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John 20:24–31 (ESV)
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.” 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.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Have you ever just missed something? One time my wife and I had the opportunity to travel to Italy. To arrive at our destination, we had to make several connections between flights, shuttles, and ultimately a train to arrive at our destination. I remember that the delays were slowly piling up as we traveled. The flight was only a few minutes delayed for its arrival, and then we had to wait longer than usual to claim our luggage. This caused us to miss a shuttle, but it was only a few minutes wait for the next one. Each minute of each delay slowly began to add up and when we finally arrived at the train station we were told that we just missed our train and would have to wait some time for the next train before we could reach our final destination. It was a bit disappointing to hear the news that we “just missed it.”
Now put yourself in Thomas’ shoes for a moment. This is perhaps the ultimate example of just missing out. We don’t know where Thomas was or why he wasn’t with the rest of the disciples. What we do know is that he just missed seeing the resurrected Jesus.
This is, at first, surely, the single most inopportunely or perhaps even irresponsibly missed meeting in church history. -Dale Bruner.
When the disciples tell Thomas their good news, Thomas responds in character as we’ve heard from him in John’s Gospel. John gives us three insights into Thomas’ character in his Gospel (11:16, 14:5, and here). Each time we hear from Thomas, he is a bit like Eeyore-like from the Winnie the Pooh stories: a little pessimistic and gloomy, and easily voices his complaints, but also quite loyal.
Keeping in character, Thomas shares what’s on his heart when the other disciples tell him of their joyful encounter with the risen Jesus. “I won’t believe it unless I see it for myself and touch those wounds.”
I get it, the report from Mary and now the other disciples, it all sounds like grief fueled deluded madness. I empathize with what Thomas is feeling at this moment. But then Jesus shows up and gives a loving rebuke to Thomas that, as N.T. Wright notes, “is more an encouragement to those who come later, to people of subsequent generations.”
The encouragement is for us, the people of subsequent generations, who are blessed when we believe without seeing what Thomas or the others have seen.
In fact, belief is the point of John’s Gospel and he says as much at the end of this chapter. John tells us that Jesus did and said more, much more than is written in this book. John wrote these key things, the miraculous signs, the I AM statements, and the rest, so that “you” may believe (the “you” in verse 31 is plural and it’s only the second time in John’s Gospel that the plural for “you” is used).
John’s passionate desire is for you and me to be like Thomas and proclaim, “My Lord and my God!” And by the way, Thomas is the first, and only person in all of the Gospels, to address Jesus as “God”, which brings us back to the beginning of John’s Gospel.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Who is this Word? Jesus.
John’s point throughout the Gospel is that “you” (all who are reading John’s Gospel), may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you and I may have life in His name.
God bless you and know that you are constantly in my prayers.
Scott
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