John 20:26-29

THE APPEARANCE TO THOMAS

Text: John 20:26-29

26

And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28

Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

29

Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Queries

a.

Why did Jesus think it necessary to make a special appearance for Thomas-' sake?

b.

Why are they who have not seen and yet have believed said to be blessed?

Paraphrase (Harmony)

And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; and he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen.
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou has believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Summary

Thomas, who was absent at the Lord's first appearance to the disciples, was told of His appearance insists upon more proof. The Lord Himself appears especially for Thomas. All Thomas-' doubts flee.

Comment

Thomas, the twin, was absent at the first meeting together of the disciples. Why he was absent we are not told. Perhaps he was investigating further the reports of the women about the empty tomb. Immediately after the Lord's appearance to the Twelve (ten disciples in all) that first Sunday night, they went as a body and found Thomas and told him excitedly, We have seen the Lord! (John 20:24). But for some reason, known only to Thomas, he could not satisfy the despondent longing of his own heart with just their testimonyhe had to see for himself! If it is fair to characterize Thomas from two previous statements of his (John 11:16; John 14:5), we may think of him as one who tends to be pessimisticto see the dark side. It was not that Thomas was a confirmed agnostic or skeptiche believed readily enough when there was enough evidence to sweep away his natural inclination to despondency. Actually, Thomas was no more a doubter than the other ten discipleshe was just not at the right place at the right time. The other ten disciples were filled with the same despondent doubt (even though they had the testimony of the women and the two back from Emmaus) until Jesus appeared to them that first Sunday evening. Thomas simply demands the same evidence which was necessary for the other ten to overcome their doubts. Foster says, The gradual development of their faith and the fact that fear, doubt, misunderstanding, and the obstinate insistence upon absolutely indubitable evidence caused them to be slow to believe but it adds to the power of their testimony as witnesses.

The disciples have not left Jerusalem and gone into Galilee as the resurrected Lord has commanded them through the women (cf. Luke 24:3-8; Mark 16:2-8) and another week has elapsed according to John 20:26. As Hendriksen points out John is employing the inclusive method of time-computation. Thus after eight days would be the next Sunday evening when the disciples had gathered together againprobably in the same place as on the previous Sunday evening. Again the doors were fastened. But again Jesus appeared suddenly and stood in the midst of them. Again He calmed their beating hearts with, Peace be unto you.

It is worthy of note that Jesus has, in all His appearances at this time, appeared only on the first day of the week. There can be little doubt that He did it to especially consecrate and dedicate this day in the minds of the apostles. We notice also that the disciples have not yet come to that boldness and courageousness of faith which they later knew (Acts 4:13; Acts 4:19-20; Acts 5:29). They still have the doors shut for fear of the Jews.

Jesus does not waste any time but gets immediately to the point of this appearance. He commands Thomas to come forward and touch and see and believe. The question is always asked, Did Thomas actually touch His hands? In all probability he did! (cf. Luke 24:39; 1 John 1:1-4). There is no possibility of hallucination or extreme credulity here! Either Thomas actually saw and handled the resurrected body of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth (as well as the women and the other disciples) or the writers of the gospel accounts are the most dastardly deceivers and frauds the world has even known. There are just two alternatives: either the evidence is overwhelmingly sufficient to call forth faith and surrender to the divine, omnipotent, omniscient, resurrected Lord Jesusorthe gospel writers deliberately lied and duped millions of their contemporaries and the gospels then are not morally worthy of consideration for they are lies. Only two alternatives are worthy of honest men: let us hear no more that the gospels are untrustworthy historically speaking but may form the basis for morality and social actionthis is neither reasonable nor morally upright.

There was no question lingering in the mind of Thomas. He was of an honest and good heart. Once the evidence was sufficient he surrendered his mind and heart to the demands of the fact. It is as Alexander Campbell has written, facts are moral, they demand a decision. Facts are the basis of faith and faith is the motivating force of feeling. The facts caused Thomas to trust (have faith) and thus leading to the emotion of his heart and soul poured out in, My Lord and my God!

There must be no doubters among the men upon whom Jesus is to thrust the responsibility of establishing the church and preaching the gospel in the face of a whole world against it. There must not be the slightest hesitancy, question, or problem about His victory over death and Satan. There must be absolute and abiding conviction on the part of each one commissioned to this great task. Furthermore, Jesus appeared to Thomas out of His love for Thomas. God desires to give every man enough opportunity to know of Christ's victory over death and Satan, but now the responsibility to present the facts to every man is upon those who are His disciples, Jesus will not appear to men again until He comes to judge the world, Then those who pierced Him will see Himbut then it will be too late!

R. C. Foster notes, John opens his gospel with a profound statement concerning Jesus as the incarnation of God. He closes his gospel with this great declaration of Thomas which is a result of actual experience and association. Thomas sums up in one dramatic explanation the message of the entire gospel. The disciple who doubted the most gives at last the final statement of his faith. Thomas hails Jesus as God and Jesus accepts the identification as Thomas worshipped Him.
Why does Jesus pronounce this last beatitude of blessing upon those who believe without having seen? Faith which results from seeing is good; but faith which results from hearing is more excellent. If men had to verify every basis of life or every statement of history to their own senses before they acted, virtually nothing would ever be accomplished! We could not all personally and minutely verify everything we accept as fact and allow as motivating principles in our lives. The faith of multitudes through the centuries has rested, not upon their own personal sensory perceptions, but upon the testimony of competent witnesses. We do not accept the fact that Washington was the first President ofthe United States of America on the basis of our own sight, but of the testimony of accredited witnesses.

Another matter to be considered here is the weight of the accumulation of testimony over against the possibilities of our own senses being deceived. It is no wonder Jesus said, blessed are they who, though not seeing, are yet believing.

Quiz

1.

Why did Thomas refuse to accept the word of the other apostles?

2.

Was Thomas any worse than the rest of the apostles in his doubt?

3.

What day did Jesus appear to the eleven, Thomas being present?

4.

What two alternatives are left for those who read of the gospel account of Thomas-' experience?

5.

Why are those who believe without having seen blessed above those whose faith needs to see?