Had we been alongside of Thomas during the Lord’s Last Discourse, would we have been as confused as he was? The Lord is leaving us and he’s talking as though we know where he’s going; he even says we know the way to where he’s going. But as with Thomas the only thing we can say is, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”
Maybe Thomas wasn’t expecting Jesus to clear up the mystery. Maybe he only wanted a few words that would lessen his bewilderment and enable him to survive the separation Jesus was foretelling. Jesus had told the apostles, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Maybe Thomas wanted more assurance along this line.
And today, we’re aware that Jesus will not step in and change the situation that pains us so, or miraculously cure the terminally ill, or show us the way to a buried treasure, or suddenly transform a person’s character. We accept this. We want to be told again and again by Jesus, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”
And so, perhaps, we have to focus our minds and hearts on the last words Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.”
We need only stretch out our hand and let Jesus take it and guide us, we need only walk with him. He is the way that will lead us to the truth that he is, to the fullness of life that he has promised us, to the Father.
