{"id":18329,"date":"2026-10-25T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my-all-about-you.com\/?p=18329"},"modified":"2026-10-24T22:57:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T03:57:46","slug":"thomas-wanted-a-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my-all-about-you.com\/en\/2026\/10\/25\/thomas-wanted-a-map\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Wanted a Map"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Pilgrimage Through the Apostles<\/em><\/p>\n\n

I see a guy who\u2019s willing to follow Jesus. Willing to die for him, actually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look at John 11. The authorities want Jesus gone, and the disciples know it. Going back toward Judea is dangerous, and everyone in the room can feel it. Thomas speaks up anyway: \u201cLet us also go, that we may die with him.\u201d He means it. What he doesn\u2019t do, I think, is comprehend who Jesus is. He sees what\u2019s in front of him, here and now, and he sees it as finite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That fits the man. Thomas is black and white, a realist. A boss once told me I was very black and white, and she had a point. But I\u2019ve noticed something about myself too. I like numbers now, though I was sure I hated them when I was young, because numbers don\u2019t hide secrets if you pay attention. I need proof. I think Thomas did too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While in the chapel, I saw something different between Thomas and me. My questions are constant. I am always looking. Thomas\u2019s questions seem to pop up through conversation. Jesus says something, Thomas cannot make it fit with what he knows, and then he asks. Maybe we both seek, but we do it differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which brings me to John 14. Jesus talks about his Father\u2019s house and its many rooms, and I think Thomas hears a house. A destination, something physical. My goodness, this must be a huge house.<\/em> So he asks how they can know the way. In my head he\u2019s saying, give me my Rand McNally and I\u2019ll follow you. Not Google Maps, not Waze, because those live on a screen. A paper map in your hand is a different thing altogether, and Thomas is a paper map man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Jesus says, \u201cI am the way.\u201d I believe you can almost hear Thomas\u2019s mind going. What does he mean, I\u2019m the way?<\/em> Click, click, click. That doesn\u2019t mean he understood. I think it means the pieces were starting to line up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 20 is the same man. He watched Lazarus come out of the tomb, and he knew Jesus had died. The one who gives life, dead. How can it be?<\/em> To a black-and-white mind, death is complete, and he hasn\u2019t yet put it all together. So when he says he has to probe Jesus\u2019 hands and side, I don\u2019t hear doubt. I hear Thomas not seeing yet. Then Jesus stands in front of him and Thomas says, \u201cMy Lord and my God.\u201d I don\u2019t think he needed the probing at all. Once he sees, it\u2019s over. He\u2019s sold. It\u2019s as if the film covering his mind\u2019s eye falls away and everything is confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the man who would die with Jesus is the same man who needs to see him before he believes the others\u2019 report, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a contradiction. Thomas has faith in Jesus. He just doesn\u2019t understand completely, and he keeps following while his faith grows. I believe faith grows through our lives. We aren\u2019t at 100 percent when we decide to follow. It is a process that we go through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe what we perceive as doubting is just the process of growth in faith in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe most of us are like that. We can truly believe in the Trinity, even though we can never fully comprehend the Trinity. There\u2019s a prayer for exactly that, from a father in Mark 9: \u201cI believe; help my unbelief!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These writings are me asking questions and looking for answers. The apostles are just like us. There\u2019s no difference between the men Jesus walked with then and the people he walks with today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I\u2019m asking you. Read John 11, 14 and 20, then sit with these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Thomas says, \u201cLet us also go, that we may die with him.\u201d What does that tell you about his loyalty, and what does it leave out about his understanding?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Is Thomas afraid in John 11, or is he seeing the danger plainly?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. When Jesus talks about his Father\u2019s house, what do you think Thomas pictures?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. \u201cHow can we know the way?\u201d What is Thomas really asking for?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Jesus says, \u201cI am the way.\u201d What do you think Thomas begins to understand?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. What do you need to see before you can believe? Where are you a paper map person in your own faith?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Thomas had watched Lazarus come out of the tomb. Why was Jesus\u2019 death so much harder for him to fit together?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. In John 20, is Thomas doubting or not seeing yet? Does the difference matter?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. \u201cMy Lord and my God.\u201d What changed for Thomas in the moment he saw?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Where are you going through the motions right now, believing without fully understanding? What would \u201cI believe; help my unbelief\u201d sound like in your own words?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    \u201cI believe; help my unbelief!\u201d<\/em> \u2014Mark 9:24, RSV-2CE<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    References & Notes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    John 11:1\u201344<\/strong> \u2014 Jesus returns to Judea, raises Lazarus, and Thomas says, \u201cLet us also go, that we may die with him\u201d (John 11:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    John 14:1\u20137<\/strong> \u2014 Jesus speaks of His Father\u2019s house. Thomas asks how the disciples can know the way, and Jesus answers, \u201cI am the way, and the truth, and the life\u201d (John 14:5\u20136).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    John 20:24\u201329<\/strong> \u2014 Thomas asks to see the wounds of the Crucifixion. When Jesus appears, Thomas answers, \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d (John 20:28). The passage does not say whether Thomas touched Jesus\u2019 wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Mark 9:14\u201329<\/strong> \u2014 The father of the afflicted boy says, \u201cI believe; help my unbelief!\u201d (Mark 9:24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Scripture quotations and references are from the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition (RSV-2CE).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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