Church Fathers Commentary John 20

St. John Chrysostom: The Sabbath was now over, a time when it was unlawful to be there. Mary Magdalene could rest no longer, but came very early in the morning to seek comfort at the sepulcher. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the sepulcher, while it was still dark.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Mary Magdalene was undoubtedly the most fervent in love of all the women who ministered to our Lord. For this reason, John deservedly mentions her only and says nothing of the others who were with her, as we know from the other Evangelists.

Una sabbati is the day which Christians call the Lord’s Day, after our Lord’s resurrection. Matthew calls it prima sabbati.

The Venerable Bede: Una sabbati, that is, one day after the sabbath.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Alternatively, the Jews called the days of the week "sabbath," and the first day, "one of the sabbaths." This day is a type of the life to come, for that life will be a single day, not cut short by any night, since God is the sun there—a sun that never sets. On this day, then, our Lord rose again with an incorruptible body, just as we, in the life to come, shall put on incorruption.

St. Augustine of Hippo: What Mark says, Very early in the morning, at the rising of the sun, does not contradict John’s words, when it was yet dark. At the dawn of day, remnants of darkness still remain, which disappear as the light breaks in.

We must not understand Mark’s words, Very early in the morning, at the rising of the sun, to mean that the sun was already above the horizon. Rather, we should understand it as we ordinarily use the phrase. When we want something to be done very early, we say "at the rising of the sun," meaning some time before the sun has actually risen.

St. Gregory the Great: It is well said, When it was yet dark. Mary was seeking the Creator of all things in the tomb, and because she did not find Him, she thought He had been stolen. Truly, it was still dark when she came to the sepulcher.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Now the events that only Matthew relates took place: the earthquake, the rolling away of the stone, and the flight of the guards.

St. John Chrysostom: Our Lord rose while the stone and seal were still on the sepulcher. But since it was necessary for others to be certain of this, the sepulcher was opened after the resurrection, and so the fact was confirmed. This is what roused Mary.

For when she saw the stone taken away, she did not enter or even look in, but ran to the disciples with all the speed of love. As yet, she knew nothing for certain about the resurrection, but thought that His body had been taken away.

Glossa Ordinaria: Therefore, she ran to tell the disciples so that they might seek Him with her, or grieve with her: Then she runs, and comes to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved.

St. Augustine of Hippo: This is the way in which John usually mentions himself. Jesus loved all, but He loved John in a special and familiar way. And she says to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid Him.

St. Gregory the Great: She speaks of the part as if it were the whole. She had come only to seek for the body of our Lord, and now she laments that our Lord—the whole of Him—is taken away.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Some of the Greek manuscripts have, taken away my Lord, which is more expressive of love and of the feeling of a handmaiden. But only a few have this reading.

St. John Chrysostom: The Evangelist does not deprive the woman of this praise, nor, out of shame, does he omit that the disciples received the news first from her. As soon as they hear it, they hasten to the sepulcher.

St. Gregory the Great: But Peter and John went before the others, because they loved most. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher.

Theophylact of Ohrid: But how did they come to the sepulcher while the soldiers were guarding it? This is an easy question to answer. After our Lord’s resurrection, the earthquake, and the appearance of the angel at the sepulcher, the guards withdrew and told the chief priests what had happened.

St. Augustine of Hippo: After saying they came to the sepulcher, John goes back and tells us how they came: So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. He means himself, but he always speaks of himself as if he were another person.

St. John Chrysostom: Upon arriving, John sees the linen cloths set aside: And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying. But he makes no further search and did not go in.

Peter, on the other hand, being of a more fervent temperament, pursued the search and examined everything: Then comes Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher, and sees the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

These circumstances were proof of His resurrection. For if they had carried Him away, they would not have stripped Him. Nor, if anyone had stolen Him, would they have taken the trouble to wrap up the napkin and put it in a place by itself, apart from the linen cloths; they would have taken the body as it was.

John mentioned the myrrh earlier for this very reason: to show you that He could not have been stolen away. The myrrh would have made the linen adhere to the body, causing trouble for thieves, and they would never have been so senseless as to take such unnecessary pains.

