So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.”The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall 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.
8 sermons cite this verse
… And the book lets us know Jesus shows up, offers them some peace, and then blows my mind. The book says that he breathed on them and told them, I'm sending you just like my daddy sent me. He breathed on them. And when he breathed on them, I love it. The text says they received the Holy Ghost. They received the Holy Spirit. It was a Pentecost preview. And all I came to say on Pentecost Sunday is I want a fresh God. I want God afresh to breathe on us. Because when God breathes on us, something happens. As a matter of fact, it's a breath. of fresh air. A breath of fresh air. I have to admit that this wasn't going to be my subject. I was getting ready to fly from L.A. here last night on the red. I got in 5 o'clock this morning, and I'm wrestling with this text, and I got everything worked out except the subject. And so Albany asked me, so what about this for a subject? …
… down to the end of verse 31. Okay, here we go. Now, Thomas called the twin. One of the 12 was not with them. When Jesus came, the other disciples therefore said to him, we have seen the Lord. And so he said to them, unless I see in his hands, the print of the nail 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, and you might hear the record scratch right there and go, wait a minute. It was only seven days ago that was Easter. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Today is the eighth day, Thomas Sunday. His disciples were again inside and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, poof, and stood in the midst and said, peace to you. Then he said to Thomas, reach your finger here. Look at my hands. Reach your hand here and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. …
… Because Jesus said so. In John chapter 21, Jesus is making those men the first priests and saying, no, you actually have my power. You have my ability to bring mercy to the world, to forgive sins. If you don't, they're retained. If you do, they're gone. That's why I'm going to say that today, your next confession is the exercise that your soul and my soul needs. that your next confession is the exercise that your soul and my soul needs. And I mean this for everyone. From the person who is convinced that they're beyond God's reach to the person who is absolutely convinced they're a genuinely, quote unquote, good person. Because that's maybe a lot of us. We're like, no, but I'm okay. Like, why would I have to go to confession? Like, I go to mass. Like, I help. Like, if you're back at your parish. Like, at Easter, I was back home for Easter and like, they knew I was there. So like, hey, get back up, you know. …
… some of us 10 years. But unless I see the nail marks in his hands and unless I put my finger where the nails were and unless I put my hand into his side because Jesus was bleeding out, centurion or ask one of his men to take a spear and thrust it up under Jesus' ribs into his heart to make sure he was dead because the Sabbath was coming and they needed to take these decaying bodies off the cross. He couldn't have people moaning and groaning through the Sabbath. They knew he was dead. And unless I can touch the nail marks in his hands and put my hands in his side, I will not believe. And this is where, this is so amazing, this is where this account intersects with perhaps some of you. In fact, when you read, you follow Jesus through the gospels, listen to his teaching and listen to his narratives, if you read slow enough and long enough, you will find yourself in this story over and over and over. …
Jump up to your feet. We're going to the Word of God, the Gospel of St. John, chapter 20, verse 25 through 28. There you will find my assignment for this morning. The text is brief and simple, but the message behind it is profound and prolific. it comes at a moment in history that Jesus has gone to the cross. Jerusalem is in total chaos and confusion. The Romans are trying to manage it. The temple is trying to diminish it. The disciples are trying to dodge it. because their leader is gone. Or so they thought. A lot of things that look gone on Friday. resurrect on Sunday morning. The devil will try to talk you into thinking it's over and this is somebody that the enemy in some area of your life has convinced you that it's over, but it's not over. Just because it's hard doesn't mean it's not over. Just because it's difficult doesn't mean it's not over. One of the disciples in particular had a hard time with it, and I'm going to focus on him today. …
… but Thomas, who was called the twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, we have seen the Lord, but he said to them, unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and I put my finger in the mark of the nails, and my hand in his side, I will not believe. A week later Jesus's disciples were again in the house and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said peace be with you. Then Jesus said to Thomas put your finger here and see my hands. reach out your hand and put it in my side do not doubt but believe thomas answered him my lord and my god jesus said to thomas have you believed because you have seen me blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book but these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah the son of God and that through believing you may have life in Jesus's name this is the word of God for the people of God thanks be to God Lately, my friends, I've been trying to get around this giant city without a map. …
The Bible says in John chapter 20, verse 24, Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told 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 never believe. Now give him some credit. This was before AI, but Thomas feels like this is unlikely that this has happened just like they said. But just after he says, I will never believe, put that back up in verse 25, please. I will never believe. The Bible says, eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. Y'all missed a great place to shout because although the doors were locked, Jesus came. How many are thankful that he came anyway? He came anyway through locked doors, through a broken heart, through a divorce that you went through last year. He came anyway, even though you were trying to push him back and tell him no, he came anyway. He came through locked doors and stood among them and said, peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, Hey, I heard you've been talking about me, so let's do this. …
… Remember Thomas doubted the resurrection, and he failed in his faith because he refused to live above sea level. John chapter 20, verse 25, The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand in his side, I will not believe. Now here was a man whose faith was hindered by the desire to see. The desire to see is such a hindrance to faith. Simon Peter learned that we are not to live this way. 1 Peter 1, verse 8, it speaks of Jesus, whom having not seen ye love, in whom though ye now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Adrian, have you seen Jesus? No. But I love him. I have not seen him. But I love him and I believe on him. Sometimes we just believe what our senses tell us rather than letting that faith be the evidence of things not seen, things hoped for. …