Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
St. Thomas Day: Apostle Thomas – Faithful unto Death.
Vs 30: If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am.
Apostle Thomas often known as doubting Thomas was among those who had been with the Lord from the beginning. He heard him preach, saw the miracles, and enjoyed the Lord’s friendship. When the other Apostles told him that, while he was out, the Risen Lord had appeared to them, Thomas thought they were delusional and demanded proof. He wanted, with his own hand, to inspect the wounds of the crucified Lord. According to tradition, St. Thomas, came to India in 52 A.D., and landed at Kodungallur on the Malabar coast. He preached the Gospel to the Brahmin families of Kerala, many of whom received the faith. He was martyred in 72 A.D. at Little Mount (near Madras) and his body was brought to Mylapore (near Madras) and was buried there. His tomb is venerated until this day.
In 2 Corinthians Chapter 11, Paul brings up his concern about the false apostles and defends his ministry. The false apostles claimed that Apostle Paul preached a foolish, rhetorically unappealing and unpolished message. By contrast, the false apostles had a message that was much more attractive and appealing to at least many of the Corinthian Christians. Except that their gospel was no gospel at all.
The Christ they preached was no true Christ. The Spirit that inspired them was not the Holy Spirit of God (2 Cor. 11:4). The Apostle Paul had the unenviable experience of watching, from afar, the ministry work that he had invested into the Corinthian church go awry . After Paul’s departure, abusive leaders took over and brought the congregation into a state of spiritual sickness.
Paul had given of himself so completely, so intently to the ministry that he walked in weakness, but in this weakness as a humble earthen vessel he had encountered the strengthening of God. Though boasting is still clearly distasteful to Paul he would rather boast of his familiarity with the infirmities and sorrows of man as Jesus did (Isa. 53:4). For it is in weakness of sorrowing and suffering where our greatest deeds of God occur. You need look no further than the cross to understand the greatest work wrought in weakness. In the weakness of the cross God displayed His greatest power.
Paul was not only deeply devoted to winning people to Christ, but to seeing them grow in the nurture and admonition of the true faith. Paul had deep seated faithfulness to his responsibility concerning the eternal outcome of each life. He knew they would not grow and reach others without God’s truth and Spirit transforming lives. These and other eternal realities caused him to experience great stress. We also must not take lightly our ministry responsibilities but find strength in our weakness to care about the outcome of other lives.
Apostle Thomas may have come to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ a week after the other apostles, he went on to become one of the greatest cross-cultural missionaries of the first century. He proclaimed the Gospel far and wide and bore witness to the Crucified and Risen Lord by his own death. By breathing into Thomas the power of the Holy Spirit, the Risen Lord set Thomas free from the constraints of unbelief, and set him free for mission to bring the Gospel to unknown lands.
May the Lord Jesus Christ dispel our doubt, enlighten our minds and hearts, and give us faith and courage that we may proclaim his Name even to the ends of the earth. Amen.
Thought for the Day
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me
Marthoma Church of Greater Washington