The scriptures we explore in worship this month lift up some of the most quirky and interesting characters in the Bible—perhaps because they are so much like us, or because they offer us examples of what we would like to be, but aren’t—yet.

Take Thomas. Described persistently over the centuries as “doubting Thomas,” he was more. When Jesus began heading to Judea to give new life to his dead friend Lazarus, he was risking his own life at the hands of Jewish leaders who had just sought to stone him. When the other disciples urged Jesus not to go, it was Thomas who courageously said to them, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16). These words were not an expression of doubt, but of deep commitment. Thomas was more complicated than the caricature he became after Jesus’ resurrection. Just like we are. Thomas has something to teach us.

Or take the two disciples walking down the road to Emmaus, talking about the events of Easter morning. When the risen Jesus joined them, they thought he was a stranger. Even when “he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures,” they still didn’t get it (Luke 24:27). Why was it that only after Jesus had blessed the bread for their common meal, broke it, and gave it to them that they recognized him? And what does this story have to teach us about what opens our eyes to recognize him?

Or take Stephen, the first Christian martyr. As he was challenged about his witness to Christ by certain scribes and elders of the Jerusalem council, “they saw that his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). His understanding of the scriptures “enraged” the council, so much so that they “ground their teeth” at him and dragged him out of the city to stone him to death. His last words reflected those of Jesus on the cross: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

Each of these biblical characters was practicing Easter life as best he could, just as we do. We can learn from their foibles and faith as we move through these days of Eastertide. May the Spirit of the living Christ lift us up on the journey.