Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God.” John 20:28

What a beautiful confession it is! What Bible-believing Christian has not heard or read these words many times?

Thomas was one of the twelve apostles. It was a requirement that a disciple and apostle have seen and believe in the resurrected Lord, but Thomas does not at first meet that requirement.

Thomas had fine qualities. On two earlier occasions we read of him and learn a little about his personality and character. First we read of him in John 11 where Jesus, being in Perea, far from Bethany, informs the disciples that Lazarus is dead, and that He will go to Bethany even in the face of danger and opposition. The disciples are hesitant to go. But it is Thomas who says, “Let us go with Him and die with Him.” These words show that he loved the Lord and was loyal to Him; he would follow his master into death if necessary. In John 14 we find something similar. On the eve of Jesus’ great suffering in Gethsemane and subsequent trial and death He had said to them: “Let not your hearts be troubled . . . .” “I am going to the Father, and you know the way to the place I am going.” It was Thomas who said here, “Lord we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

From these two “bits of information” we may conclude that Thomas did some thinking and was dependable, not a superficial, spineless kind of church member.

The next scene is that of the ten disciples meeting together on the evening of the day of the Lord’s resurrection. Thomas was not with them. Why not? Where was he? We can only guess that Thomas with his logical mind concluded that it was all over. It was only because of Jesus that the twelve had been together. Now Jesus was gone. What would still keep them together? Nothing.

The Lord appeared to the ten without Thomas. These recent experiences had undoubtedly been very depressing for Thomas. No doubt he did a lot of thinking, questioning, reasoning by himself. And no answers were forthcoming.

We are told that the ten approached him with the glad truth that Jesus was alive. But Thomas couldn’t accept that. He would not believe, unless he could put his finger in the holes where the nails had been in Jesus’ hands, and put his hand in the deep gash made by the soldier after Jesus had died. Sometimes he is called the doubting Thomas. But this is not a correct “diagnosis.” To doubt means to hesitate, waver. Thomas didn’t hesitate, he simply didn’t believe that Jesus had risen from the grave. He would not believe. His words express stubbornness. Thomas’ faith depended upon seeing and touching. And in that he came close to us, because, we too, often want to see and touch before we will believe.

But the Lord’s mercy again “comes through” beautifully. A whole week passed by. The next Sunday following the resurrection Thomas was with the others. Evidently the ten had prevailed upon him to meet with them. Jesus’ appearance to them was as miraculous and majestic as it had been the previous Sunday evening. He didn’t enter through a door, and no one heard His footsteps as He entered the room. He suddenly was in their midst. He didn’t ignore Thomas. He knew Thomas’ needs and problems, his struggles with self and unbelief. Others might have said, “If Thomas thinks that way about it and wants to live that way, let him stay where he is.” Not so, with Thomas’ Saviour, and yours and mine. Jesus met the three demands of His disciple, seeing, using his finger and his hand.

The perceptive and thoughtful Thomas was no doubt overwhelmed. How did Jesus enter the room? How did He know what Thomas had previously said and demanded? And Thomas “wilted.”

“My Lord and my God.” What a confession! He didn‘t just say, “Now I know you are alive as the ten told me” or, “Now I know it is true.” No, he said much more t han that. He saw and knew that Jesus was God. Evidently he now saw more than any or most of the other disciples. He acknowledged not merely t he risen Jesus of Nazareth, but also that He was his Lord, his Master. And this same Thomas who in John 11 and John 14 had shown his loyalty in being ready to follow Jesus unto death here made the same kind of confession. Jesus is my Lord. I will serve and follow Him always. He will do this because his Lord is also his God.

The Lord added something, not only for Thomas and the other disciples, but also for all of us and the millions of followers throughout the ages.

“Because you have seen me, you have believed! Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus did not call Thomas a giant in the faith, but He did call him a believer because he had seen the risen Lord. It is greater and more blessed to believe without having seen Him. This the Lord emphasizes, leading us to the main purpose of the entire manifestation and its recording for us (vs. 31) – “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”

What does the Lord mean to say with these words?

He is speaking about faith. Faith means to know and trust. To know and to trust in Him as the crucified and risen Lord. This faith reaches far beyond what we see and touch. Faith concerns that which is beyond the visible, namely spiritual, invisible truths and realities. These truths, faith knows to be real and in them it trusts.

Faith acknowledges Christ as the Lord and Master over all His people and all of their lives. It recognizes Him as God, almighty in love, faithfulness and saving grace towards His people.

Thomas sees and believes, but apparently his is a weak faith. The implied exhortation is that we should believe and make the confession of Thomas without seeing.

It is sometimes said that seeing and believing are two different things. True faith is a lot more than seeing. Let me use a simple, crude example. You see a family come into church, father and mother, with a few small children. It is known to be a good Christian family in which there is love towards one another. Outsiders can see this family of parents and children, and the apparent good mutual relationship in it. What outsiders cannot see is the hearts of these parents, their love towards their children, the faith and trust these children have in their parents, and the subsequent security the children enjoy. The firm faith and confidence these children have in their parents is much more than what the external eye sees. This is something invisible, experiential, and very real.

Thomas believes what he sees. But, Jesus means to say, believing in the risen Lord, being a follower of Him, is more than what the eye sees, more than something tangible, it is something of the heart like the faith these children have in their parents. True faith means to know Him as the risen Lord and Master and God, but also to trust in Him firmly. In the deepest sense it means total submission and trust in all His sure promises. That kind of spiritual activity of the heart is beautiful, and much more than what the eye can see.

In my foolishness I sometimes think and wish that I could have seen Jesus. But we have much more than Thomas and all of the other disciples had. We have the Word that tells us reliably that He arose from the grave. We have the completed Word with all its good news for believers. And the promises are exceeding great and precious. Sometimes even what we see appears to contradict what we believe. But faith in the Word and promises must prevail. Real, solid, genuine faith in that Word of our Lord and God is the faith of the church in all ages.

Lord, give us that faith, that says with the heart as well as the mind, “My Lord and my God.”

That gives eternal comfort, peace and security.