John 20:24

Θωμᾶς … οὐκ ἦν μετ' αὐτῶν. His melancholy temperament (see on John 11:16) might dispose him to solitude and to put no trust in the rumours of Christ’s Resurrection if they reached him on Easter Day. And afterwards his despondency is too great to be removed by the repeated (ἔλεγον) testimony even of eyewitnesses. He has but one reply (εἶπεν); and the test which he selects has various points of contact with the surroundings. The wounds had been the cause of his despair; it is they that must reassure him. The print of them would prove beyond all doubt that it was indeed his Lord that had returned to him. Moreover, the Ten had no doubt told him of their own terror and hesitation, and how Jesus had invited them to ‘handle Him and see’ in order to convince themselves. This would suggest a similar mode of proof to S. Thomas.