After Peter, however, John entered: Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw, and believed.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Some think this means he believed that Jesus had risen again, but what follows contradicts this idea. He saw the empty sepulcher and believed what the woman had said: For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

If he did not yet know that He must rise again from the dead, he could not have believed that He had risen. Indeed, they had heard as much from our Lord, and very openly, but they were so accustomed to hearing parables from Him that they took this for a parable and thought He meant something else.

St. Gregory the Great: This account from the Evangelist must not be thought to be without some mystical meaning. By John, the younger of the two, the synagogue is represented; by Peter, the elder, the Gentile Church is represented. For although the synagogue was before the Gentile Church regarding the worship of God, in terms of time the Gentile world was before the synagogue.

They ran together because the Gentile world ran side by side with the synagogue from first to last in respect of their way of life, though they did not share a common understanding. The synagogue came first to the sepulcher but did not enter: it knew the commandments of the law and had heard the prophecies of our Lord’s incarnation and death, but would not believe in Him who died. Then Simon Peter comes and enters the sepulcher: the Gentile Church both knew Jesus Christ as a dead man and believed in Him as the living God.

The napkin that was about our Lord’s head is not found with the linen cloths. This means that God, the Head of Christ, and the incomprehensible mysteries of the Godhead are removed from our limited knowledge; His power transcends the nature of the creature.

It is found not only apart, but also wrapped together. Because the napkin is wrapped, neither a beginning nor an end is seen; likewise, the divine nature has neither beginning nor end. And it is in one place, for where there is division, God is not. They merit His grace who do not cause scandal by dividing themselves into sects.

But since a napkin is what is used in labor to wipe the sweat from the brow, we may also understand the napkin here as the labor of God. This napkin is found apart because the suffering of our Redeemer is far removed from ours, inasmuch as He suffered innocently what we suffer justly. He submitted Himself to death voluntarily; we do so by necessity.

But after Peter entered, John entered too, for at the end of the world, even Judea shall be gathered into the true faith.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Alternatively, Peter is practical and prompt, while John is contemplative, intelligent, and learned in divine things. Now, the contemplative man is generally ahead in knowledge and intelligence, but the practical man, by his fervor and activity, surpasses the other’s perception and is the first to see into the divine mystery.

St. Gregory the Great: Mary Magdalene, who had been a sinner in the city and had washed away the stains of her sins with her tears, did not leave the tomb when the others did, for her soul burned with love: Then the disciples went away again to their own home.

St. Augustine of Hippo: That is, to the place where they were lodging, and from which they had run to the tomb. But though the men returned, the woman's stronger love kept her there. But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping.

That is, outside the stone tomb itself, but still within the garden.

St. John Chrysostom: Do not be astonished that Mary wept for love at the tomb while Peter did not, for the female sex is naturally tender and inclined to weep.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The eyes that had sought our Lord and had not found Him now wept continuously. She grieved more that our Lord had been taken away than for His death on the cross, for now even any reminder of Him was gone.

She then saw, with the other women, the angel sitting on the right side, on the stone that had been rolled away from the tomb. It was at his words that she looked into the tomb.

St. John Chrysostom: The sight of the tomb itself was some consolation. Indeed, to console herself even more, see how she stoops down to look at the very place where the body lay: And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb.

St. Gregory the Great: For love, looking just once is not enough. Love makes one desire to look again and again.

St. Augustine of Hippo: In her overwhelming grief, she could believe neither her own eyes nor the disciples. Or was it a divine impulse that caused her to look inside?

St. Gregory the Great: She sought the body and did not find it; she persevered in seeking, and so it happened that she found Him. Her longing grew stronger the more it was disappointed, until at last it found and took hold of its object.

For holy longings always gain strength from delay; if they did not, they would not be longings. Mary loved so much that, not content with seeing the tomb, she stooped down and looked inside. Let us see the fruit that came from this persevering love: And she sees two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

St. John Chrysostom: Since her understanding was not yet elevated enough to infer the resurrection from the linen cloths, she was given the sight of angels in bright clothing, who soothed her sorrow.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But why did one sit at the head and the other at the feet? To signify that the good news of Christ’s Gospel was to be proclaimed from head to foot, from the beginning to the end. The Greek word for "angel" means "one who delivers news."

