The Doubts of Thomas

(John 20:24-31)

A Paper by

Joseph S. Shaver

Presented to

Rev. Gerald L. Whetstone

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of

Biblical Interpretation

Nazarene Bible College

Colorado Springs, CO

May 4, 2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………3

ORIENTATION AND CONTEXT……………………………………………………..3

SIGNIFICANCE OF TEXT……………………………………………………..3

HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SETTING……………………………………….5

LITERARY CONTEXT…………………………………………………………7

PRESENTATION OF TEXT…………………………………………………………….7

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE…………………………………………………………7

TEXT CRITICAL NOTES……………………………………………………….8

OUTLINE OF PASSAGE………………………………………………………..9

THE ENCOUNTER………………………………………………………………………9

JESUS APPEARS AGAIN………………………………………………………………12

PURPOSE OF WRITING……………………………………………………………….14

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………..17

SUMMATION…………………………………………………………………...17

APPLICATION………………………………………………………………….19

WORKS CITED………………………………………………………………………....21

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INTRODUCTION

ORIENTATION AND CONTEXT

Significance of Text

When reading John 20:24-31, the obvious message that jumps out on quick first glance is

dealing with the elements of belief and doubt. Here we have a disciple of Jesus Christ, who had

spent at least the last three years following the man he expected to change everything for the

Jewish people. Ultimately, Thomas, like the other disciples, was devastated at what he had

witnessed happen to the man he believed to be the Messiah. This devastation led to what seems

to be an utterly stubborn and pessimistic attitude in regards to the resurrection of Jesus.

John starts off the passage explaining that Thomas was not with the other ten disciples

when Jesus had appeared to them. This leads to many questions immediately, especially, why

was Thomas absent from the meeting with the others? The Expositor’s Bible Commentary

suggests that he possibly wanted to be alone to mourn, but there is no real reason given

(Longman III 650). The remaining disciples precede to tell Thomas about the encounter they had

with the risen Messiah, which was met with a surprising and adamant refusal to believe what his

friends were telling him. This is not a new struggle. It is one that many believers have struggled

with through the years, but as one of the twelve, Thomas has been placed in a different in a

different category, one in which, he is ridiculed to a higher degree. Whether this is fair treatment

or not, is of great debate among believers and nonbelievers alike. Thomas wanted physical proof

that this really was the resurrected Jesus.

Things changed eight days later, when Jesus returned to the room the disciples were

meeting in, and with Thomas present this time. Jesus immediately confronts the faithlessness of

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Thomas and seems to do so in an understanding way. It would be easy for Jesus to surrender

Thomas to his unbelief, but instead He once again displays His great love for mankind by going

out of His way to settle any doubts Thomas may have. In this encounter, Jesus also displays His

omniscient quality by presenting His wounds for Thomas to touch, which fulfilled the

requirements he had set for belief when he told the others in verse 25, “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 (Crossway 2071).” Scripture never states whether Thomas actually

followed through with placing his fingers in the wounds, but it is safe to assume he did. What is

known is Thomas was no longer a doubter. He believed his leader had risen from the grave and

proclaimed, “My Lord and my God (Crossway 2071)!” This is quite a change of direction from

his prior stubborn stance of complete disbelief.

While, it was discussed earlier that Jesus seemed to approach Thomas in an

understanding way, He later reprimands him for his lack of faith. In no way does He insinuate

that Thomas’s belief is any less pertinent, but that those in the future, who believe without

seeing, will be further blessed. What exactly does Jesus refer to here? How will those who

believe without seeing be blessed in a different way? Is this just a reference to having stronger

faith? It is important to remember that even though there is no mention of complete disbelief,

outside of Peter’s denial of knowing Jesus after the arrest, it is highly likely that each of the

disciples had their own battles with doubts. Thomas just ended up with a story of his doubts

placed in John’s Gospel, so he is the one who became the object of many a people’s criticism.

