Coming to better understand Jesus helps us better understand ourselves. For Simon, this caused a moment of fear, but for Jesus, it was the moment he was waiting for to call him to be a disciple.

When Jesus asks us to do something outside of our comfort zone, how we respond says a lot about who we believe Jesus to be.

Is Jesus just someone we love listening to and receiving from, or is he someone that asks something of us too?

What if Thomas is the role model we all really need? What if seeing is actually the key to believing?

Whatever it is that is holding us back, the power of the resurrection in our lives can set us free.

How do we hold together the biblical ideas of life, death, love, suffering, sacrifice, and victory?

What happens when the resurrection calls us to challenge and even leave behind the things we are most confident in?

Have you ever taken a walk and missed seeing something that was right in front of you? Fortunately, for the disciples on the Road to Emmaus and for all of us today, we have someone who is both always with us and also runs ahead of us.

In the life of Thomas, we see someone who had doubts, but whose connection to both a community of faith and the resurrected Jesus led to an even deeper faith than he had ever had before.

When our self-image and confidence have been shaken, and we find ourselves stuck, the power of the resurrection helps us get unstuck and back on mission.

The power of the resurrection means our challenges and failures not only no longer have power over us, but they can become part of our testimony to the power of God and the gift of new life.

One of the more uncomfortable passages in the Gospels is actually a turning point in which the future invades the present.