St. Gregory the Great: The angel sits at the head when the Apostles preach that in the beginning was the Word; he sits, so to speak, at the feet when it is said, The Word was made flesh. By the two angels we may also understand the two testaments, both of which proclaim the incarnation, death, and resurrection of our Lord. The Old Testament seems to sit at the head, the New at the feet.

St. John Chrysostom: The angels who appear say nothing about the resurrection, but the subject is introduced gradually. First, they address her with compassion to prevent her from being overwhelmed by such an extraordinarily bright sight: And they say to her, “Woman, why do you weep?” The angels forbade her tears and announced, so to speak, the joy that was near. "Why do you weep?" is as if to say, "Do not weep."

St. Gregory the Great: The very declarations of Scripture that stir our tears of love also wipe them away by promising that we will see our Redeemer again.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But she, thinking they wanted to know the reason for her weeping, tells them: She says to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord.” She calls the lifeless body of her Lord "my Lord," using a part to represent the whole, just as we confess that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was buried, when in fact only His flesh was buried. “And I do not know where they have placed Him.” Her grief was even greater because she did not know where to go to find comfort.

St. John Chrysostom: She still knew nothing of the resurrection but thought the body had been taken away.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Here the angels must be understood to have risen, for Luke describes them as standing.

The hour the angels had announced had now come, when sorrow would be replaced by joy: And when she had said this, she turned around.

St. John Chrysostom: But why does she turn back while talking to the angels, before she has heard anything from them? It seems to me that while she was speaking, Christ appeared behind her. The angels, by their posture, gaze, and movement, showed that they saw the Lord, and this is why she turned around.

St. Gregory the Great: We must observe that Mary, who still doubted our Lord’s resurrection, turned back to see Jesus. In her doubt, she turned her back, so to speak, on the Lord. Yet, because she loved, she saw Him. She loved and doubted; she saw and did not recognize Him: And she saw Jesus standing, and did not know that it was Jesus.

St. John Chrysostom: To the angels He appeared as their Lord, but not so to the woman, for the sight, coming upon her all at once, would have stunned her. She was to be lifted to higher things not suddenly, but gradually.

St. Gregory the Great: Jesus says to her, “Woman, why do you weep?” He asks the reason for her grief to intensify her longing, for merely mentioning the name of the one she sought would ignite her love for Him.

St. John Chrysostom: Because He appeared as an ordinary person, she thought He was the gardener: She, supposing Him to be the gardener, says to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away from here, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” That is, "If you have taken Him away for fear of the Jews, tell me, and I will take Him back."

Theophylact of Ohrid: She was afraid that the Jews might vent their rage even on the lifeless body and therefore wished to move it to a secret place.

St. Gregory the Great: Perhaps, however, the woman was right to believe Jesus was the gardener. Was He not the spiritual Gardener, who by the power of His love had sown strong seeds of virtue in her heart? But how is it that as soon as she sees the man she supposes to be the gardener, she says, without first telling him whom she was seeking, “Sir, if you have carried Him away from here?” This comes from her love; when one loves a person, one never imagines that anyone else could be unaware of him.

Our Lord, after calling her by the common name for her gender and not being recognized, calls her by her own name: Jesus says to her, “Mary.” It is as if to say, “Recognize Him who recognizes you.” Mary, being called by name, recognizes Him. She recognizes that it was He whom she was seeking externally, and He who was teaching her internally to seek. She turned herself and says to Him, “Rabboni,” which is to say, “Master.”

St. John Chrysostom: This is just as He was sometimes in the midst of the Jews, and they did not know Him until He chose to make Himself known. But why does she turn, when she had already turned before? It seems to me that when she said, “Where have you laid Him?” she turned to the angels to ask why they were astonished. Then Christ, by calling to her, revealed Himself by His voice and made her turn back to Him.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, she first turned her body but mistook Him for someone He was not; now she was turned in her heart and knew who He was. Let no one, however, blame her for calling the gardener "Sir" and Jesus "Master." The first was a title of courtesy to a person from whom she was asking a favor; the second was a title of respect for a Teacher from whom she was accustomed to learn how to distinguish the divine from the human. The word "Lord" is used in different senses when she says, “They have taken away my Lord,” and when she says, “Sir, if you have carried Him away.”

