day. However, the Lord appeared to Thomas on the tenth day after his death on the Cross. This very long and difficult wait reflects our time, which knows that Jesus is risen, but is not ready to accept this knowledge by faith.

According to the Gospel of John, read during the Divine Liturgy on Thomas Sunday, the Lord Jesus appeared to the Apostles and gave them peace. Then he addressed Thomas and said: “Put your finger here and see my hands; put your hand here and place it in my side; and stop disbelieving, believe.” (John 20:27) In response, Thomas confessed: “My Lord and my God!”

This apostolic confession of faith is of the utmost importance. It indicates the foundation of Christianity. Faith is an absolute gift from God. It is born in the heart through communion with the Flesh of Christ. “My Lord and my God!” Thomas’s words constitute the clearest, most evident, and most radical confession of the divinity of the Lord Jesus in the entire text of the four Gospels. This confession was created by God Himself in the heart of Thomas. Created out of unbelief. The mystery of human faith is great and paradoxical.

At every Divine Liturgy, in the Eucharistic Prayer, the Orthodox Church experiences a double epiclesis. This is the name given in theological language to the double descent of the Holy Spirit, upon the community and upon the holy gifts of bread and wine, accomplished in the prayer of the sacrament. On Thomas Sunday, the Church asks God to bring those around us to faith. The Church believes that this faith, coming from above in place of doubt through the gift of the risen Christ, is capable of transforming the hearts of our loved ones and of the whole world and making it a topos of Christian spiritual renewal in our time through the grace of the Holy Spirit.