jesus appears to his disciples

Today's Reflections 

 

 

jesus appears to his disciples 

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Jn 20:19-31

¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹[Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²²And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. ²³Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

²⁴Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” ²⁸Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

BELIEVING WITHOUT SEEING. The story of Thomas Didymus (the Twin) is one of movement from skepticism to faith.

At first, he does not believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Although he accompanied Jesus to Bethany and witnessed how Jesus raised the dead Lazarus to life, this has not created in Thomas any readiness to believe in Jesus’ resurrection. Only after Jesus has spoken to him directly and addressed his doubts in a very personal way does Thomas “surrender” and exclaims, “My Lord and my God!” (v 28).

Jesus then addresses Thomas and, through him, the Christians of later generations: “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (v 29). The future disciples must accept a new type of relationship with Jesus: a post-glorification discipleship. It is believing without seeing the historical signs of the earthly Jesus but relying on the testimony of the believing community, now incarnated in the very text of the Gospel of John. The Gospel has precisely been written “that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name” (v 31).