Thomas

Thomas is one of the twelve apostles, also called Didymus. The UPDV record of him is sparse but pointed: a name in the apostle lists, and two short speeches in John's gospel — one a grim offer of solidarity to death, the other a candid admission of ignorance that draws out Christ's answer about the way.

Among the Twelve

Thomas appears by name in the Markan and Lukan rosters of the twelve, set among his fellow apostles without further comment. Mark places him after Matthew and before James the [son] of Alphaeus: "and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the [son] of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean" (Mark 3:18). Luke's list groups him similarly: "and Matthew and Thomas, and James [the son] of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot" (Luke 6:15). The bracketed [son] and [the son] are UPDV's textual insertions, marking words supplied for English clarity.

Didymus, and the Call to Die with Him

In John's gospel Thomas is introduced not just by his Hebrew name but by its Greek equivalent — Didymus, "twin" — and by a single line of speech. When Christ resolves to return to Judea despite the threat there, Thomas turns to the other disciples: "Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him" (John 11:16). His first recorded words are an offer of shared death, addressed not to Christ but to his fellow-disciples. The note of solidarity is unguarded; the assumption that following Christ to Judea will end in death is unflinching.

"We Don't Know Where You Are Going"

Thomas's second recorded saying comes in the upper-room discourse, after Christ has spoken of going to prepare a place. Where the other disciples remain silent, Thomas presses the difficulty: "Thomas says to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going; how can we know the way?" (John 14:5). The question is two-staged — ignorance of the destination is joined to ignorance of the route — and it is candid rather than defiant. He addresses Christ as "Lord" while admitting incomprehension, and his objection is logical: how can a way be known if its end is unknown? It is this question that draws the answer about the way out of Christ.