19

Jesus with the Disciples:

Anbelief of Thomas.

CHAP. XX. 19-31.

"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, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, 20 Peace be unto you. And when He had so said, He

showed unto them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

24 "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, 25 was not with them when Jesus came. The other

26

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 prints of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.

"And after eight days, again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, 27 Peace be unto you. Then saith He to Thomas, Reach

Y

hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side: and be 2s not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered 29 and said unto Him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

30

"And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in 31 this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name."

"TH

HE same day," the very day when He rose; but "at evening," when the day was almost over : then it was that the Apostles were gathered together. It had been a day of days to them: from its very beginning, from even before daybreak, a day of wonder, of excited feeling, of trembling joy. And now, at the close of the day, their minds still filled with all they have seen and heard, they are met together. The doors are shut, for fear of the Jews.

But closed doors cannot shut out the Lord. Suddenly, while every thought is fixed on Him, and His name perhaps on their lips, suddenly He Himself is in the midst of them, with His own voice speaking peace to them. Peace was His gift, His legacy, to them; He would give them a portion, a foretaste, already. Their minds were agitated by the events of the day; He would calm them.

Nothing could calm them so much, nothing give them such peace, as to be assured that He was risen indeed. He showed them therefore His hands and His side. It was no spirit, or phantom, that appeared among them;

it was He Himself; there were the wounds in His hands, there was the mark of the spear in His side. No doubt remained. "Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord." All saw Him now.

Again He spoke peace to them. And then, as His Apostles, His sent ones, He sent them again. Before, they had gone out in His name, and had come back to tell Him what they had done: now they were to give their life to the same work. "As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you."

What are we to understand by His breathing on them? It was a sign, an outward sign or token, of a blessing given. Some spiritual blessing was given at the moment; when He said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," a foretaste of the Spirit did actually accompany the words. But the full gift of the Spirit was not to be bestowed till after His ascension. He had promised the Comforter then, and in these words He repeats the promise.

None can forgive sins, but God only. Our Lord gave the Apostles no power to forgive. But He did send them forth to proclaim God's forgiveness. They were to preach the Gospel, which speaks pardon to the penitent and believing, while it warns the impenitent of judgment to come. In this way they were to remit and to retain.

There was besides a special gift of the Holy Ghost, bestowed on the Apostles, called "discerning of spirits,' a gift by which they were enabled to know the state of a man's mind, whether he really repented, and really had the faith which he professed. Peter showed this power in the case of Simon Magus (Acts viii. 20). By virtue of this gift, they were able, not only to proclaim God's forgiveness in general, but also to declare it to

particular persons, for by it they knew who did believe in Christ for forgiveness, and who did not. In this sense also therefore the Apostles might remit or retain.

Christ's ministers have no such special gift now. Experience may teach them much, and prayer for guidance will not be unheard; but this gift of the Spirit must be classed with many others of an extraordinary kind mentioned in the same passage (1 Cor. xii. 8-11) which seem to have passed away. But it is still the office of Christ's ministers to proclaim God's forgiveness of sin. And to make their message reach the heart, God will not withhold His Holy Spirit from those who ask Him.

But that evening, one was absent. Thomas was not there. We know not why. We have not the least reason for blaming him. Nevertheless a passing lesson may be drawn. If any one absents himself needlessly from the meeting together of disciples in the Lord's name, he knows not how great a blessing he may miss. In this case Thomas lost the Lord's presence and peace; and a share in the gladness of the rest, and in whatever blessing was conveyed in the words, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." If he had been there, he would have believed with the rest. As it was, he could not believe on their report. He must see for himself; and more, he must even touch and feel.

A week passes, and again it is the first day of the week-the Lord's day now, and from this time forward. The disciples are met as before, and now Thomas is there too. Again the doors are shut, again Jesus appears, again He speaks peace. And now He turns to Thomas. He knew his heart, and knew what he had said. He uses almost his own words, when He bids him see and

feel His hands and side. Then He adds, "and be not faithless, but believing."

He had been faithless, but now he believes and adores; the sight is enough; he wants no touch now: "My Lord and my God!" he cries. Again the Lord gently reproves him. He believed, only because he had seen: but he ought to have been more ready to believe; "blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." Is that blessedness ours? The Lord still looks for a quick and ready faith. And though we have not seen as Thomas saw, yet, with the Bible and all the other means of grace, how plain has God made all to us! Do we even yet truly believe?

The "many other signs " mentioned in the last verses mean, not merely those things which Jesus did after His resurrection, but all His mighty works. The miracles we are told of are but samples of the vast number which He wrought. They had a great effect on those who saw them. They are meant to have a great effect on us. They are written, that we may believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God; not with the understanding only, but with the heart; in order that so "believing, we might have life through His name."