John 20:29 (ESV) … Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
In the flow of this wonderful story, John offers us a record of doubting abandoned. Thomas moved quickly from rough-talking skeptic to willing worshiper. In the New Testament, no one had yet said to Jesus, My Lord and my God. Here again the theme of our study looms large—believing is seeing. Thomas saw and believed—and that was fine. But happy are the millions who since that day have not had the opportunity of Thomas and the other ten and yet have believed. More than 375 times in the Old Testament and 100 times in the New Testament, the Bible talks about blessing. This one is related to faith and especially faith in the resurrection.
In his work on this passage, Boice has these observations: “What convinced Thomas? Some have suggested that it was Christ’s obvious knowledge of what Thomas had said, though Jesus had not been physically present when Thomas said it. To do that, so the argument goes, Jesus would have had to be God. But logical as this is, I do not find myself believing that this is what really got through to Thomas. What finally got through to him was the presence of Christ, identified by the wounds in his hands, feet, and side. It was the Christ of the cross who reached Thomas” (Boice, V, pp. 322–23).[1]
