This was an Easter skit I put together a few years back. The script itself is below if you're interested.
Thomas: It just seemed so far-fetched, you know?
Thomas: I mean, they all came running in – Peter – of course it was Peter – he’s at the head of the group. And they’re like, “Thomas, he’s back.” I didn’t need to ask who. They just seemed so frantic – there was no one else they could’ve been talking about.
Thomas: So they tell me the story. About how they were hiding and all the doors were locked, and suddenly how he appeared and spoke to them. And I’m just sitting there taking it all in, and – well, can you blame me for being skeptical? I was there with everyone else that Friday. We all saw what they did to him. There’s no coming – you don’t just come back from that. I could barely even recognize him up there.
Thomas: So I asked question after question to these guys. Who was all there? What did each of them see? Some of them might not have had a clear view. Was it dark? Were they sure it was him? How do they know the doors were locked? Someone could’ve left one open. Obviously I knew that these guys believed, but why didn’t…
Thomas: Well, I guess that was the big thing. (pause) Why didn’t I see him? Or why didn’t he come to see me? Had I done something wrong? Everyone else had ran away from him the second he got arrested, same as me. I’m no worse than them. But they got to see him. Or maybe they just thought they did.
Thomas: So that’s what I told them. It was a simple request. If they got to see him, so should I. I’ve gotta touch the marks in his hands. That’s fair, right? If this was real – if He was really back, then He’d come to see me.
Thomas: The others tried to convince me – they talked to me, brought up things Jesus had said, reminded me of all the things we’d seen over the years. But I put my foot down. It had to be fair. If this was real, he’d come see me too. I deserved that much.
Thomas: One day went by – no Jesus. Two days. Three days. Every morning I’d wake up thinking maybe he’d show up at breakfast. To be honest, I wasn’t totally sure why I stuck around with the guys for so long. Our story was over – there was no reason to keep meeting the way we were. But I don’t know – something kept me in town. Four days, five, six. They were still convinced they’d really seen him. But he still hadn’t come to see me.
Thomas: Day seven, we’re sitting together upstairs in a place John found. The word was out that the Romans were on the lookout for anyone connected with Jesus, so we’d locked the doors up and planned to stay there till morning. And – and all of a sudden…there he was.
Thomas: I think if anyone had looked at me in the days leading up to that, they would’ve said I was hopeless. ‘Cause I wasn’t budging. I wasn’t going to believe until I saw him. But in that moment I realized that there had been a shred of hope inside of me that I’d refused to let go of. I could’ve left town a long time ago, but I stayed there because some small part of me wanted the chance to see him just one more time. I’d wanted it to be true so badly – I just couldn’t bring myself to believe until now.
Thomas: And boy, did he let me have it. He gave me that grin – you’d know it if you knew Him – and he told me to put my hands on the marks. And you know what, I couldn’t even do it. I just fell to my knees and started crying. I mean, he was back. He’d come back for me.
Thomas: He said something I’ll never forget once I got myself together. “Because you’ve seen me, you’ve believed. But the ones who haven’t seen and still believe – those are the blessed ones.” And that might sound sketchy to some people, but I get it. I spent seven days denying myself hope. For seven days while the rest of my friends celebrated and planned and lived like their lives meant something, I kept my heart pinned down because I didn’t want to get hurt. I was so focused on my own pain that I didn’t see what he’d already been doing in my friends. Jesus wasn’t telling me that I should’ve just pulled wool over my eyes and accepted what they were saying. He was telling me that I shouldn’t have squashed my own hope. I let my hurt steer my trust instead of my heart. I let my hurt steer my trust instead of my heart.
Thomas: The one thing I’m thankful for through all of that was that I didn’t leave. I wanted to. I wanted to get out of there. Every day, all I could think about was what had happened up on that hill – and what my friends said they’d seen three days later. But I stuck around – and Jesus made it worth it. He was the hope I was afraid to have – and now…I don’t think I could ever be afraid again.