John 20:24-29
Thomas Touches Jesus' Healed Wounds
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Thomas is often cited as the Doubting Thomas...But Thomas is one of our Great Saints who asked Jesus great questions, and from him, Jesus gives us some of the greatest verses and words ever written in any book, and even in the history of man...
Without Thomas we may not have gotten the words from Jesus saying "My Lord and my God!"...Thomas now recognizes that Jesus is God in the flesh...
Without Thomas we may not have gotten the words from Jesus saying "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."...This verse is particularly important, because Jesus had to leave earth, and return to His Father...So we know that we are blessed, if we believe, even though we did not get to see the physical Jesus...Jesus makes this clear that we do not need to see Him, to believe in Him...And when we do believe, we are then blessed...
Without Thomas we may not have gotten the words from Jesus saying “I am the way and the truth and the life...No one comes to the Father except through me...If you really know me, you will know my Father as well...From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”...Again we understand that Jesus has a special relationship with God, and if we know Jesus, we know His Father...
St. Thomas shows me we will have some doubts in our lives, and Jesus understands this...No doubt, when Jesus picked Thomas as one of the Twelve, He knew that Thomas would doubt Him...I can refuge in St.Thomas on my doubting days...I think that Thomas, the week later when Jesus showed up with the rest of the disciples there behind locked doors, we see that Jesus came back a Man (if it is fair to call Him a Man) and not just a Spirit...Jesus died and came back from death, still a Man....Jesus had His physical body and His healed and revealed His glorious wounds, that saved us...And Thomas touched them, and they touched Thomas...