The final part of the passage seems a bit out of place at first, but then starts to make

sense. It is a message from the author of the Gospel about the reason for his writing, which is “so

that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have

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life in His name (Crossway 2071).” While, it seems out of place, it also makes sense to place this

type of declaration of purpose right after a statement about believing by Jesus Himself. It does

leave questions as to exactly what John’s purpose for placing it there was though. Is the

following chapter an appendix that was added later? Or, was there some other reason for its

location?

Historical and Social Setting

The fourth Gospel never specifically states who the author was, but there is much

evidence to support the theory that John the son of Zebedee is the one who penned this particular

Gospel (Longman III 360). Multiple times throughout the Gospel there is mention of “the

disciple whom Jesus loved.” It makes sense that this disciple would be one of the favored three,

which consisted of Peter, John and James, especially given the declaration from the cross for him

to care for Mary (John 19:26), to receive this type of description. James was martyred before the

estimated time of the Gospels writing, which removes him from the list of potential authors

(Crossway 2387). This leaves just Peter and John, and in John 21:7 we see that Peter is with the

author, so all evidence points to the apostle John, the son of Zebedee, as the author of this

Gospel. John as the author, also brings to light why his account was so spiritual in nature

compared to the historic theme of the others because of his closeness to Jesus and his witness to

things like the Transfiguration that was not seen by the other nine disciples. Dr. Daniel G.

Powers of Nazarene Bible College states, “The identity of the ‘beloved disciple’ is a bit

complicated. But when you look at the various references to the beloved disciple in the Gospel,

the evidence falls very strongly in favor of John the son of Zebedee, the apostle of Jesus

(Powers).”

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Based on the words of the author himself in verses 30-31 on chapter 20, we can see that

the purpose of his writing was so that others would believe and come to faith in Jesus Christ as

the Son of God. “Clement of Alexandria stated, ‘Last of all, John, perceiving that the external

facts had been made plain [in the other canonical Gospels] …composed a spiritual Gospel’

(Crossway 2015).” This statement shows historically that John’s Gospel was believed to have

been written after the other three and because of the wording of John 21:18 some believe it to

have been after Peter was martyred as well. This would place the authorship somewhere after 70

AD and most likely written in Ephesus (Powers).

The Gospel according to John has not always been one of the most beloved of the

Gospels. This is mainly true because of the Gnostics, whose “prolific usage of the Gospel”

turned the early Church away from its usage for their own spiritual development (Powers). The

struggle between the early Church and the Gnostics created a desire for the Church to separate

themselves from the group in any way possible. This seems strange because these days John is

one of the go-to books of the Bible. Many times, new believers are told to start with John to

develop their relationship with Christ. So, to know there was, at one point, a desire to distance

the Church from John’s Gospel seems remarkable.

Another key to remember when reading this passage of Scripture is where the disciples

were when this was taking place. They were not only mourning the death of their leader and

friend, but they were most likely in great fear for their own lives. This is demonstrated by John

20:19 and verse 26, where we are told the disciples were behind locked doors. The disciples had

stayed in Jerusalem after the crucifixion of Jesus and had to be expecting the enemies of Jesus to

come for them next. Not only had they lost a great leader, who they thought was the coming

Messiah, but now they were also on the verge of possibly dying themselves for following Him

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over the last few years. This has to be quite a terrifying feeling. The question could be asked,

why did they not flee Jerusalem? Well, there is a good chance they were paralyzed with fear and

afraid to move about freely, which would explain hiding away behind the locked doors.

Literary Setting

The entire Gospel according to John seems to be a historical narrative with an

evangelistic intent. This message holds true through the entire Gospel, all leading up to a

culmination that the author wants people to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. He does this by

masterfully placing stories of people’s interactions with Jesus, mixed with their struggles to

come to a place of belief.

The passage directly before John 20:24-31 is tied together with the one in question. It is

the other ten disciples encountering the resurrected Christ for the first time. This is really where

it begins. Something that immediately jumps out is that Jesus shows them His hands and side

because it falls in line with what Thomas is about say when told about the encounter. The verses

after are also about an encounter with Jesus that seven disciples were a part of and also

chronicles the last miracle performed in John’s Gospel. In just a few handfuls of verses the

author is able to give multiple accounts of people who had physical encounters with a man they

had previously watched beaten and crucified. This was all done so that others would believe.

