“Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

— John 14:5

In the Synoptic Gospels, Peter is usually my favorite disciple—but in John’s Gospel, it’s Thomas. Thomas is snarky and funny and a little sarcastic. Before they return to Bethany, I imagine him muttering under his breath, “Sure, let’s go back and get murdered together. What fun.”

And this week, I’m reminded that Thomas is also deeply practical—and deeply needy. He has been with Jesus this whole time, and he’s not interested in metaphors or object lessons. He wants to know things, really know them. So when Jesus gets going in his farewell discourse, Thomas interrupts him, almost as if to say, “Wait! what? What do you mean we know where you’re going? What do you mean we know the way?”

Thomas is the disciple who needs something to hold on to. He needs a Messiah who will walk with him, who will stay with him in the trenches. He needs a real Jesus who won’t disappear when things get hard. He needs a Messiah who not only knows the way, but lives the way, who is the way.

And Jesus responds to Thomas with a gentle reminder of all the ways he has already been present with them: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

Thomas doesn’t need a map or a guarantee of safety. He needs the assurance that the One he has been following is faithful, even into the unknown. Jesus doesn’t offer a shortcut or a strategy. He offers himself: walking ahead, walking beside, guiding each step.

Thomas reminds us that faith is often messy. We don’t always see the whole path. We have questions. We doubt. We need reassurance. And yet, in the midst of our uncertainty, Jesus does not leave us to figure it out on our own. He invites us into the same promise he offers Thomas: Trust me. Follow me. You will find the way.

Beloved, when we find ourselves slipping into cynicism, we remember Thomas, brave enough to ask for what he needed, when he needed it. How can we know the way? How can I believe unless I see?

Thomas, the one whom Jesus meets again and again with love, with patience, with compassion.