And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Thomas answered Jesus by acknowledging Him as his own Lord and divine Saviour, recognizing the crucified One risen from the dead as the Christ and Messiah who had conquered death. He had insisted he would not believe without seeing and touching the wounds, and Jesus gave him the evidence he demanded by showing the marks of crucifixion and inviting him to touch, so that his doubts were swept away forever and he wanted no further proof. Jesus accepted that acknowledgment while rebuking him for requiring sight before believing, and pronounced blessed those who believe without seeing through the testimony of witnesses. He revealed Himself to Thomas with love and mercy as the crucified Saviour, breaking down unreasonable conditions and barriers of doubt, which shows doubt is better met with loving consideration and patience than with reproach and controversy. That acknowledgment means laying hold on truth and appropriating Christ as personally one's own, bringing rich treasures of grace, peace, and joy.
Resurrection Appearance Setting
The verse belongs to the risen Jesus appearing to the disciples, where His wounded hands and feet and His eating before them show He was bodily risen, and the disciples' doubt gave way to faith and joy and recognition of Him as their risen Saviour. The disciples recognized Him through His words, manner, and wounded hands, confessing Him as their Lord and God. That recognition is connected with understanding the prophecies of His life, suffering, death, and resurrection, which would have sustained their faith and hope. Thomas was absent when Jesus met with the disciples, and missing that meeting meant missing an interview with Jesus.
Thomas had insisted he would not believe without seeing and touching the wounds. Jesus gave him the evidence he demanded by showing the marks of the crucifixion and inviting him to touch His hands and side, convincing him that Jesus had risen. Jesus proved He had read Thomas's private thoughts and words by repeating his exact condition for belief. None of the disciples had seen Jesus for a week to tell Him of Thomas's stubborn unbelief.
Seeing his wounded Lord bearing the marks of crucifixion swept Thomas's doubts away forever, so he wanted no further evidence and needed no further proof. Seeing the marks of crucifixion identifies Him as the Christ who had been crucified, and those who held one account place this recognition by the marks at the meal in Emmaus. Thomas afterward recounted how his doubts were swept away, and when the gathered believers saw Jesus they worshiped Him, His countenance like the face of God.
Meaning of Confession
The words are the recognition of the risen Jesus as the crucified Lord risen from the dead. They identify Him as Saviour, as the Christ who was crucified, and as the Messiah who conquered death. They are Thomas's answer to Jesus, recording his acknowledgment of Jesus as his Lord and his God. That answer supplies the example behind the name doubting Thomas, who did not believe until he could accept the evidence before him.
Convinced that Jesus had risen, Thomas needed no further proof and no longer needed to touch the wounds. His certainty ended his demand for further proof, his doubts were swept away forever, and he wanted no further evidence. He made the confession overcome with affection and devotion, his heart leaping for joy at the resurrection. Casting himself at Jesus' feet, he worshiped Him as his Lord and his God. His testimony strengthened the faith of the gathered believers.
Jesus accepted this acknowledgment while rebuking Thomas for requiring sight before believing. Faith based on the testimony of others is also blessed.
Seeing and Believing
Thomas made a virtue of doubting until every cause for doubting was taken away, insisting he must have the unmistakable physical evidence he had declared beforehand. When that demanded evidence was granted him, no room was left to doubt and he was compelled to believe, and his cry of My Lord and my God is belief by sight in contrast to believing without having seen. Jesus did not commend that unbelief but reproved it with the words, Be not faithless, but believing. He gave Thomas the proof he wanted while still rebuking him for requiring sight before believing.
Against that sight-faith Jesus pronounced blessed those who believe in Him without seeing Him. That blessing falls on believers who cannot see or touch the marks of the wounds yet believe the testimony of the disciples, and God credits them with that belief. The eyewitness report of the disciples is the appointed means by which others come to believe in the resurrection. Faith resting on the testimony of others is therefore also blessed.
Thomas's experience gives no warrant for waiting until every doubt is removed before believing. Insisting on having every cause for doubt removed can lead people to reject clear evidence of divine truth. Those who keep waiting in that way may become hardened in unbelief and fixed in it, with the mind blinded and the heart hardened. They lose the light they have neglected and the light they have received.
Guiding Honest Doubters
Jesus met Thomas not with reproach but with love and mercy, revealing Himself as the crucified Saviour whose tender, considerate dealing broke down the unreasonable conditions of faith and the barriers raised by doubt and drew faith out of a doubter. That generous love and tender condescension is what brings forth the acknowledgment, My Lord and my God.