PRESENTATION OF THE TEXT

Scripture Passage

John 20:24 “Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,4 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

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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 vin 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 (Crossway 2071).” – English Standard

Version

Text Critical Issues

“Though the Greek (ton typon ton helon) is twice repeated (in NA), both the NIV and

NASB follow the variant, ton topon, in the second location and translate the two phrases with:

‘nail marks …where the nails were’ ; ‘the imprint of the nails …the place of the nails.’ Most

other current versions maintain the same translation for the two occurrences of, ton typon ton

helon: NET, ‘the wounds from the nails’ ; NRSV, ‘the mark of the nails’ ; NKJV, ‘the print of

the nails’ (Longman III 651).”

“The NASB’s ‘I will not believe’ leaves the impression that unless Thomas was able to

see and feel the wounds, he would not believe in Jesus at all. The NIV has ‘I will not believe it,’

thus narrowing the scope to refer to the resurrection itself. Although ‘it’ is not in the Greek, it

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should be added since direct objects are often omitted in Greek when the context clearly defines

what is intended. Both the NET and NLT supply ‘it’ (Longman III 652).”

“Some translations take (pisteusantes GK 4409) as a gnomic aorist, thus making it

equivalent to an English present tense (RSV, ‘and yet believe’ ; TEV, ‘those who believe’). It is

more likely that Jesus is referring to those who ‘[had] come to believe’ (NRSV) without the

benefit of having as yet seen him risen from the dead (Longman III 652).”

Outline of Passage

I. The Encounter (vs. 24-25)

A. Disbelief

B. Requirements for belief

II. Jesus Appears Again

A. Talks to Thomas

B. The wounds

C. Thomas believes

III. Purpose for writing

A. Believe Jesus is the Son of God

B. Have life in His name

The Encounter

Throughout the Gospel according to John, Thomas is shown to have a pessimistic

temperament and his reaction to the other disciples telling him about the appearance of Jesus is

no different. The first visual given of Thomas comes from John 11:16, where the other disciples

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are trying to talk Jesus out of going to Judea to see Lazarus and Thomas is the only one who says

“lets go”. He does so in a dark way by saying, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him

(Crossway 2045).” Arthur W. Pink said of Thomas’s words that, “These words throw not a little

light on the character of him who uttered them. First, they reveal Thomas as a man of morbid

feeling – death was the object which filled his vision (Pink 1105).” His words show a tendency

to look at the worst possible outcome of a situation. The second occasion is found in John 14,

Jesus is telling the apostles that He will be leaving them but gives them assurances of His return

and of how necessary this is to fulfill His purpose, but Thomas speaks up to say, “Lord, we do

not know where you are going. How can we know the way (Crossway 2052)?” Even with the

assurances of Jesus’ return, Thomas was filled with more of a loss of hope than a trust in the

Lord. Unfortunately, these two passages are the only ones available to piece together the

character of Thomas and from them comes the vision of a man with a gloomy outlook.

So, when the other ten disciples, who had seen the risen Lord, came to tell Thomas the

great news it is not that surprising for Thomas to have some doubts. Luke 23:49 says, “And all

His acquaintances and the women who had followed Him from Galilee stood at a distance

watching these things,” of the death of Jesus, so it is safe to say that Thomas had watched his

Master die an agonizing death on the cross (Crossway 2011). In his mind, all he had hoped for

had vanished when Jesus breathed His last breath. What is surprising is how adamant Thomas

was about his lack of belief. Thomas told his fellow disciples, “Unless I see in His hands the

marks of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His

side, I will never believe (Crossway 2071).” The word “unless” really stands out to show how

stubborn Thomas was being in his denial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Expositor’s

Bible Commentary states, “The nonnegotiable ‘unless’ is an emphatic double negative in Greek.

