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Author: Stephen Weller
884 words, 5 minutes read time

Thomas Now Believes

Scripture: John 20:24-29

With the previous lesson we finished the section in which Jesus appeared to his disciples. Apparently Thomas was not with them at the time and so in this new section he will get to meet Jesus.

^{Jn 20:24} Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Thomas is here referred to as the Twin. If one Googles this to find out who his twin is you end up getting much internet rubbish that does not yield anything worthwhile, so we will leave the statement as it is. The important point is that he was not among the disciples when Jesus appeared in the locked room with them the first time. These disciples come to Thomas and tell him of their experience that they have seen the Lord, but like the disciple’s response to the report from the woman, Thomas responds with unbelief.

When the ten disciples met Jesus in the locked room they thought at first they were seeing a ghost or a spirit, and this is apparently what Thomas is now thinking. Unless Thomas can touch his body as the disciples did, he is not about to believe that Jesus has risen from the dead with a physical body. Because of his lack of belief, Thomas has been labeled as “doubting Thomas” but I believe that is unfair because he is reacting in the same way the other disciples did earlier.

²⁶ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” ²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Eight days pass by and it is now the following Sunday and we find all eleven disciples this time inside the locked room. As before, Jesus appears in the room and stood among them, and as before said to them, “Peace be with you.” Jesus then looks at Thomas and said to him, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve but believe.”

At this invitation, Thomas responds with, “My Lord and my God!” His statement was not merely and exclamation of astonishment, that took God’s name in vain, but was a reference to Jesus as God in the prologue of this gospel. ¹ “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:1, 18 ESV). Jesus was standing before Thomas in the flesh who has made known to us the Father. Prior to becoming flesh through a virgin birth (John 1:14), Jesus was the Word, and the Word was God, and was with God. This is one of the strongest indications of the deity of Jesus Christ.

This statement of Thomas is a clear confession of his newly found faith in Jesus as his Lord and God and expresses John’s purpose in writing this gospel that all his readers would also come to confess Jesus as their Lord and God as Thomas did.

Jesus responds to Thomas by saying, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Peter hears this statement from Jesus and remembers it and then when he wrote 1 Peter 1:8 – 9 (ESV), he said, ⁸ “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Today, we must walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) as the disciples did. However, that does not put us at a disadvantage because we, unlike the disciples at that time, have the Holy Spirit revealing to us who Jesus is.

Conclusion

Like the other disciples, Thomas had to see in order to believe. For them the resurrection was a radically new idea that they had to understand and to obtain that understanding they had to see. Today we are taught about the resurrection from the beginning of our instruction and we have the Holy Spirit to give us understanding. Have you like Thomas come to the point in your life where you can say of Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”? If not, now is the time to open your heart to Jesus.