April 27
“Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ So he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’ And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,’” John 20:24-29.
On the first Easter Sunday evening, Jesus appeared to ten of His disciples, who were hiding somewhere in Jerusalem behind locked doors. Judas had hanged himself, and Thomas, for whatever reason, was somewhere else. The Bible does not record what the disciples did during the week after Easter. However, they met at some time during that following week, and they told Thomas that they had seen the Lord. Thomas told them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe!” He wanted some special, physical proof that they really had seen Jesus. He wanted to place his finger into the nail prints, proving that He was the Jesus who had been nailed to the cross. He wanted to place his hand into Jesus’ side, where He had been pierced by the soldier’s spear while hanging on the cross.
Thomas is often referred to as being the “Doubting Thomas.” He felt as people often do – seeing is believing; I have to see for myself! On the Sunday after Easter, the disciples were assembled together again, and this time Thomas was with them. Suddenly, Jesus made His second appearance to them behind locked doors. He greeted them to remove their fears with the words, “Peace to you!” Then, He immediately turned His attention to Doubting Thomas.
As the all-knowing Son of God, He invited Thomas to do what he insisted on doing on Easter evening! “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Jesus’ presence and His invitation for Thomas to see the convincing evidence moved Thomas to cry out, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas recognized and confessed that the Son of Man standing before him was also the Son of God. By the presence of Jesus and by the power of His words, Thomas’ faith was restored in the resurrected and living Jesus.
Jesus responded, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” In these words, Jesus is speaking about you and me and all Christians since that day. Physically, we have not seen Jesus, but we believe in Him as the Son of God and our Savior, who was crucified on the cross to redeem us. He suffered and died and paid the price to take away our sins. But we do not worship a dead Jesus; He is risen from the dead! Jesus lives! He conquered sin, death, and the devil for us. We too confess, “My Lord and my God!”
Through the Word of God as recorded in the Bible, the Holy Spirit has called us to a knowledge of our sin, and He has called us to believe and trust in Jesus as our only Savior. God gives us His promise: “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” Acts 16:31.
“Morning breaks upon the tomb;
Jesus scatters all its gloom.
Day of triumph, thro’ the skies,
See the glorious Savior rise!
Christian, dry your flowing tears,
Chase your unbelieving fears;
Look on His deserted grave,
Doubt no more His pow’r to save!” Amen.