Today’s Passage: John 20:24–29
Jesus is alive again, and ten of His friends have already seen Him with their own eyes. One friend, though, was not in the room that day. His name was Thomas, and he says he needs to see for himself before he will believe.
As you read, hold this: Thomas touched the wounds of Jesus and knew he was touching God.
Context One God, and Thomas knew it
Every faithful Jew prayed the same words each day: “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). To call a man “God,” then, was no small thing to say, for it could sound like breaking the very first command God ever gave. That is the weight sitting inside the words Thomas is about to speak.
John 20:24–25 (BSB)
²⁴ Now Thomas called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.”
Thomas missed the biggest moment of his life by a single visit. His friends bring him the best news anyone has ever heard, that Jesus is alive, and Thomas does not believe them. He is not pretending, and he is not putting on a brave face; he says exactly what he feels, and then he stays in the room and keeps asking.
John 20:26–27 (BSB)
²⁶ Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”
A whole week passes, and through all of it Thomas keeps showing up with the others, even while he doubts, staying near the door that Jesus might walk through again. Then Jesus comes, straight through locked doors and straight to Thomas. He does not scold him first. He offers the man exactly what he had asked for: hands, side, and touch. Jesus knew Thomas’s demand before anyone told Him, and still He came close enough to be touched.
“Stop doubting and believe.” It is a command, but a gentle one, not a door slammed shut but a door held open.
John 20:28 (BSB)
²⁸ Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”
Notice what Jesus does not do. He does not say, “That is too far,” and He does not lower the title or correct Thomas. If Thomas were wrong, this would be the moment for Jesus to stop him, and He does not stop him. He receives the worship.
John 20:29 (BSB)
²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus does not scold Thomas for needing to see, but He looks past that room and blesses a far larger company: everyone who will believe without ever touching a nail mark. That includes every reader at this table today.
Study notes The Gospel's first word and this confession
John’s Gospel opens with a bold claim about Jesus, made in the author’s own voice, and twenty chapters later a doubting friend says almost the same thing out loud, straight to Jesus.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1 (BSB)
Thomas touched the wounds of Jesus and knew he was touching ho theos mou, pronounced ho THEH-oss moo. Strong's G2316, God, deity. Thomas uses the same word John used for Jesus at the very start of this Gospel. He says it to a man with wounds. He is not giving Jesus a lesser title. He is naming who Jesus really is. .
Personal Application
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What honest question about Jesus have you been afraid to say out loud?
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Jesus met Thomas’s doubt with His own wounds, not a lecture. Where do you need Him to meet you like that?
Today’s decision: I will say one honest question or doubt to God in prayer today, instead of keeping it silent.
Pray to Close
The central truth: Thomas touched the wounds of Jesus and knew he was touching God.
Give thanks: thank God that Jesus walked through a locked door for the one friend who doubted.
Ask: ask for eyes to see Jesus for who He really is.
Confess: tell Him the doubts you have kept quiet instead of bringing to Him.
Worship for Today
Song: Living Hope, by Phil Wickham
This song is about the empty tomb and all that it changes. Thomas touched the risen Jesus and could not stay quiet about what he had found. Sing it as your own answer to those open wounds and that empty tomb.
Listen: