"Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, 'We have seen the Lord.' So he said to them, 'Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.'
And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, 'Peace to you!'
Then He said to Thomas, 'Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.'
And Thomas answered and said to Him, 'My Lord and My God!'
Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'"1
Skeptics like Aron Ra2 are fond of using this passage to argue that when Jesus told Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed," He was advocating for a kind of blind faith rather than a faith based upon evidence. However, when one considers the context of this passage, it is clear that this is not what is being taught. John himself tells us why he wrote his Gospel in 20:30-31:
"And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."3
John’s aim was to present evidence that Jesus is the Messiah so that readers could respond by placing their trust in Him. Recording an incident that promotes blind faith would directly undermine this stated purpose. Therefore, it’s far more reasonable to understand Jesus’ words to Thomas as commending faith that trusts reliable testimony—not faith without evidence. So what did Jesus mean then?
First, it should be understood that Jesus was not rebuking Thomas because he desired evidence. He was rebuking Thomas for not believing because Thomas already had sufficient evidence. Recall that Thomas had seen Jesus perform numerous miracles during His ministry. In John's Gospel alone we learn that Thomas would have seen Jesus heal, walk on water and even raise the dead. Therefore, Thomas had every reason to believe the testimony of his fellow disciples and his skepticism was unwarranted.
Second, when Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed," He was referring to believers that would come later and would not be able to see Him with their eyes after His ascension.4 Put another way, Jesus was essentially saying, "Blessed are those who will believe based upon your testimony."
It is precisely this testimony that John wrote about in his First Epistle:
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life - the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us - that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."5
Courage and Godspeed,
Chad
Footnotes:
1. John 20:24-29, NKJV.
2. For example, see Ra's debate here with Michael Jones of Inspiring Philosophy here.
3. John 20:30-31, NKJV.
4. Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:6-11.
5. 1 John 1:1-3; NKJV.
Related Posts
Series: Who Wrote the Gospels?, Pt. 1 - The Theory of the Anonymous Gospels
Is "Rational Faith" an Oxymoron?
Comments