John 20:25 Commentary and Bible Study

Doubting Thomas will not believe he has risen from the dead. But he was a believer. It was very foolish of him to resist belief in the resurrection of Christ. He was a believer. The resurrection appearances of Christ were exclusively to believers; he said that would be the case. In one of the last discourses to the disciples, he said them, ‘The world will see me no more, but you will see me.’ And he kept his word, and the resurrection appearances were never made in the presence of an unbeliever. So Thomas was a genuine believer because he was going to see the Lord, but he doubted the resurrection.‘The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord,’ their voices full of wonder and excitement and glory. ‘But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.’ What madness is this? What did he make of their testimony? How could he face ten disciples – ‘We have seen the Lord, we have seen him’? Not one disciple, one may have been getting over excited and imagined things, but ten of them! And yet so resistant is he to any comfort and light that he rejects their testimony, as good as calls them liars. And he is resentful obviously about what has happened.‘I was led along. For three years I thought this man was the Messiah and he turned out not to be,’ because he didn’t fit Thomas’ idea of a Messiah, and I think he was resentful. He speaks as a man with a temper. He doesn’t say calmly, ‘O, if I can feel the wounds and put my hands into his side, I’ll believe.’ He is speaking in the absurd exaggerated manner that people sometimes adopt when in a temper. You know – ‘I won’t believe that unless I can do such and such a thing.’ They don’t altogether mean what they say. What Thomas is trying to do is get across to the other disciples that he thinks their ideas are absurd, it couldn’t possibly be. So he speaks in exaggerated language.