The Character of Thomas - Thirst for Clarification

And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? John 14 - 4,5

Here we see a wonderful discourse happening between the Lord and his disciples. The disciples are in training - training for their ministry. The Master is explaining to them about the mysteries of the other world "In my Father's house are many mansions"(V2). Jesus assumes in the course of the session that the
disciples know more about the way "and the way you know"- but they did not. Thomas immediately confronts the Lord "No we do not know where you are going". He is a spokesman for the disciples again.
This verse reveals another important character trait of Thomas (- a trait that will become important in later contexts). Thomas yearned for clarity in his understanding, in his faith in the Lord. When in doubt, he always questioned.
This reveals the seriousness with which he took his chosen mission. He was not the silent type. He would not let go of an opportunity to learn more.He attentively listened to every word spoken by His Master and when something came up that he did not understand, he immediately questioned.

And the Lord understood the sincere and intense quest of Thomas, as seen by the immediate reply from the Lord with the clarification "I am the way, the truth, and the life".

Great was St.Thomas's thirst for knowledge

This important character element of Thomas was important as he had to deal with the challenges of his ministry in far away lands of the East later in his life. Separated from the rest, away from the world he knew, his own unshakable convictions in his faith and his die-hard will to fight for His Lord till the very end were what sustained him.

And this passage of the Holy Scriptures reveal to us how that character of unmatched will-power and amazing resilience was being built - one brick at a time - in the company of the Lord, we find Thomas the student in training - asking questions with a sincere thirst for knowledge.

Thomas should be our inspiration to always seek the truth and never hesitate to speak up and ask questions when in doubt about our faith. Sincere questions will always be answered by our Lord.


Character of Thomas : A vehicle for revelations

Source : ICON