Voters queue at Mukuru Educational Centre in Embakasi Nairobi during the 2013 General Election.[Boniface Okendo,Standard]
If Jesus Christ did not rise, Christianity would not be in existence. Ask the Doubting Thomas, an apostle of the arrested, tortured, crucified, and thankfully resurrected Jesus Christ. When he was told that Jesus had risen from the dead, the man simply could not believe. He doubted his own friends. He needed evidence.
If the resurrection did not happen, the narrative would have ended with a man, who had pretended to bring salvation to the world, finally judged, condemned and hang on a tree amidst thieves. His diehard loyalists including Simon Peter and Saul who would later become Paul – underwent a deep conversion that dying for Christ was not something they were afraid of.
The other gentleman by the name Judas Iscariot did his bit. Give him some credit. He hang in there, hoped to make some coins on occasions, betrayed Jesus for more coins until a moment of darkness befell him. Rather than repent for betraying his master with a kiss, once he realised the gravity of his act, he took his own life.
The resurrection narrative has a very interesting character whom some of us love. This man Thomas, commonly known as the doubting Thomas, would not put faith to practice at the hour of need. Nope he needed hard facts. Thomas demanded to see the wounds of his master to be sure that it was not an imposter.
This is the one guy who does not get fancied by mystery. If he were to attend the many crusades in Kenya where apparently people are healed to the extent the lame walk, the deaf hear, the blind see and the poor get rich Thomas would not take any of those claims until he does some research, he would have to see a blind person before, during and after the crusade to assure himself that indeed a miracle has happened.
Master’s footsteps
He will have to put his finger in the eye of the blind to see that it actually functions normally after the healing. Thomas will follow those healed persons to their homes, monitor them for some time to be sure there are no monkey games going on.
I love the Doubting Thomas for a different reason. If he were to be Kenyan, eligible to vote, how will he vote in the August polls? I don’t know but his operating principle is very clear. Doubt the aspirants until you find out for yourself that they mean what they are saying.
Thomas will need a record book for each aspirant. He will peruse through every detail before making up his mind. I see this great man as a father of scepticism, the philosophy that David Hume and others find sense in.
Scepticism, would fit in well with the character of the Doubting Thomas because impressions can be very deceptive. Although he was with Jesus, learning from him at a personal level, having followed his master’s footsteps day and night and having eaten with his master many times, he surely should have known that he was in a company of no ordinary stature. He had witnessed the miracles. So why would he not believe that resurrection was possible?
The good Thomas, like the other apostles, had taken cover since the master they had followed for three years had been prosecuted, somehow found guilty and crucified. The news of resurrection must have hit him like a dream. It would take witnessing to assure himself that the mission was still alive.
Thomas never renounced his faith. The resurrection story was too good to be true. Here is the lesson. If you are one of the officers in the electoral system beginning with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission all the way to an observer agent, read quite a bit about Thomas the Apostle of Jesus. Don’t betray your master – the people of Kenya. Do the right thing. Check, verify, ask questions and ensure the taxpayers money is well spent.
Dr Mokua is Executive Director, Loyola Centre for Media and Communication
