John 20:26-29 meaning
The are no apparent parallel Gospel accounts of John 20:26-29. Matthew 28:17 records that some doubted when Jesus appeared in Galilee.
In John 20:26-29, Jesus appears to Thomas and overcomes his unbelief by inviting him to examine His wounds, and He receives Thomas's confession that He is both Lord and God, then blesses those who believe without seeing.
In the previous section (John 20:24-25), John explained that Thomas was not present when Jesus first appeared to the disciples on the afternoon of His resurrection while they were gathered behind locked doors in Jerusalem for fear of the Jews (John 20:19-23). When Jesus appeared to them, He proved that He was alive by showing them His hands and His side. This demonstrated that he was no phantom but a living breathing person (John 20:19-20).
Jesus blessed His disciples, prepared them for the mission He was about to entrust to them, breathed on them saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit," and authorized them to proclaim the Gospel (John 20:21-23). The other disciples repeatedly told Thomas, "We have seen the Lord!" (John 20:25a). But Thomas refused to believe their testimony unless he personally saw the wounds from Jesus's crucifixion, put his finger into the holes left by the nails in His hands, and placed his hand into His pierced side (John 20:25b).
John resumes his narrative:
After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you" (v 26).
His disciples refers to Jesus's disciples. It primarily refers to the eleven disciples whom Jesus had chosen as His apostles (Matthew 10:2-4), excluding Judas Iscariot, who had taken his own life after betraying Jesus (Matthew 27:3-5). Others may also have been present, as Luke indicates had been the case during Jesus's earlier appearance (Luke 24:33), but John’s attention is focused upon the core group of disciples and especially upon doubting Thomas.
The expression After eight days means this appearance occurred eight days after Jesus first appeared to His disciples on the evening of His resurrection. Counting inclusively, as was customary among the Jews, this places the event on the following Sunday—the first day of a new week. By this time the Feast of Unleavened Bread had concluded (Leviticus 23:6-8), and the Passover festival had come to an end.
John writes that the disciples were again inside.
The word again connects this event to Jesus's earlier appearance to His disciples eight days before (John 20:19-23).
The fact that John writes again inside further suggests that it was also the same location where the disciples were gathered eight days earlier—which according to Luke was located in Jerusalem (Luke 24:33). This inside place may have been the Upper Room where Jesus shared His last Passover Seder with His disciples ((Mark 14:15, Luke 22:12-13), and where they would later become filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:13, 2:1-4). The Bible does not explicitly identify these locations as the same room; the continuity of the narrative makes this a reasonable possibility.
John specifies that the main difference between what happened eight days earlier and what was about to happen was that Thomas was with them this time while he was not with the group of disciples when Jesus had appeared to them the first time (John 20:24).
Before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples that after He was raised from the dead they were to meet Him in Galilee (Matthew 26:32). On the morning of His resurrection, the angel at the empty tomb reminded the women to tell the disciples to go to Galilee, just as Jesus had instructed them (Matthew 28:7, Mark 16:7). Jesus Himself also repeated this command when He appeared to the women (Matthew 28:10).
Galilee lay approximately seventy to eighty miles north of Jerusalem. Depending on the route taken and the pace of travel, the journey typically required three to five days on foot. For Jesus's disciples, traveling from Jerusalem to Galilee was therefore not a brief excursion but a deliberate journey requiring them to leave the city where Jesus had been crucified and where the Jewish authorities remained hostile toward His followers.
Galilee was a fitting place for Jesus to continue preparing His disciples for their lifelong mission that lay ahead. Galilee was where Jesus had first called many of them to follow Him (Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11), and it was there that much of His public ministry was headquartered (Matthew 4:23, Mark 1:39, Luke 4:14-15). The quieter setting of Galilee was the setting where Jesus wanted to spend His remaining forty days before His ascension, teaching His disciples about the kingdom of God and preparing them for the worldwide mission (Acts 1:3, Matthew 28:16-20).
Yet eight days after His resurrection the disciples appeared to still be lingering in the city of Jerusalem. One possible reason for their delay was Thomas's continued unbelief. Thomas had adamantly declared that he would not believe Jesus had risen from the dead until he personally examined the wounds of His crucifixion (John 20:25b). Before the disciples departed for Galilee, Jesus graciously resolved Thomas's doubts.
John writes: Jesus came.
As in His previous appearance (John 20:19), John gives no description of Jesus entering through a door or approaching the house from outside. Rather, Jesus suddenly appeared and stood in their midst (v 26). Just as before (John 20:19), Jesus placed Himself at the center of His disciples.