St. Gregory the Great: The Evangelist does not add what she did upon recognizing Him, but we know from what our Lord said to her: Jesus says to her, “Touch Me not.” Mary, then, had tried to embrace His feet but was not allowed. Why not? The reason follows: “For I have not yet ascended to My Father.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: But if He cannot be touched while standing on the earth, how can He be touched while sitting in heaven? And did He not, before His ascension, offer Himself to be touched by the disciples: “Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones.” Who can be so absurd as to suppose that He was willing for the disciples to touch Him before He ascended to His Father, but unwilling for women to do so until after? Indeed, we read of women touching Him after the resurrection and before He ascended to His Father—one of whom was Mary Magdalene herself, according to Matthew.

Either Mary here is a type of the Gentile Church, which did not believe in Christ until after His ascension, or the meaning is that Jesus is to be believed in—that is, spiritually touched—in no other way than as being one with the Father. He ascends to the Father mystically, so to speak, in the mind of one who has advanced so far as to acknowledge that He is equal to the Father. But how could Mary believe in Him in any way other than carnally, when she was weeping for Him as a man?

Touch is, in a sense, the culmination of knowledge, and He was unwilling for a soul focused on Him to reach its end by thinking of Him as only what He appeared to be.

St. John Chrysostom: Mary wished to be as familiar with Christ now as she was before His Passion, forgetting in her joy that His body had been made much more holy by its resurrection. So, He says, “Touch Me not,” to remind her of this and to make her feel awe in speaking with Him. For this reason, too, He no longer keeps company with His disciples, namely, so that they might look upon Him with greater awe. Again, by saying, “I have not yet ascended,” He shows that He is hastening there. And He who was about to depart and live no more among men ought not to be regarded with the same sentiment as before: “But go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Heretics, among their other impieties, misinterpret these words of our Lord, saying that if His Father is their Father and His God is their God, then He cannot be God Himself. But though He remained in the form of God, He took upon Himself the form of a servant, and Christ says this to men in the form of a servant. We cannot doubt that, insofar as He is man, the Father is His Father in the same sense that He is the Father of other men, and God is His God in the same way. Indeed, He begins by saying, “Go to My brothers.” But God can only have brothers according to the flesh; the only-begotten God, being only-begotten, is without brothers.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He does not say, "Our Father," but, “My Father and your Father.” It is "Mine" and "yours," therefore, in different senses: Mine by nature, yours by grace. Nor does He say, "Our God," but, “My God”—under whom I am man—“and your God”; between you and Him, I am the Mediator.

She then went away from the tomb—that is, from that part of the garden in front of the hollowed-out rock—and the other women were with her. But these women, according to Mark, were seized with trembling and amazement and said nothing to anyone. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had spoken these things to her.

St. Gregory the Great: Thus, the sin of mankind is buried in the very place from which it came forth. For whereas in Paradise the woman gave the man the deadly fruit, a woman from the tomb announced life to men. A woman delivers the message of Him who raises us from the dead, just as a woman had delivered the words of the serpent who killed us.

St. Augustine of Hippo: While she was going with the other women, according to Matthew, Jesus met them, saying, “All hail.” So we gather that there were two visions of angels, and that our Lord was also seen twice: once when Mary mistook Him for the gardener, and again when He met them on the way. By repeating His presence in this way, He confirmed their faith. And so Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples, not alone, but with the other women whom Luke mentions.

The Venerable Bede: Mystically, Mary—a name that signifies mistress, enlightened one, enlightener, or star of the sea—stands for the Church. The Church is also Magdalene, that is, "towered" (since Magdalene is related to the word for tower), as we read in the Psalms: “You have been a strong tower for me.” In that she announced Christ’s resurrection to the disciples, all people—especially those to whom the office of preaching is committed—are admonished to be zealous in proclaiming to others whatever is revealed from above.

