You missed a really good meeting on Sunday. Many of us have heard these words before, but never were they truer than when spoken to Thomas just after our Lord’s resurrection. John tells us that “Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus,1 was not with them when Jesus came” (Joh 20:24) on the first day of the week. There was one of the twelve absent that does not surprise us – Judas. He had betrayed the Lord, taken his own life, and gone “to his own place” (Act 1:25). There was one of the twelve present that does surprise us – Peter. He had denied the Lord three times, his public restoration not recorded until the next chapter. But there was one of the twelve absent that does surprise us – Thomas. He had spoken to the other disciples earlier about dying with Jesus (Joh 11:16), but as they glanced around the upper room, Thomas was notably missing. And what a day to be missing! The Lord Jesus suddenly appeared to them, giving them peace, power and purpose, but Thomas missed it all. And for at least a week, Thomas was likely the most miserable man in Jerusalem.
The Stipulation
We are not told why Thomas was elsewhere, nor did the Lord rebuke him later for his absence. But the disciples informed him that “we have seen the Lord,” yet he refused to believe. And they told him more than once. The verb tense for “said” (20:25) is imperfect, meaning, “they kept telling him.” “But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.”2 Thomas claimed to need visual and tangible evidence. He stipulated that he must be able to both see and feel before he would believe. Words, no matter how often repeated, would not be enough for him. Thus, the disciples’ first witnessing experience was a bust. The Lord commissioned them to tell the world about Him; they told one in their own group, and he did not believe. Just remember that the next time someone rejects your testimony about the Lord Jesus.
The Invitation
A week went by. The disciples met again, apparently in the same place, with the same locked doors. The Lord would appear the same way and with the same greeting. But this time, something was different. “And after eight days3 again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them” (v26). This time, the doubter was there. Yet as strong as Thomas’ doubts were, he did not let them keep him away from the Lord’s people.
And then it happened. “Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.” It was an exact repeat of the week before. Everything was the same, just as his fellow disciples had told him. Clearly, they had seen the Lord, and now Thomas did also. There was no doubt about it. Christ was risen.
Once inside the room with His own, the Savior immediately addressed the neediest man among them with an invitation. Rather than scolding him for refusing to believe the other disciples’ testimony, the Lord graciously said to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing” (v27). Notice that the Lord used Thomas’ own words about having to see and feel the marks on His body in order for him to believe Christ was risen. How could Jesus have known he said this if He was still dead? Not only did it become clear to Thomas that the Lord was risen right then, but that He was risen a week before. He heard everything Thomas had said, although He was not physically present. We too can find comfort in the fact that our living Lord always hears what His people say, even though He is not here in the flesh.
The Declaration
Thomas thought he would need to see and feel. And the Lord Jesus invited him to do both. But Thomas was not as big a doubter as he thought, nor as some allege. There is no indication that he actually touched Jesus’ wounds, since the Lord replied, “Because thou hast seen me [not touched me], thou hast believed?” (v29). He did not need anything more than the presence and words of the Savior. Based on what Thomas just witnessed, it was obvious that Jesus hears everything, sees everything, and knows everything. The only logical conclusion was the declaration Thomas made, “And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord and my God”4 (v28). Ironically, one of the strongest affirmations of Jesus’ deity in the Gospels5 comes from a man often labeled as “doubting Thomas.” John and his early readers were familiar with slogans of emperor worship such as, “Caesar is Lord, Caesar is God!” But Thomas got it right. Jesus is Lord! Jesus is God! And there is no other!
Notice that Jesus did not refuse to accept Thomas’ declaration. He did not inform Thomas that he was mistaken, and that his words were spoken in error. Rather, He commended him for what he expressed. Thomas’ confession is what John hopes for his readers, and what Jesus Christ wants from us all. Do you believe He is risen? Have you acknowledged that He is Lord, your Lord? Have you recognized He is God, your God? The consequences will change your eternity. The apostle Paul wrote, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9 NET).
The Benediction
Next comes the last of two benedictions in John’s Gospel (see 13:17). Jesus said, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”6 (20:29). This does not mean Thomas was not blessed. You would have a hard time convincing him he was not as he looked upon his risen Lord. But “Jesus here foresees a time when He will not provide the kind of tangible evidence afforded the beloved disciple and Thomas; in short, He will ascend to His Father permanently, and all those who believe will do so without the benefit of having seen their resurrected Lord.”7 As believers, we obviously come into the good of this benediction, having never seen the Savior with our physical eyes. But we heartily agree with Peter, “You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because you are attaining the goal of your faith – the salvation of your souls” (1Pe 1:8-9 NET).
Have you believed in Him? Have you received God’s salvation? Do you have “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:23)? John recorded this sign, along with a handful of others, “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (Joh 20:31). Why not believe Him now?
1 The Greek Didymus means “twin.” We are not told who his twin was, but we have all played the role of his twin in our doubts.
2 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV unless otherwise noted.
3 John is likely using an inclusive method of counting, meaning “seven days later.”
4 Note the double personal pronoun (“my”), emphasizing the personal nature of Thomas’ declaration.
5 John bookends his Gospel with these strong affirmations of the deity of Jesus (1:1,18; 20:28; see also 8:58; 10:30-33).
6 Forms of the word “believe” dominate this section, appearing seven times in eight verses (vv24-31).
7 D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1991), 659.