Between saying that Jesus came (appeared) and that He stood in their midst, John adds that the doors having been shut to indicate that Jesus did not enter in an ordinary manner (John 20:19).
Ordinarily people enter a room from the outside through doors. But Jesus came to the disciples even though the doors were shut. The expression the doors were shut can also mean the doors were locked. Whether locked or not, the fact that the doors were shut indicates that Jesus materialized in front of His disciples when they were inside.
Jesus's resurrected body possessed properties unlike ordinary mortal bodies. On the day of His resurrection, Jesus had vanished from the sight of the two disciples at Emmaus (Luke 24:31). Likewise, He had suddenly appeared among His disciples while they were gathered behind shut doors (John 20:19). Now again, Jesus appeared in their midst although the doors remained shut.
John does not explicitly state why the doors were shut on this occasion. Eight days earlier, the disciples had gathered behind locked doors for fear of the Jews (John 20:19). Whether that same fear continued or whether the shut doors merely provided privacy for their gathering, John does not say. In either case, the closed doors presented no obstacle to the risen Lord. Jesus stood in their midst (v 26).
Again, Jesus greeted them, "Peace be with you" (v 26). This is the third time John records Jesus speaking "Peace be with you" to His disciples after His resurrection (John 20:19, 21, 26).
As before, Jesus likely spoke the familiar Hebrew greeting, "Shalom."
As a translation, "shalom" roughly means Peace. But shalom contains a deeper meaning than what the English word peace usually describes. Shalom includes the ideas of peace, wholeness, well-being, harmony, completeness, and covenant blessing. Shalom describes a state where all things are as they should be—a state when all things are in their proper relationship to God and one another. As a greeting, shalom is both a word of blessing and spoken wish for the world to be made right.
Through His death and resurrection, Jesus had accomplished the very peace He now pronounced upon His followers (Isaiah 53:5, Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:14-18). As before, Jesus's greeting was therefore more than a customary salutation. It was not a devout wish. It was the joyful declaration that through Him, shalom (reconciliation with God) had been accomplished, and that His disciples stood before Him as recipients of His peace.
Now Thomas saw Jesus and heard this blessing directly from his risen Lord:
Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing" (v 27).
In this verse, the pronouns He and My refer to Jesus. And the pronoun your refers to Thomas.
The conjunction Then connects Jesus's appearance to what He then said to Thomas.
John records no other words Jesus may have spoken to His disciples at this time. If Jesus conversed with the group beyond His blessing of peace, John omits those details. Instead, John deliberately focuses the reader’s attention upon Jesus's personal interaction with Thomas, the disciple who had doubted the testimony of the others (John 20:24-25).
Jesus addressed Thomas's doubts with compassion. This is remarkable, and it is consistent with His graciousness toward the other disciples. There is no record of the risen Christ rebuking His followers for abandoning Him. There are only words of mercy, grace, and peace. So too with Thomas, Jesus does not appear to rebuke him for not believing his brethren that Jesus had been resurrected back to life and had appeared to them. However, Jesus will contrast unseeing faith as gaining superior blessings.
Jesus's personal address to Thomas consists of two parts:
- An invitation to verify that He was physically alive: Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; (v 27)
- An exhortation to believe that He had risen indeed: and do not be unbelieving, but believing (v 27).
Jesus's comments reveal that He knew exactly what Thomas had said over the course of the past eight days, even though Thomas had not spoken those words directly to Him. When the disciples told Thomas: "We have seen the Lord!" (John 20:25a), Thomas responded:
"Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
(John 20:25b)
Thomas was not willing to accept Jesus's resurrection on the basis of the testimony of others—including his fellow disciples. He insisted on a personal examination. As explained in The Bible Says commentary for John 20:24-25, Thomas's doubts may have been based on the fact that Thomas may have thought the disciples saw only Jesus's human spirit because some of the reports described Him as materializing (Luke 24:36, John 20:19) or vanishing (Luke 24:31).
Thomas also may have doubted Jesus's resurrection because Mary Magdalene (John 20:14) and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus did not immediately recognize Him (Luke 24:14-15).
Whether Jesus heard Thomas's remarks through His divine omniscience or because the other disciples later told Him is not stated. John's emphasis is simply that Jesus knew Thomas's precise demands and answered them one by one.
The first thing Jesus said when He invited Thomas to verify that He was physically alive was: Reach here with your finger, and see My hands (v 27).
