Nomen est Omen. Names matter. Nominative determinism is the theory that names can have a significant role in shaping profession and character.

Transcription

1 Names matter. Nominative determinism is the theory that names can have a significant role in shaping profession and character. Nomen est Omen Ask poet William Wordsworth or Archbishop William Temple, or even ask anyone called Boniface! It was a commonly held notion in the ancient world. The Romans had the expression nomen est omen, or "name is destiny." Sometimes the destiny doesn t flatter though. Where my parents live, there s an estate agents named Doolittle & Dalley. In 2007, an American study noted that students whose names began with a C or a D had lower grade point averages than those with names beginning with an A or a B. Names do seem to matter. Ask anyone named Scrooge or Dracula, Jezebel or Judas. Ask Doubting Thomas.

2 It s the first Easter Sunday evening, and we join the scene after dark, locked away. Jesus stands amongst his gathered people for the first time since they had fled from him scattering amidst the olive trees of Gethsemane. He doesn t come with rebuke or disapproval but rather he comes with the words they so desperately needed to hear: Peace be with you. Jesus lavishly recommissions them as his apostles, the apostellein, the sent ones. What follows is a BUT THOMAS moment. BUT Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them. John doesn t tell us where Thomas was. Maybe there is tiny hint though, because all the others were locked away for fear of the authorities, BUT Thomas was out and about. They tell him with joy of the Lord restored to life BUT Thomas dare not hope they speak the truth.

3 A week passes, and this time what follows is an AND THOMAS moment. Jesus stood amongst them AND Thomas was there. 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. AND Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God! Doubting Thomas? Hmm, let s see if we can t do something about that. Thomas the Twin is also Thomas one of the Twelve. When Jesus said He was returning to Judea to minister to dying Lazarus, Thomas the Loyal immediately stirs the company into making the trip too, despite certain danger and possible death because of the mounting hostility of the authorities. At the Last Supper, when Jesus told the twelve that He was going to prepare a place for them, they relied on Practical Thomas to speak up that they did not understand. Jesus answered him with words that

4 have comforted and challenged believers in every generation since: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to Father but through me. This Thomas, the witness of the Resurrection, [famously here behind locked doors, but also at Lake Tiberias over a fish breakfast] he passes on to become the St Thomas of tradition. The story goes that at the dispersal of the Apostles after Pentecost, he went east, to the Parthians, Medes, and Persians. He eventually reached India, an ancient community of Christians from Kerala, India bearing his name, to this day: proudly calling themselves St Thomas Christians. Ultimately Thomas the Martyr, he was speared to death at a place called Calamine, thus bearing wounds in his own body that spoke of the wounds in which he had place his own fingers all those years before.

5 So let us return that intimate moment once again. Jesus 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. AND Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God! And this is why I think he should really be called Thomas the Unveiler You see, up until this point, Jesus had defied all their expectations in his betrayal, death and resurrection. And none of their names for him, rabbi, master, lord, teacher, messiah have accurately refined their understanding of who is was and how he worked until now, that is: Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe. AND Thomas answered him: My Lord and my God! Names really do matter, don t they?