On 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.” 20 When 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.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” 24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So 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 nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 Now 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.” 27 Then 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.” 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
Jesus
suddenly appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem who were locked away in a room because
they were afraid of the Jews. He physically
stood in their midst and greeted them, “Peace be with you (Jn. 14:27).” He
showed them his hands and his side so they would realize that he was the Jesus who
was crucified. For them, the question of
where the Jews put Jesus’ body was now answered. Mary Magdalene had seen the risen Lord (Jn.20:18). The disciples experienced the
renewed joy Jesus had told them about (Jn. 16:20). Jesus then commissioned the disciples to be
his representatives in the world. He had
previously told them; “Whoever receives the one I send receives me, and
whoever receives me receives the one who sent me (Jn. 13:20).” The risen Christ bestowed the Holy Spirit
upon the disciples and granted them the power to forgive sins. The gift of the Holy Spirit will allow them
to understand much more about the Kingdom of God and the Risen Christ than Jesus
could get them to understand during his ministry. It is the most wonderful gift
Jesus gave to his Church to continue his work in the world. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the
power to forgive sins is handed down to those who believe as God chooses (1Cor. 12:4).
Thomas was absent when Jesus appeared to the disciples in the locked room. He could have believed solely on the word of the disciples who had received the Holy Spirit, and the word of Mary Magdalene. Thomas refused to believe without seeing and touching the body of the risen Jesus. When Jesus appeared to the disciples a week later, he scolded Thomas for demanding a sign before he would believe. Only then did Thomas confess, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas and Mary both needed to physically see and touch Jesus before they believed that he had risen. Jesus’ blessing, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed (v. 29),” indicates that Christians who believe in the risen Christ without seeing him have a faith based on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through which the presence of the Lord is revealed to them.
Almighty God, grant us the grace to hear your word in the midst of our doubts. May the indwelling of your Spirit be our teacher so that we can know in our hearts what is true and good and pleasing to you. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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