St. John Chrysostom: When the disciples heard what Mary told them, they had to either disbelieve her or, if they believed, to grieve that He did not consider them worthy of seeing Him. However, He did not let them spend a whole day in such thoughts, but in the midst of their longing and trembling desires to see Him, He presented Himself to them: Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews.

The Venerable Bede: This shows the weakness of the Apostles. They assembled with the doors shut because of the same fear of the Jews that had previously scattered them. Jesus came and stood in their midst. He came in the evening because they would be the most afraid at that time.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Or, He waited until all were assembled. He came while the doors were shut so that He might show that He had risen in the very same way—that is, with the stone still lying on the tomb.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Some are strongly unwilling to believe this miracle and argue this way: If the same body that hung upon the cross rose again, how could that body enter through shut doors? But if you can comprehend the method, it is no longer a miracle. When reason fails, faith is then built up.

The shut doors were no obstacle to the body in which Divinity resided. He who was born without violating His mother’s virginity could enter without open doors.

St. John Chrysostom: It is remarkable that they did not think He was a phantom. But Mary had guarded against this by the faith she had worked in them. And He Himself also appeared so openly and strengthened their wavering minds with His voice, saying to them, Peace be with you—that is, "Do not be disturbed." In this, He also reminds them of what He had said before His crucifixion: My peace I give to you, and again, In me you will have peace.

St. Gregory the Great: And because their faith wavered even with His physical body before them, He showed them His hands and His side: And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The nails had pierced His hands; the lance had pierced His side. For the healing of doubting hearts, the marks of the wounds were still preserved.

St. John Chrysostom: And what He had promised before the crucifixion, I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, is now fulfilled: Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The glory with which the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom—that is, in Christ’s body—we must believe to have been veiled rather than absent. He adapted His presence to humanity's weak sight and presented Himself in such a form that His disciples could look at and recognize Him.

St. John Chrysostom: All these things brought them to a most confident faith. Since they were in a constant struggle with the Jews, He says again, Then Jesus said to them again, Peace be to you.

The Venerable Bede: A repetition is a confirmation. He repeats it either because the grace of love is twofold, or because it is He who made one out of two.

St. John Chrysostom: At the same time, He shows the power of the cross, by which He undoes all evil things and gives all good things—which is peace. To the women earlier, joy was announced, for that sex was in sorrow and had received the curse, In sorrow you shall bring forth children. With all hindrances removed and everything set right, He adds, As my Father has sent me, so I send you.

St. Gregory the Great: The Father sent the Son, appointing Him to the work of redemption. He says therefore, As my Father has sent me, so I send you; that is, "I love you, now that I send you into persecution, with the same love with which my Father loved me when He sent me to my sufferings."

St. Augustine of Hippo: We have learned that the Son is equal to the Father; here He shows Himself as Mediator: "He sent Me, and I send you."

St. John Chrysostom: Having then given them confidence through His own miracles and by appealing to the One who sent Him, He does not use a prayer to the Father, but by His own authority gives them power: And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

St. Augustine of Hippo: That physical breath was not the substance of the Holy Spirit, but was a fitting symbol to show that the Holy Spirit proceeds not only from the Father but also from the Son. For who would be so foolish as to say that the Spirit He gave by breathing was one, and the Spirit He sent after His ascension was another?

St. Gregory the Great: But why is He first given to the disciples on earth, and afterward sent from heaven? Because there are two commandments of love: to love God and to love our neighbor. The Spirit for loving our neighbor is given on earth; the Spirit for loving God is given from heaven. Just as love is one, yet there are two commandments, so the Spirit is one, yet there are two gifts of the Spirit. The first is given by our Lord while still on earth, and the second is given from heaven, because it is through the love of our neighbor that we learn how to arrive at the love of God.