My hands—refers to the wounds left by the nails that fastened Jesus to the cross (John 19:18, 20:25). Those wounds identified the risen Christ as the same person who had been crucified only days earlier. The Greek word that is translated as hands can also include the forearm. It is thought that Romans drove the nails through the wrists of their crucifixion victims because the forearm bones were strong enough to support the weight of the victim, while the finger bones in the hand may not have been strong enough to hold their weight.
Jesus's invitation was a direct response to Thomas's earlier insistence that he must personally examine Jesus's hands/forearms and put his finger in the place of the nails before believing Jesus was alive (John 20:25).
The second part of Jesus's invitation was likewise a direct response to Thomas's demands (John 20:25). The second part of Jesus's invitation was: and reach here your hand and put it into My side (v 27).
The offer for Thomas to put your hand here into My side (v 27) refers to the wound left by the Roman soldier's spear after Jesus had already died upon the cross (John 19:33-37). John emphasized how blood and water flowed from Jesus's side when the solider pierced His dead body (John 19:34-35). This spear wound in Jesuis's side was another unmistakable proof that the risen Jesus was the same person who was pierced on the cross.
Jesus did not scold or shame Thomas for asking for evidence. Instead, He graciously offered Thomas exactly the evidence he had demanded.
At this point it is important to interject and explain that even though Jesus graciously granted Thomas the evidence he requested, He was not obligated to do this. Jesus is God and God is not obligated to do anything for anyone. Jesus was not obliged to Thomas or anyone else. Jesus is not obligated to us. Jesus's appearance to Thomas in this way that matched His disciple's demands was incredibly gracious to Thomas, and also to us.
Jesus provided Thomas with the personal evidence he required, not only for Thomas's own sake, but also for the sake of all who would later believe through the apostles' testimony.
Jesus does not ordinarily appear bodily to each person and invite them to examine His wounds as He did Thomas. Instead, He calls us to believe through the trustworthy testimony of those whom He appointed as eyewitnesses of His resurrection, a testimony faithfully preserved for us in the Scriptures (John 17:20, 20:30-31, Luke 1:1-4, 2 Peter 1:16-21, 1 John 1:1-4).
Having graciously provided Thomas with the evidence he requested, Jesus then addressed the heart of the matter and graciously exhorted His disciple: And do not be unbelieving, but believing (v 27). The many layers of grace in which Jesus dealt with Thomas is an example of what John wrote of Jesus in the prologue to this Gospel, when he said: "For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace" (John 1:16).
Jesus exhorted Thomas to change his mind about Jesus's resurrection and power. With the evidence before him, He was asking Thomas to move from unbelief to belief; from skepticism to trust; from demanding proof to embracing the truth standing before him.
The Greek adjective that is translated as believing is the term: πιστός (G4103—pronounced: pis-tós). "Pistos" commonly means "believing," "faithful," "trustworthy," or "full of faith."
The Greek adjective that is translated as unbelieving is the term: ἄπιστος (G571—pronounced: "ah-pis-tós"). The letter alpha - ἄ which makes the "ah" at the beginning of the word makes the word "pistós" mean the opposite of its normal definition, similar to the English prefixes "un" or "im." "Apistós" is the opposite of
"pistós." "Apistós" describes a lack of faith or belief, and it describes someone who refuses to believe, who is unbelieving, faithless, or without trust.
The verb be that Jesus uses before saying the adjectives unbelieving and believing indicates that He was not merely describing a one-time or particular change of mind or act of faith, but rather was exhorting Thomas to cease remaining skeptical and/or doubtful of Him.
When Jesus exhorted Thomas, "And do not be unbelieving" (v 27), He was exhorting him to stop being this way—cease being so doubtful of Me, stop being so skeptical of Me. Jesus exhorted Thomas to be the opposite of unbelieving. Jesus exhorted Thomas to be believing of Me—be trusting of Me, be confident in Me.
Jesus was calling Thomas to become one who lives by faith daily. He was calling him, and us, to believe and embrace with confidence the truth now standing before him. Thomas was to leave behind a sustained posture of unbelief and enter into a life characterized by faith.
Jesus wanted Thomas to walk continuously by faith (be believing) and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), and to trust Him completely and to not lean on his own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Thomas had persisted in refusing to believe the testimony of the other disciples during the previous eight days. Now Jesus invited him to abandon that disposition altogether and live a life defined by a continuous walk of faith in Him.
Jesus's exhortation to Thomas—and do not be unbelieving, but believing (v 27)—is also His exhortation to us. In this exhortation, John and Jesus speak to us (the readers or hearers of this Gospel) vicariously through Thomas—exhorting us to believe in Him and live a continuous life of faith.