Doubt is better met with loving consideration than with words of reproach or controversy. Persistent controversy seldom weakens unbelief, but puts it on self-defense where it finds new support and excuse. Revealing Jesus as the crucified Saviour in love and mercy can lead even formerly unwilling people to acknowledge Him as Lord and God, and many once unwilling will yet make that acknowledgment when He is so revealed to them.
His treatment of Thomas gives the pattern for treating those who have doubts about religious truth and make those doubts prominent. This includes those who cannot believe on the testimony of others or on the published visions and Testimonies but must see and have the evidence for themselves. They are not to be set aside or pushed aside merely for their doubts, but to be treated with patience, kindness, forbearance, and brotherly love while they seek evidence and decide what they believe, until they find their position and become established for or against. If such doubters go beyond doubt and fight against and oppose that of which they have no knowledge and in which they have had no experience, the church may know that they are not right.
Demanding even greater evidence than doubting Thomas did means looking on the work with indifference and expressing doubts, suspicion, and fears instead of putting hand to the work with zeal and exerting energy to build up what Christ has required. Such influence does not work directly to tear down but works indirectly to distract, hinder, and retard advance and reform among God's people. It unites with the powers of darkness arrayed against them. Thomas's doubting itself means honest skepticism toward wonderful things shown by God, not indifference, for he can be deeply moved, regard the speaker as sincere, and desire to believe and be the happiest man alive if he could believe, while still unable to explain what has been related or to accept testimony until convinced it is indeed the voice of God. Jesus gave rest to Thomas, whose faith had been troubled by doubt, so that Thomas could rest in Jesus as his Lord and God.
Personal Appropriation and Joy
The confession is personal recognition of Jesus as Lord and God, a laying hold on truth and an appropriating of Christ as personally one's own. That place is reached through close connection with Him who offered Himself as a sacrifice to save a perishing world. It comes by following on to know the Lord, by striving earnestly for identity with the Redeemer, and by living by faith in Christ.
Doing the work He did and living for the saving of souls brings the learner there, for it is the result of being educated by Christ line upon line. When young workers reach the place where they can truly make this confession, grace and peace and joy in rich measure become theirs. Appropriating the truth about Christ in this personal way brings rich treasures of grace, peace, and joy.
Thomas answered Jesus by acknowledging Him as his own Lord and divine Saviour, recognizing the crucified One risen from the dead as the Christ and Messiah who had conquered death. He had insisted he would not believe without seeing and touching the wounds, and Jesus gave him the evidence he demanded by showing the marks of crucifixion and inviting him to touch, so that his doubts were swept away forever and he wanted no further proof. Jesus accepted that acknowledgment while rebuking him for requiring sight before believing, and pronounced blessed those who believe without seeing through the testimony of witnesses. He revealed Himself to Thomas with love and mercy as the crucified Saviour, breaking down unreasonable conditions and barriers of doubt, which shows doubt is better met with loving consideration and patience than with reproach and controversy. That acknowledgment means laying hold on truth and appropriating Christ as personally one's own, bringing rich treasures of grace, peace, and joy.
Resurrection Appearance Setting
The verse belongs to the risen Jesus appearing to the disciples, where His wounded hands and feet and His eating before them show He was bodily risen, and the disciples' doubt gave way to faith and joy and recognition of Him as their risen Saviour. The disciples recognized Him through His words, manner, and wounded hands, confessing Him as their Lord and God. That recognition is connected with understanding the prophecies of His life, suffering, death, and resurrection, which would have sustained their faith and hope. Thomas was absent when Jesus met with the disciples, and missing that meeting meant missing an interview with Jesus.
Thomas had insisted he would not believe without seeing and touching the wounds. Jesus gave him the evidence he demanded by showing the marks of the crucifixion and inviting him to touch His hands and side, convincing him that Jesus had risen. Jesus proved He had read Thomas's private thoughts and words by repeating his exact condition for belief. None of the disciples had seen Jesus for a week to tell Him of Thomas's stubborn unbelief.
Seeing his wounded Lord bearing the marks of crucifixion swept Thomas's doubts away forever, so he wanted no further evidence and needed no further proof. Seeing the marks of crucifixion identifies Him as the Christ who had been crucified, and those who held one account place this recognition by the marks at the meal in Emmaus. Thomas afterward recounted how his doubts were swept away, and when the gathered believers saw Jesus they worshiped Him, His countenance like the face of God.