St. John Chrysostom: Some say that by breathing on them, He did not give them the Spirit but instead made them fit to receive the Spirit. For if Daniel’s senses were so overpowered by the sight of an angel, how much more would they have been overwhelmed in receiving that indescribable gift if He had not first prepared them for it! However, it would not be wrong to say that they did then receive the gift of a certain spiritual power—not to raise the dead or perform miracles, but to forgive sins: Whosever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whosever sins you retain, they are retained.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The love of the Church, which is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, forgives the sins of those who share in it but retains the sins of those who do not. Therefore, when He said, Receive the Holy Spirit, He immediately mentioned the forgiving and retaining of sins.

St. Gregory the Great: We must understand that those who first received the Holy Spirit—for the purpose of their own innocent lives and for preaching to a few others—received it openly after the resurrection so that they might benefit not just a few, but many. The disciples, who were called to such works of humility, are led to what a height of glory! Behold, not only do they have salvation for themselves, but they are admitted to the powers of the supreme judgment seat, so that, in the place of God, they retain some people’s sins and forgive others.

Bishops now hold their place in the Church; they receive the authority to bind when they are admitted to the rank of government. Great is the honor, but heavy is the burden of this position. It is a terrible thing if someone who does not know how to govern his own life becomes a judge of another’s.

St. John Chrysostom: A priest, though he may have ordered his own life well, will be sent to hell with the evildoers if he has not exercised proper vigilance over others. Therefore, knowing the greatness of their danger, pay them full respect, even if they are not men of remarkable goodness. For those who are in authority should not be judged by those who are under them. And their unrighteous way of life will not invalidate what they do by God's commission.

For not only can a priest do nothing by himself, but not even an angel or archangel can; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do everything. The priest only provides the tongue and the hand. For it would not be just for the salvation of those who come to the Sacraments in faith to be endangered by another’s wickedness. At the assembly of the disciples all were present except for Thomas, who probably had not yet returned from the dispersion. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

Alcuin of York: Didymus means "double" or "doubtful," because he doubted in believing; Thomas means "depth," because with the most certain faith he penetrated into the depth of our Lord’s divinity.

St. Gregory the Great: It was not an accident that this particular disciple was not present. The divine mercy ordained that a doubting disciple, by feeling the wounds in his Master’s flesh, should heal the wounds of unbelief in us. The unbelief of Thomas is more profitable for our faith than the belief of the other disciples, for the touch by which he is brought to believe confirms our own minds in belief, beyond all question.

The Venerable Bede: But why does this Evangelist say that Thomas was absent, when Luke writes that two disciples on their return from Emmaus found the eleven assembled? We must understand that Thomas had gone out, and that during his absence, Jesus came and stood in their midst.

St. John Chrysostom: Just as believing immediately and without question is the mark of a gullible mind, so too is excessive questioning the mark of a coarse one; and this was Thomas’s fault. For when the Apostles said, We have seen the Lord, he did not believe—not because he discredited them, but because he thought the thing itself was impossible. The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will not believe."

St. John Chrysostom: Consider the mercy of the Lord, how for the sake of one soul, He exhibits His wounds. And yet the disciples deserved credit, and He Himself had foretold the event. Nevertheless, because one person, Thomas, wanted to examine Him, Christ allowed it. He did not appear to him immediately, but waited until the eighth day. He did this so that the admonition, being given in the presence of the disciples, might kindle in Thomas a greater desire and strengthen his faith for the future.

After eight days, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Then Jesus came, though the doors were shut, and stood in their midst, saying, Peace be to you.

St. Augustine of Hippo: You ask: If He entered through the shut door, where is the nature of His body? And I reply: If He walked on the sea, where is the weight of His body? The Lord did that as the Lord. And did He, after His resurrection, cease to be the Lord?

St. John Chrysostom: Jesus then comes Himself and does not wait until Thomas questions Him. To show that He heard what Thomas had said to the disciples, He uses the same words. First, He rebukes him. Then He says to Thomas, Reach hither your finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither your hand, and thrust it into My side. Secondly, He admonishes him: And be not faithless, but believing. Note how, before they received the Holy Spirit, their faith wavered, but afterward it was firm. We may wonder how an incorruptible body could retain the marks of the nails. But it was done as an act of condescension, so that they might be sure that it was the very person who was crucified.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He could have, if He had pleased, wiped every spot and trace of His wounds from His glorified body, but He had reasons for retaining them. He showed them to Thomas, who would not believe unless he saw and touched. And He will show them to His enemies, not to say, as He did to Thomas, Because you have seen, you have believed, but to convict them. He will say, "Behold the Man whom you crucified! See the wounds which you inflicted! Recognize the side which you pierced! It was opened by you, and for you, and yet you would not enter."