Every believer eventually arrives at the same crossroads Thomas faced. Will we believe God's word or seek our own understanding? Will we believe Jesus's testimony and follow His commands or will we demand more proof before we will obey? Although we cannot physically place our fingers into the wounds of Christ as Thomas was invited to do, God has not left us without evidence that His word is true in all respects.
He has given us the eyewitness testimony of the apostles, preserved for us in the Scriptures (Luke 1:1-4, John 19:35, 21:24, Acts 1:21-22, 2 Peter 1:16-21, 1 John 1:1-4). Their testimony is preserved in the writings of the New Testament, which exhorts us to believe that we receive the greatest possible blessings when we walk by faith.
John's placement of his account of Thomas's encounter before he explicitly states the purpose of his Gospel is probably intentional. John states the purpose for writing this Gospel account (John 20:30-31). In those verses John says he wrote this Gospel both so that people would become believers, and that those who believe would have "life in His name."
"Life" in scripture is connecting with God's design. To connect with God's design for us requires following His ways. We follow His ways when we believe that His ways are for our best. John wants us to believe his testimony, and the testimony of the rest of God's word, and not be unbelieving but believing (v 27). It is through a walk of faith that believers can experience the fullest measure of life in His name (John 17:3).
John presents these events and statements in the following sequence:
- Jesus exhorts Thomas to believe (v 27).
- Thomas responds by believing and confessing Jesus as "My Lord and my God!" (v 28).
- Jesus pronounces a blessing upon those who believe without seeing Him (v 29).
- John then explains that he has written these signs:
"so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name"
(John 20:30-31).
Therefore, Thomas's encounter is meant to exemplify every reader's encounter. Thomas's doubts represent our doubts. Thomas's demands for evidence represent our desire for certainty. Thomas's confession becomes the confession John invites every reader to make.
And Jesus's exhortation is reissued through the pages of this Gospel to every generation:
Do not be unbelieving, but believing (v 27).
After revealing what Jesus graciously said to Thomas when He invited His doubting disciple to verify His resurrection and exhorted Him to believe, John writes Thomas's reaction to seeing Jesus address him.
Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" (v 28).
The phrase—Thomas answered and said to Him (v 28)—describes how Thomas immediately responded to Jesus's exhortation. John records no pause, no deliberation, and no lingering skepticism. Thomas's reply flowed directly from Jesus's words, revealing that the disciple who had steadfastly refused to believe now responded with equally decisive faith.
Thomas's response is notably brief: "My Lord and my God!" (v 28).
John records no hesitation, no further questions, and no indication that Thomas actually carried out Jesus's invitation to touch His hands or side. Whether Thomas physically examined Jesus's wounds is simply not stated. Instead, John emphasizes Thomas's transformation from being unbelieving to believing in this moment.
When Thomas saw the risen Jesus and heard Him repeat the very words Thomas had spoken days earlier, his unbelief immediately gave way to faith. The evidence Jesus graciously provided accomplished exactly what Jesus intended. Thomas instantly believed that Jesus had truly risen from the dead.
Thomas first confessed Jesus as: My Lord!
The Greek term translated Lord in this verse is is κύριος (G2962—pronounced: koo-ree-ós). "Kurios" is a title that can mean lord, "master," "ruler," or "owner." Throughout the New Testament, "kurios" is used both as a respectful title and as a divine title. In this context, Thomas was acknowledging Jesus as his Lord, Master, and Messiah.
Earlier in His ministry, Jesus had accepted this title from His disciples (John 6:68-69). But now, after His resurrection, Thomas confessed it with a fuller understanding than ever before. The crucified Rabbi whom Thomas had followed was not merely his teacher or a powerful miracle worker, He was the risen Messiah who possessed all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).
Thomas then confessed Jesus as: my God!
This is one of the most direct confessions of Jesus's deity recorded in John's Gospel. From the opening verses of his Gospel, John has declared that "the Word was God" (John 1:1), that "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14), and that Jesus uniquely explained the Father because He is Himself God (John 1:18). Throughout the Gospel, Jesus repeatedly claimed equality with the Father (John 5:17-18, 8:58, 10:30, 14:9).
Now Thomas openly confessed what John has been demonstrating from the beginning—that Jesus is both Israel's promised Messiah and God incarnate. Thomas's confession therefore serves as the climactic human response to the Gospel of John's presentation of Jesus.
Having received Thomas's confession, Jesus next spoke words that not only affirmed Thomas's faith but also extended a blessing to future believers.
Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed" (v 29).
There are two parts to Jesus's response to Thomas's confession: a rhetorical question and a blessing.