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It is difficult to understand why Thomas was so resolved not to believe. To reject so strongly the

testimony of ten close friends is not easy to justify (Longman III 650-51).” This says a good deal

about where Thomas was emotionally and mentally in regards to the crucifixion of Jesus. He had

spent at least three years as a follower of Jesus and was obviously committed to Him,

considering he was willing to die beside Him in Judea, so something had to of completely rocked

his world for him to suddenly be so obstinate. The good news is that there must have been a part

of Thomas that wanted to believe his fellow disciples were telling him the truth because eight

days later he was meeting with the other ten, so he had not completely given up.

As previously mentioned, Thomas laid out some specific requirements that would have to

be met before he would be willing to believe that Jesus had indeed resurrected from the dead.

Thomas wanted tangible proof that what the other ten disciples were telling him was true and

real, not just a delusion. Thomas’ criteria for belief was, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of

the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nail, and place my hand into His, I will never

believe (Crossway 2071).” Without even knowing it, Thomas was giving future generations the

fulfillment of another Biblical prophecy. “This is the only place in the New Testament where the

‘nails’ which pierced the Savior’s hands and feet are actually mentioned. The Romans did not

always use nails when crucifying criminals. Sometimes they bound the victim’s hands and feet to

the cross by strong cords (Pink 1108).” Due to the criteria Thomas set for himself as

requirements to believe, we are able to see the fulfillment Psalm 22:16 which says, “… they have

pierced my hands and feet (Crossway 964).” It just goes to show how precise God was in

inspiring the authors of the Bible to make sure little details like that were included for the benefit

of future generations.

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Jesus Appears Again

“Eight days later, His disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them (Crossway

2071).” It is important to understand the significance of John stating they were gathered together

again eight days later. “’After eight days’ signifies, according to the Jewish manner of reckoning

time (who counted any part of a day as a whole one), after a week (Pink 1109).” This is

important to the debate over the proper day for Christians to worship. In verse 19 of chapter 20,

it is said that the first appearance made to all of the disciples, minus Thomas, was on the first day

of the week, which would have been Sunday. “This is Sunday, not Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath,

the seventh day of the week). The Sabbath stands for rest after works and belongs to the

dispensation of law. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, and speaks of life and

rest before works (Wiersbe 267).” This clearly shows that immediately after the crucifixion the

followers of Jesus Christ started meeting together for fellowship on Sundays. On both of these

first two Sundays the Lord showed up in their midst, which is what we still pray He will do every

Sunday morning in churches across the world.

Just like the week before, the disciples are “locked in a room, huddling together in fear

(Wiersbe 268)!” Even after the first appearance this had to still be a scary time for the disciples,

just waiting for the Jewish leaders to come arrest them and put them to death as well. This time

Thomas is with them. It says a good bit about the hope Thomas had to still be holding onto

because after such a strong stance of disbelief he is meeting together with the other disciples. As

they sit there gathered, Jesus appears again. Some believe that since Jesus had a physical body

that the door must miraculously opened in a similar fashion to the jail cell Peter was able to

escape in Acts 12:10 (Crossway 2070). Ultimately, the Bible does not specify how Jesus made it

through the locked door, only that He did.

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The first thing Jesus does is greet all of the disciples with the words “Peace be with you

(Crossway 2071).” This appearance has all the same elements as the week prior. Immediately

after His greeting, Jesus confronts the doubts of Thomas with love and grace. “Thomas needed to

be re-established in the truths taught by the pierced hands and side of the Savior, and therefore he

got just what was required to restore his wandering soul (Pink 1110).” Instead of abandoning

Thomas to his unbelief, Jesus instead answers his doubts in the exact way that he had demanded

a week earlier. It is a foundational point of the Christian faith that Jesus is showing, to redeem

the faith of Thomas. The nail holes and spear wound in Jesus’ side represent the death that sin

endured on the cross and the fact that Thomas was offered the chance to physically touch them

both, brought him to a belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. These are keys to faith that lead

to salvation in Jesus. The way Jesus deals with the doubts of Thomas shows the exactly how

understanding He is when it comes to dealing with the finite mind of fallen man. This same

compassionate understanding is available to each person today.

