“… 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 20:25)

Jesus came through a closed door into the disciples’ presence and showed them his hands and his side. Having him enter a closed room and seeing the wounds helped their unbelief. They had not believed the women and they had not believed the Emmaus disciples and certainly had not believed Jesus. 

Seeing Him made all the difference in the world to the disciples. We have to believe without seeing but it was important that they see. They were to witness to others and they could not witness to what they had not seen with their own eyes. That’s why Jesus said that those who would later believe without seeing would be blessed. One of the eleven was not present. It was Thomas, known as The Twin. He was missing from the gathering when Jesus came to pay a visit. 

Thomas did not believe any of the witnesses including his fellow disciples. The resurrection was a hard thing to believe. The resurrection of the Christ is the chief cornerstone of faith in the Christ. It was impossible and totally beyond any experience anyone had had. They had seen Jesus raise others. Somehow they could not connect that experience with Jesus raising Himself. 

We call Thomas the doubting Apostle but Thomas was no more a doubter than the others. No one believed in the resurrection without seeing the resurrected Jesus. Thomas wanted proof but so did the others. They all wanted to see the nail holes and the spear opening. It was just too hard to believe. 

Task for Today: Ask yourself, “Do I believe?” You’ve seen no nail holes or spear wound. Jesus has not appeared to you. What is the basis of your belief? Once the disciples believed they had to share the news. What about you? Share the resurrected Christ today by sharing your own faith.