The rhetorical question is: "Because you have seen Me, have you believed?" The implied answer to Jesus's rhetorical question was: "Yes, Thomas, the only reason that you have believed in Me is because you have seen Me with your own eyes."
This rhetorical question acknowledges that Thomas had now believed Jesus had risen from the dead when he saw Him standing there and confessed Jesus as My Lord and my God (v 28). Jesus asked this rhetorical question, not to obtain information, but to emphasize the reason Thomas had come to believe.
Thomas had insisted that he would not believe Jesus was risen unless he personally saw the wounds of the crucified Jesus and examined them for himself (John 20:25). Jesus graciously met Thomas's demands, and now Thomas believed because he had seen the risen Lord standing before him.
Jesus's rhetorical question also serves as a transition to the blessing He was about to pronounce.
The blessing is: "Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed" (v 29).
The Greek term that is translated as blessed is μακάριος (G3107—pronounced: mak-ar'-ee-os). "Makarios" describes one who is fortunate, privileged, or supremely happy because of God's favor. It refers to a deep and abiding joy that flows from God's approval rather than favorable circumstances. This is the same Greek word Jesus repeatedly used in the Beatitudes when He declared: "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." and "Blessed are the peacemakers..." (Matthew 5:3-12).
Here, Jesus pronounces another beatitude, declaring God's special favor upon a particular group of people—those who do not see Jesus physically and yet still believe in and trust Him.
The phrase they who did not see, and yet believed describes everyone who would not have the opportunity Thomas had just received to know by sight but who nevertheless believe. This can include believing in Jesus for the Gift of Eternal Life (John 1:12, 3:14-16, 6:47, 20:30-31). It can also include believing Jesus's promises and following His commands to win the Prize of Eternal Life.
Unlike Thomas and the other apostles, the vast majority of believers are not able to see the risen Christ standing before them or hear His audible voice or examine the wounds of His crucifixion until they meet Him in the new heaven and the new earth. Their faith would not rest upon personal sight, but upon the trustworthy testimony of those whom Jesus had appointed as eyewitnesses of His resurrection (John 17:20, Acts 1:21-22, 1 John 1:1-4, 2 Peter 1:16-21).
Jesus's blessing does not diminish the privilege enjoyed by Thomas and the other disciples. They received the extraordinary blessing of walking with Jesus during His earthly ministry, hearing His teaching firsthand, witnessing His miracles, and finally seeing Him alive after His resurrection. Even so, they still had to believe that Jesus truly was the Christ, the Son of God. Their physical sight did not eliminate the necessity of faith; it simply provided them with a different foundation from ours upon which their faith rested.
Jesus now announces that a different blessing awaits future generations of believers. Those who trust Him without the privilege of His physical presence are no less favored by God. Jesus calls them blessed. They believe solely upon the apostolic testimony preserved in the Scriptures and the inward work of the Holy Spirit. Again, this principle of faith being rewarded can apply to both the Gift of eternal life as well as to the Prize of eternal life. (Readers might refer to The Bible Says commentary on Mathew 8:5-13 to see a direct example of how Jesus spoke to the great reward that would go to those who lived by faith).
Those who live by faith fulfill the principle later expressed in Hebrews:
"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."
(Hebrews 11:6)
Though they have not seen the risen Christ with their eyes, they have believed with their hearts, and Jesus Himself declares them blessed.
Faith has always been the necessary response by which people receive God's promises:
"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
(Hebrews 11:1)
"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."
(Hebrews 11:6)
Hebrews 11 celebrates the lives of men and women who trusted God without seeing the fulfillment of His promises during their earthly lives (Hebrews 11:13, 39).
- Noah built the ark by faith before the flood came.
(Hebrews 11:7)
- Abraham left his homeland and looked for the city whose architect and builder is God by faith.
(Hebrews 11:8-10)
- Moses chose to suffer with God's people because he looked to the reward by faith.
(Hebrews 11:24-27)
Faith expresses confidence in the trustworthy character of God. God greatly rewards us for our faith. Therefore, it is precious. This lifetime will be the only opportunity we have to receive this blessing and know God by faith. Peter wrote that the proof of our faith is "more precious than gold" because genuine faith will result in "praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7).
John records this promised blessing to those who believe without having benefit of sight because it speaks directly to every reader of his Gospel. Practically none of John's readers could stand in Thomas's place eight days after the resurrection. But every reader can stand in Thomas's place spiritually.
Jesus's final beatitude that those who believe without seeing are greatly blessed therefore reaches across millennia to all who believe the apostolic witness concerning Him. It is a blessing spoken over everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and who, by believing, receives life in His name (John 20:30-31).