When Jesus presented His wounds, Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God

(Crossway 2071)!” This is a far cry from the unbelief he showed a week earlier. He went from

unbelief to proclaiming the deity of Jesus. There is much debate on whether the proper

translation should be something similar to “It is my Lord and my God,” but in either case, using

the term or title “God” points toward the belief that Jesus was God in the flesh (Longman III

651). “Thomas is looking on Him who was pierced but acknowledging that it was both Jesus and

God who were pierced (Steven).” This is shown due to the use of the word “my” in front of both

Lord and God. This shows a separation between the two pronouns and in a sense gives credence

to two-parts of what is now called the Trinity. “The combination ‘Lord and God’ would be

familiar to any reader of the Greek OT, where it regularly translates the Hebrew Yahweh Elohim

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(Longman III 651).” It is amazing to see Thomas referring to such deep theological issues by just

emotionally reacting to his encounter with the risen Lord and important to point out this is the

only place in any Gospel account where Jesus is called God. It truly shows the God inspired side

of John’s writing of his Gospel account to even have these words on paper.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who

have not seen and yet believed (Crossway 2071).” There should not be much question as to who

Jesus is speaking of when He mentions those who believe without seeing, because obviously,

there are billions of people who have lived over the course of two thousand years since the

ascension of Jesus, who have not seen Him. The passage does not say what this blessing will be,

but a deeper trust in who Jesus Christ is would be as good as it gets in terms of blessings, which

is exactly what is granted to those who come to faith in Him. That kind of deep faith creates an

increase in hopefulness, which allows a believer to not become down or distracted in the trying

times of life.

Purpose for Writing

John is pretty straight forward in his reasoning for writing his Gospel account, but there is

some question or debate about exactly who he wanted to believe. “Manuscript testimony is rather

equally divided between pisteuete (present subjunctive) and pisteusete (aorist subjunctive), two

forms of the verb ‘to believe’ (GK4409) (Longman III 652).” If the present subjunctive is the

correct translation then he was writing to current believers, so that their faith in Jesus Christ

could continue to grow. This would not mean that there was not a secondary reason because John

could have very well still held the intent to reach future believers and nonbelievers. It would just

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indicate that his primary purpose for writing was not evangelistic in nature. On the other hand, if

the aorist subjunctive is correct then John’s purpose was primarily evangelistic and everyone else

was secondary, including believers at the time of the Gospel’s writing. “The purpose statement in

20:30-31 makes it appear that John wrote with an evangelistic intent. However, his depth of

teaching shows that he wanted readers not only to come to initial saving faith in Jesus but also to

grow into a rich, well-informed faith (Crossway 2015-16).” This seems to best sum up a good

understanding of John’s approach. The overall context of the Gospel according to John does not

seem to necessarily have any one audience in mind. His writing at times seems to be focused on

deepening the understanding of believers, like in the cleansing of the Temple, where He showed

what He did not want His Church to become. Then at other times John seems focused on the

very basics of the Christian faith, like with the discussion Jesus had about believing, being born

again and His purpose with Nicodemus. Finally, in areas like the prologue, the writer seems to be

writing to anyone and everyone who is willing to read the Gospel, whether believers, potential

believers or nonbelievers. In the end it is difficult to judge exactly what John’s intent was at the

time he was writing but it is obvious the impact it has had on people of different beliefs and

backgrounds.

In verse 30, John writes, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the

disciples, which are not written in this book,” which at first comes across like the ending to his

Gospel account, but in retrospect could be just dealing with the resurrection appearances. Arthur

W. Pink wrote, “The whole of chapter 20 is occupied with a recountal of the appearance of the

risen Christ unto His own, and this is continued in chapter 21 as the very first verse shows. We

take it that the ‘many other signs’ refer not to what the Lord had done through the whole course

of His public ministry, but to the proofs which the risen Christ had furnished His apostles (Pink

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1116).” Then there are other trains of thought like the commentary for the Cambridge Bible for

Schools and Colleges who believe that John originally intended on ending his Gospel account at

the end of verse 20 but ended up adding chapter 21 later (Cambridge Bible for Schools and

Colleges). Finally, many others see this as the start of the end of his book. Once again, there is

no real evidence to validate any of these three options as the front runner of truth but given the

actual ending in 21:24-25, there should be given some consideration to the idea that verses 30

and 31 of chapter 20 are actually summing up the resurrection signs performed by Jesus.

