Church Fathers Commentary John 20:26-31

"And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace [be] unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach [hither] thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed. Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name." — John 20:26-31 (ASV)

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.