He Meets Us Where We Are

12 April 2026

We often give Thomas a hard time. “Doubting Thomas,” we say - as though he alone missed the memo. But it’s worth noticing: Thomas isn’t alone in doubting. He’s just the only one honest enough to say it out loud. No-one expected the resurrection. No matter how many times Jesus had spoken about his death and his resurrection to follow, no one heard him. They may have heard his words, but none believed them.

The women went there to complete the burial. The disciples were hunkered down without even checking whether Jesus might have possibly spoken truly. Everyone in the accounts is puzzled, mystified, and confused. They remained spiritually blind to what had happened.

Now place Thomas (as the representative of us all) alongside another man in John’s Gospel — the man born blind in John 9. We heard about him only a few weeks back, on March 15th.

Here are two men: one cannot see, the other can. Yet strangely, it’s the blind man who comes to see clearly, and the sighted man who acts as though he’s blind.

The blind man begins in darkness, but when Jesus meets him, his sight unfolds step by step. First, “the man called Jesus,” then “a prophet,” and finally, “Lord”—and he worships. His eyes are opened, but more importantly, so is his faith.
Thomas, on the other hand, begins with sight. He has seen Jesus, walked with him, heard him. But after the cross, his world collapses. Sight isn’t enough. He wants evidence—“Unless I see… unless I touch…” You can almost hear him: “I’m not falling for wishful thinking.” In these actions he’s acting like a blind man, who must touch and feel his way through the world.

And here’s the grace: Jesus meets both men exactly where they are. He doesn’t leave them where they are, but he meets them where they are. So also, with us. Jesus meets us where we are to take us to where he is. He’s not interested in leaving us unchanged.

So also, for the two men: mud, spit and water for one; wounds and words for the other. No scolding. No dismissal. Just his transforming presence. Because in the end, both men arrive at the same place: not merely seeing… but believing.
Perhaps the real question is not whether we see or don’t see - but whether we know that we are seen by Christ.

If we know that, everything changes.

Dr Noel Due