Saturday, October 27, 2007

Thoughts on John 20:28

"And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God."
The story is a familiar one: Thomas, absent at the Lord's first post-resurrection appearance to the disciples, tells the disciples that "except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." (vs. 25). A week later, Jesus meets His disciples again, and virtually quotes Thomas, inviting him to do just what Thomas claimed he wished to do.
Notice how quickly Thomas's tone changed. Immediately aware of his error, he believes and says just one sentence.

As Jesus said in the preceding verse, it is better for us to believe Him without seeing Him; but our response should nevertheless be the same: To call Him "My Lord and my God." There is no mystery in the Greek here; the sentence is both simple and plain. Do we call Him this, and live our life as if we believe it? Or do we refer to Him as something less, living in a manner that denies His lordship over us?

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