“My Lord and my God”: the story of Thomas in John 20

He is remembered for one moment of doubt. Yet the same man made one of the strongest confessions of faith in the Gospels. The story of Thomas in John 20 is about doubt, honesty and what happens when questions meet the risen Christ.

Who was Thomas

Thomas was one of the twelve apostles. John’s Gospel calls him “Thomas, called Didymus,” a name meaning “twin.” We are not told who his twin was. Thomas appears earlier in John. When Jesus decided to go back to Judea after Lazarus died, Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16). He was willing to face danger.

At the Last Supper, when Jesus spoke of going to prepare a place, Thomas asked, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14).

The first appearance

On the evening of the first Easter Sunday, the disciples were gathered behind closed doors for fear of the Jewish authorities. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be unto you.” He showed them his hands and his side. John 20:24 says plainly, “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.” We are not told where he was.

The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” Thomas replied: “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.”

Eight days later

After eight days, the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, yet Jesus came and stood among them and said again, “Peace be unto you.” Jesus spoke directly to Thomas: “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” He did not scold Thomas. He offered exactly the proof Thomas had asked for.

My Lord and my God

Thomas answered, “My Lord and my God.” It is one of the clearest statements in the New Testament about who Jesus is, and it came from the disciple who had doubted. Jesus replied, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” Those words reach every reader who has come to faith without seeing.

Church tradition holds that Thomas later carried the gospel east, and Christians in India, known as Saint Thomas Christians, trace their origins to his mission.

Honest questions

Many pastors use Thomas to teach that doubts can be brought to God. Thomas said what he felt, stayed with the other disciples, and was there when Jesus came again. “Doubting Thomas” has become a common phrase for a sceptic. But the story ends with worship, not doubt. Thomas is also the believer whose confession, “My Lord and my God,” is still repeated in churches all over the world.