Somehow, we are afflicted with such a love for the blessed martyrs that we wish to see on their bodies in that kingdom the marks of the wounds they have borne for Christ’s sake. And perhaps we shall see them, for they will not be deformities but marks of dignity. Though on the body, they will shine forth not with bodily beauty, but with spiritual beauty.

Furthermore, if any limbs of the martyrs have been cut off, they will not appear without them in the resurrection of the dead, for it is said, There shall not an hair of your head perish. But if it is fitting that in that new world the traces of glorious wounds should still be preserved on their immortal flesh, then the marks of those wounds will appear where the limbs were cut off—even though those same limbs will be restored and not lost. For although all blemishes of the body will then be gone, these evidences of virtue are not to be called blemishes.

St. Gregory the Great: Our Lord presented for touching the same flesh He had brought through shut doors. In this, two wonderful and, according to human reason, contradictory things appear: namely, that after the resurrection His body was both incorruptible and yet tangible. For that which is tangible must be corruptible, and that which is incorruptible must be intangible. But He showed Himself to be both incorruptible and tangible to prove that His body after His resurrection was the same in nature as before, but different in glory.

In that resurrection to glory, our bodies will also be made ethereal by the action of the Spirit, yet they will remain tangible by their true nature. They will not be, as Eutychius says, intangible and more ethereal than the winds and the air.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Thomas saw and touched the man, and he confessed the God whom he neither saw nor touched. Through the one, he believed in the other without a doubt. Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my God.

Theophylact of Ohrid: He who had been unbelieving before, after touching the body, showed himself to be the best of theologians. For he asserted the twofold nature and one Person of Christ. By saying, "My Lord," he affirmed the human nature; by saying, "My God," he affirmed the divine nature. By joining them both, he confessed that the one and the same Person was both Lord and God.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He does not say, "because you have touched me," but, because you have seen me. Sight is a kind of general sense, often used in place of the other four. For example, we say, "Hear, and see how well it sounds," or "Smell, and see how sweet it smells," or "Taste, and see how well it tastes," or "Touch, and see how warm it is." This is why our Lord also says, Reach hither your finger, and behold My hands. What is this but, "Touch and see"? And yet, Thomas did not have eyes in his finger. Christ refers to both seeing and touching when He says, Because you have seen, you have believed. It might also be said, however, that the disciple did not dare to touch what was offered for him to touch.

St. Gregory the Great: But when the Apostle says, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1), it is plain that things which are seen are objects not of faith, but of knowledge. Why then is it said to Thomas, who saw and touched, Because you have seen Me, you have believed? Because he saw one thing and believed another: he saw the man but confessed the God.

But what follows is very heartening: Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. In this sentence, we are specially included—we who have not seen Him with our eyes but hold Him in our minds, provided that we develop our faith through good works. For only he who practices what he believes truly believes.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He uses the past tense ("have believed") because, in His knowledge, the future event has already taken place according to His own predestination.

St. John Chrysostom: If anyone then says, "I wish I had lived in those times and seen Christ perform miracles!" let him reflect on this: Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Here He is referring to the disciples who had believed without seeing the print of the nails and His side.

St. John Chrysostom: John, having related less than the other Evangelists, adds, And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book (John 20:30). The other evangelists did not relate everything either, but only what was sufficient to convince people. He probably refers here to the miracles our Lord performed after His resurrection, which is why he says, "in the presence of His disciples," as they were the only ones with whom He conversed after His resurrection.

Then, to help you understand that the miracles were not performed for the sake of the disciples alone, he adds, But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31), addressing himself to all humanity. And this belief, he adds, profits us, not the One in whom we believe. And that believing you might have life through His name—that is, through Jesus, who is life.