The end result of John’s writing is so that people “may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the

Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name (Crossway 2071).” The

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Christ as the Messiah (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). So,

John is stating that his purpose for writing this account of the life, words and deeds of Jesus is so

that others who come in contact with his writing will believe that He was and is the Savior of the

world. This once again makes John’s Gospel an evangelistic endeavor. The next part is for

people to believe that He is truly the Son of God, which is not too hard once belief is found in

Jesus’ identity as the Savior of the world. All of this reaches a climax at the end of verse 31

when John states his final purpose for writing. John writes, “that by believing you may have life

in His name (Crossway 2071).” This is profound because John is stating a belief in Jesus’ words

from John 14:6 where Jesus said in response to Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the

life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Crossway 2052).” The author, more than

anything wants his readers to believe those words and has laid out all the evidence he could fit on

the pages available to help others to draw that conclusion. Jesus is where John wants all readers

to place their hope because he ultimately knows there will be life found in no one else! “The

Fourth Gospel was written to deepen the faith of Christians in Jesus as Son of God and Giver of

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Life, but at the same time also to encourage them to confess this openly, even under

circumstances in which confession would endanger their social position or even their lives

(Varughese 167).”

CONCLUSION

Summation

The passage that gives us the title “Doubting Thomas” turns out to have much more to it

than what first meets the eye. Thomas, who there is little information about, seems to be no

different than many people today. He ultimately comes across as a man with a very pessimistic

attitude, which is shown in the three passages in John in which he appears. This attitude affected

his ability to accept the word of his ten fellow disciples in regards to the resurrection of Jesus and

His ultimate appearance to them in the room they were meeting. At first, it seems remarkable

that someone who had been committed enough to die with Jesus, as John 11:16 shows, would be

so stubborn in accepting the resurrection that Jesus had told the disciples would happen, until it

is remembered that Thomas had witnessed a gruesome crucifixion of the Man he called the

Messiah.

The result of the crucifixion turned out to be a loss of faith for Thomas. His usage of

language when he stated to the other disciples that he said “I will never believe” is very strong

and indicates a man who had a life-changing experience in regards to his belief in Christ

(Crossway 2071). This caused Thomas to lay out a list of requirements of what it would take for

him to believe. Due to this list, we now know Jesus was nailed to the cross because the wounds

from the nails are one of the keys of a two-part requirement. As important as the nails have

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become in modern Christianity, it is amazing this is the only place they are mentioned in any of

the Gospels, which shows the hand God played in the writing of the Gospel according to John.

For years, there has been an argument about the proper day of Christian fellowship and

worship, which this passage of Scripture speaks on. The first two appearance both took place on

Sundays, and ultimately, this is what we are looking for when we gather today. We want Jesus to

dwell among us, just like He did during His appearances to the disciples. This was a difficult fact

to grasp at first, not knowing how the Jewish people went about counting days, but several

authors, including Arthur W. Pink, clarified that they counting any part of a day as a whole day

(Pink 1109). This means that even though at first glance it appears to point towards Monday

being the second appearance, it was most definitely Sunday. Two thousand years later the

Church is still debating something that was settled the first two weeks after His resurrection.

