There are a couple of things about this scene with St. Thomas, Doubting Thomas, that have been a curiosity for me. The first one is: why was not Thomas with all of them the first time? The answer is simple: Jesus set it up that way so that he could do with Thomas what he was going to do. It is no great mystery that Jesus knew who was there and who was not. And that he knew what Thomas’s reaction was going to be.
Jesus, by the very way he sets up his resurrection appearances, is setting up the disciples to understand all he has done. Also, I think, Jesus was having fun with his disciples. Look at the story of the road to Emmaus; or Mary Magdalene at the tomb.
So now he is appearing to the disciples, and he does so knowing that Thomas is not there. He knows that Thomas is going to be the one who will push the issue: “I will not believe until I touch the wounds in his hands!”
Now, Thomas’s reaction has been written about throughout the history of the church. I want to quote St. Augustine on this: “Thomas saw and touched …read more
Source:: Fr. Frank Jindra’s Homily Podcasts
