St. Thomas by the Rev’d Stuart Ansell

John 20:24-29 
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." 
Thomas the twin (Didymus) was probably a Galilean, but is best known because of his sceptical nature. When Jesus "set his face towards Jerusalem", Thomas commented to the other disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him!" (John 11:16). Just before the Last Supper when Jesus warned his disciples about his coming death and said, "You know the way to the place where I am going," Thomas' response was, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" (John 14:4-5). But perhaps his best known response and the one which led to him being known as "Doubting Thomas", was his disbelief when the other disciples told him that they had seen Jesus alive again after his crucifixion. Thomas said, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" (John 20:25). But his scepticism didn't prevent Jesus from appearing to Thomas or using him in God's service, for just a week later Thomas met with the risen Christ for himself, and was at last able to say, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). 
This is all that is contained in the Bible and all we know for sure about Thomas, but there is quite a lot of apocryphal literature which bears his name and which may contain some truth amongst all the obvious fiction. 
The "Gospel of Thomas" originally Gnostic, is merely a fantasy about the childhood of Jesus, and contains weird and wonderful stories as well as some which are less than pleasant to modern ears. There is also a "Revelatio Thomae", which has recently been recovered from various sources in a fragmentary condition, but which was condemned as apocryphal in the Papal Decree of Pope Gelasius. 
The most well know piece of apocalyptic literature is the "Acta Thomae", which is almost certainly Gnostic in origin. It's dated to the beginning of the third century, before AD 220, and is thought to have been written at Edessa (in Mesopotamia), where Thomas' relics are known to have been venerated. 
The legend which puts Thomas (eventually) in Edessa, says that when the Apostles were finally dispersed around the world on different missions, Thomas drew the lot to go to India. But being typically Thomas, he refused to go. So Jesus appeared in a vision to Abban, the envoy of Gundafor, an Indian king, and sold Thomas to him to be his slave and to serve Gundafor as a carpenter. After that Abban and Thomas sailed away until they came to Andrapolis, where they landed and attended the marriage feast of the ruler's daughter. Here, various odd things then happened, not the least being that Christ, under the appearance of Thomas, exhorted the bride to remain a virgin! 
Upon coming to India, Thomas undertook to build a palace for Gundafor, but spent the money entrusted to him on the poor, telling the King on his return that the king could see his palace after his death. Gundafor immediately (and not surprisingly) threw Thomas into gaol, instructing that he be flayed alive, but Thomas miraculously escaped, whereupon Gundafor was converted. 
A slightly different version of the legend claims that the King's brother died and saw in heaven the palace that Thomas had built for Gundafor. The King's brother was allowed to return to the earth and buy it for himself. However, a chastened Gundafor refused to sell and instead set Thomas free and was baptised by him, along with his brother and many of his people. 
Thomas then began to move about the country preaching, and needless to say, met with many strange adventures from dragons and wild asses and the like. Then he came to the city of King Misdai, where around the year AD 72, he converted Tertia the wife of Misdai and Vazan, their son. After this atrocity (in the eyes of the king) Thomas was condemned to death, led out of city to a hill and pierced through with spears by four soldiers. He was buried in the tomb of the ancient kings but his remains were afterwards removed to the West. 
We don't know the truth of any of this, except to say that from around the years AD 20 to AD 46 there actually was a king Guduphara reigning over that part of Asia south of Himalayas now represented by Afghanistan, Baluchistan, the Punjab, and Sind, and Thomas has always been known as the patron saint of India. From very early times there certainly have been Christians in the Malabar coast area of India, and a group there, known as the St Thomas Christians, claims that he personally evangelized that area. This tradition holds that St Thomas was martyred, by spearing, near Madras in AD 72 and was buried at Mylapore, a suburb of that city. The St Thomas Christians use a form of Syriac as their liturgical language, but we don't know for certain whether this Church dates from the time of St. Thomas the Apostle, or from a later Thomas. The tradition that St. Thomas preached in India was wide spread in both East and West and is to be found in many early Christian writers (such as Ambrose, Jerome, and, later Gregory of Tours.) 
The reputed relics of St. Thomas were certainly at Edessa in the fourth century, and there they remained until they were removed to Chios in 1258 and thence on to Ortona. 
The story of Thomas emphasises the importance of encouraging and supporting Christian seekers - those who are interested in Christ but who may be sceptical about many of the claims of Christianity. Jesus didn't condemn Thomas for his doubts, but used them to affirm Thomas and strengthen Thomas' commitment. It's clear that Thomas remained a sceptic - at least until his time in India - but the whole continent of India believes that its Christianity came originally from Thomas. Not a bad record for a sceptic! 
If you are unsure about Jesus, welcome! If you are unsure about miracles, welcome! If you are unsure about God, welcome! Like Jesus and Thomas, we journey together through life, exploring the mystery of Christianity together, allowing God to work within us and remembering that his strength is made perfect in our weakness, as the life of Thomas so clearly shows.