It does not come as much of a coincidence that when Jesus appeared the second time He

went through all of the same details. It truly seems this second appearance was solely for the

benefit of Thomas. Obviously, there was a benefit to the other ten, but given Jesus immediately

calls out to Thomas is evidence of Him attempting to reach out to him. Jesus, even though He

was not physically present when Thomas made his list of requirements, knew exactly what he

wanted to see to believe. The love of Christ for even the doubting was made vividly apparent

through the actions of Jesus towards Thomas. He very easily could have turned His back on him

in the same way it seemed like Thomas had Him, but the heart of the Father would not allow this

to happen. The passage never states whether Thomas ever actually touched the wounds of Jesus

and it is not really important if he did or not. What is important is that because of Jesus’

searching for and calling for Thomas, he was able to be redeemed to a belief that led to complete

abandonment of self for Jesus Christ. We are also told of how blessed we all are in the

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generations after the life, death and resurrection of the Messiah. This blessing comes because of

our ability to believe without seeing the physical body of Christ, which leads to a faith that

brings us hope. Thomas missed out on this blessing and something seldom discussed is Jesus was

not just talking about him. Keep in mind that after His arrest all of the disciples scattered and

there are passages that discuss Peter’s denial of Christ, as well as mentioning the other followers

watching the crucifixion from a distance (Luke 23:49). So, when Jesus says, “Blessed are those

who have not seen and yet have believed,” it is not a stretch to say He is speaking to all of the

disciples (Crossway 2071). Without the appearance on that first Easter Sunday to the ten, there

may not be religion called Christianity today.

While John may have wrote his Gospel account with a certain audience in mind, it was

never completely intended for just one group of people. God inspired John to write it in a way

that gave it a multi-purpose characteristic, which is why it is capable of being used in so many

different ways to reach others. It is a great study for a grounded believer, who is looking to

develop a deeper bond with Jesus Christ and a better theological understanding of what His life,

death and resurrection was able to accomplish. At the same time, John’s Gospel account is

foundational enough for new believers to use to become grounded into a new belief system.

There is no question to the evangelistic usefulness of this Gospel, but that does not guarantee it

was the intent of the author. All it proves is it was the intent of the Author of Life.

Application

John 20:24-31 is a passage of Scripture that would be dearly missed if left unwritten. It is

a story of a man who has encountered great emotional distress due to the loss of a loved one,

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which impacted his faith in a negative way. How easy can we all relate to that? The great part of

this passage is the hope that it gives the reader of knowing Jesus did not just leave Thomas stuck

in his disbelief. There is a good bit to be learned through even a cursory study of these verses,

including remembering that we will always be sought by Jesus. Romans 5:8 tells us “but God

shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” which is perfectly

illustrated in the way that Jesus confronts the doubts of Thomas (Crossway 2165). So many

times, we attempt to mask our doubts as if He is not aware we have them, but just like He

already knew about Thomas’ requirements for faith, He also knows about ours. It is important

that we always maintain an open dialogue with Christ about any doubts and/or struggles we are

having in our faith. Can you imagine what those eight days in between appearances were like for

Thomas? He obviously still clung to some type of hope because he continued to meet with the

other disciples, but there had to be a constant battle going on in his mind. A battle that could

have been defeated by communicating his doubts with the Father and Son. We must continue to

seek Him! Jesus Christ can overcome any barriers we may have between us and belief, and He

loves us enough to do just that.

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Works Cited

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. "John Commentary." 2004-2017. Bible Hub. Web.

17 May 2018.

Crossway. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton: Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News

Publishers, 2008. Print.

Longman III, Tremper, David E. Garland. The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Luke ~ Acts.

Revised Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007. Print.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. "Christ." n.d. Merriam-Webster. Web. 17 May 2018.

Pink, Arthur W. Exposition of the Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: The Zondervan Corporation,

1945. Print.

Powers, Ph.D., Daniel G. "The Gospel according to John." 2008. Nazarene Bible College. Web.

June 2017.

Steven. "What did Thomas mean when he said to Jesus "My Lord and my God"?" 24 November

2009. BibleQ. Web. 17 May 2018.

Varughese, Alex, Roger Hahn, David Neale, Jeanne Orjala Serrao, Dan Spross, Jirair Tashijian.

Discovering the New Testament: Community and Faith. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press,

2005. Print.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton: SP

Publications, Inc., 1992. Print.

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