Christ the Living Lord

GOLDEN TEXT: “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” —John 20:29

JOHN 20:24-29

THE unenviable description, “doubting Thomas,” has been applied to the apostle who refused to believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead unless he could see the nail prints in his hands and thrust his own hand into the spear wound in the Master’s side. Unseen to the disciples, Jesus was present with them when Thomas made this remark. Later, in the “upper room,” the doors of which the disciples had closed and locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus made his appearance in their midst in the form that Thomas had demanded.

Thomas was convinced, and said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus was pleased that Thomas now believed that he had been raised from the dead, but indicated that those able to believe without this demonstration would be especially blessed. And it was a “demonstration,” arranged especially for the benefit of Thomas. The verse following our Golden Text speaks of it as a “sign”—“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples.”

Forty days elapsed between Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension. Presumably he was with, or near, his disciples during this entire period, yet they saw him on only a few brief occasions. Only this once did he appear in a body which had nail prints in its hands, and a spear wound in its side. To Mary, near the tomb, he appeared as a gardener. To the two disciples journeying to Emmaus, he assumed the role of a stranger. When he appeared on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, also known as Tiberias, and advised his disciples to put their nets down on the other side of the boat, they did not recognize him by his appearance.

These various appearances of the Master in fleshly bodies were designed to convince them that he had been raised from the dead, the different bodies being “signs” to show that he was now different than before his crucifixion. The body which he presented to Thomas was no more his real body than the one which caused Mary to suppose that she had seen a gardener.

The Apostle John, who described all these appearances as “signs,” later wrote that while we will be made like him, and see him as he is, “it doth not yet appear what we shall be.” (I John 3:1-3) If John had understood that the body they saw in the upper room, with its nail prints and spear wound, was Jesus’ real body, he would have written differently. He would have written that we shall be like him, and therefore know how we shall appear; for we, too, will have nail prints in our hands, and a spear wound in our sides. But John knew that this would not be the truth.

Jesus was put to death in the flesh, and made alive in the spirit. (I Pet. 3:18) He gave his flesh for the life of the world. (John 6:51) He was raised from the dead a glorious divine being, high above angels, “all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named.—Eph. 1:20,21

JOHN 21:15-17

When Jesus appeared to the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Peter was the one with whom he conversed most. Jesus had dealt severely with Peter, beginning particularly with the time when this intrepid disciple endeavored to dissuade his Master from going to Jerusalem, where he would be in danger of apprehension by his enemies. On this occasion, Jesus said to him, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”—Matt. 16:23

This was a severe rebuke! But Peter did not give up his attempt to prevent his Master’s voluntary surrender to his enemies. When the mob came out from Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus, Peter drew his sword, and would have wrought much havoc among that mob had Jesus not commanded him to put away the sword. Thus Peter’s attempt to save his Lord again failed.

In his frustration, he followed Jesus to the judgment hall, and there, under stress, he denied him. When Jesus turned and looked upon him, he recalled, no doubt, his Master’s prophecy of his denial, and he was completely heart-broken. A heart less pure, and less devoted to the Master, might well have become embittered by this sequence of circumstances, but this was not the case with Peter.

Jesus could read Peter’s heart, but he sought an outward expression from him of his abiding love—for Peter’s own good, and also for the benefit of the other disciples. After being asked for the third time, Peter, somewhat grieved, said, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” Peter remembered Jesus’ forecast of his denial, which perhaps was the basis for his statement, “Thou knowest all things.” Yes, Jesus did know that Peter loved him, so he gave him the commission, “Feed thy sheep.”

QUESTIONS

How does the Apostle John describe the various appearances of Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection?

How do we know that Jesus was not raised from the dead as a human being?

How does I John 3:1-3 prove that the body shown to Thomas and the other disciples in the upper room was not his real body?

Why was Jesus so desirous that Peter affirm his love for him?

| Home Page | Table of Contents |