Saturday November 26, John 20.19-31

John 20.19-31

¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.²⁵So the other disciples told 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 in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Thoughts:  I love that Thomas simply wants to experience what everyone else got to see.  What I also marvel out is that in a weeks time, no one who was there and saw Jesus was able to convince Thomas that is was true.  Maybe there is something wonderful hidden in this text; maybe we need not worry about whether we can prove this or that to be true; maybe the truth is in the practice of our faith and the Holy Spirit will work faith where and when Jesus wills.  Thomas does indeed come to faith and Jesus honors his doubts with and invitation to 'come and see the marks and the wounds so that he (Thomas) may not forget.

Question:  The last lines above say that many other things about Jesus are not written in these books about Jesus.   What question about the life of Jesus would you ask if you could?