Meaning of Confession
The words are the recognition of the risen Jesus as the crucified Lord risen from the dead. They identify Him as Saviour, as the Christ who was crucified, and as the Messiah who conquered death. They are Thomas's answer to Jesus, recording his acknowledgment of Jesus as his Lord and his God. That answer supplies the example behind the name doubting Thomas, who did not believe until he could accept the evidence before him.
Convinced that Jesus had risen, Thomas needed no further proof and no longer needed to touch the wounds. His certainty ended his demand for further proof, his doubts were swept away forever, and he wanted no further evidence. He made the confession overcome with affection and devotion, his heart leaping for joy at the resurrection. Casting himself at Jesus' feet, he worshiped Him as his Lord and his God. His testimony strengthened the faith of the gathered believers.
Jesus accepted this acknowledgment while rebuking Thomas for requiring sight before believing. Faith based on the testimony of others is also blessed.
Seeing and Believing
Thomas made a virtue of doubting until every cause for doubting was taken away, insisting he must have the unmistakable physical evidence he had declared beforehand. When that demanded evidence was granted him, no room was left to doubt and he was compelled to believe, and his cry of My Lord and my God is belief by sight in contrast to believing without having seen. Jesus did not commend that unbelief but reproved it with the words, Be not faithless, but believing. He gave Thomas the proof he wanted while still rebuking him for requiring sight before believing.
Against that sight-faith Jesus pronounced blessed those who believe in Him without seeing Him. That blessing falls on believers who cannot see or touch the marks of the wounds yet believe the testimony of the disciples, and God credits them with that belief. The eyewitness report of the disciples is the appointed means by which others come to believe in the resurrection. Faith resting on the testimony of others is therefore also blessed.
Thomas's experience gives no warrant for waiting until every doubt is removed before believing. Insisting on having every cause for doubt removed can lead people to reject clear evidence of divine truth. Those who keep waiting in that way may become hardened in unbelief and fixed in it, with the mind blinded and the heart hardened. They lose the light they have neglected and the light they have received.
Guiding Honest Doubters
Jesus met Thomas not with reproach but with love and mercy, revealing Himself as the crucified Saviour whose tender, considerate dealing broke down the unreasonable conditions of faith and the barriers raised by doubt and drew faith out of a doubter. That generous love and tender condescension is what brings forth the acknowledgment, My Lord and my God.
Doubt is better met with loving consideration than with words of reproach or controversy. Persistent controversy seldom weakens unbelief, but puts it on self-defense where it finds new support and excuse. Revealing Jesus as the crucified Saviour in love and mercy can lead even formerly unwilling people to acknowledge Him as Lord and God, and many once unwilling will yet make that acknowledgment when He is so revealed to them.
His treatment of Thomas gives the pattern for treating those who have doubts about religious truth and make those doubts prominent. This includes those who cannot believe on the testimony of others or on the published visions and Testimonies but must see and have the evidence for themselves. They are not to be set aside or pushed aside merely for their doubts, but to be treated with patience, kindness, forbearance, and brotherly love while they seek evidence and decide what they believe, until they find their position and become established for or against. If such doubters go beyond doubt and fight against and oppose that of which they have no knowledge and in which they have had no experience, the church may know that they are not right.
Demanding even greater evidence than doubting Thomas did means looking on the work with indifference and expressing doubts, suspicion, and fears instead of putting hand to the work with zeal and exerting energy to build up what Christ has required. Such influence does not work directly to tear down but works indirectly to distract, hinder, and retard advance and reform among God's people. It unites with the powers of darkness arrayed against them. Thomas's doubting itself means honest skepticism toward wonderful things shown by God, not indifference, for he can be deeply moved, regard the speaker as sincere, and desire to believe and be the happiest man alive if he could believe, while still unable to explain what has been related or to accept testimony until convinced it is indeed the voice of God. Jesus gave rest to Thomas, whose faith had been troubled by doubt, so that Thomas could rest in Jesus as his Lord and God.
Personal Appropriation and Joy
The confession is personal recognition of Jesus as Lord and God, a laying hold on truth and an appropriating of Christ as personally one's own. That place is reached through close connection with Him who offered Himself as a sacrifice to save a perishing world. It comes by following on to know the Lord, by striving earnestly for identity with the Redeemer, and by living by faith in Christ.
Doing the work He did and living for the saving of souls brings the learner there, for it is the result of being educated by Christ line upon line. When young workers reach the place where they can truly make this confession, grace and peace and joy in rich measure become theirs. Appropriating the truth about Christ in this personal way brings rich treasures of grace, peace, and joy.