Again He said: “Peace be to you! As[1] the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.” When He had said this He breathed upon them[2], saying: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.”[3]
Now it so happened that Thomas was not with the other apostles when Jesus appeared to them. Therefore they told Thomas afterwards that they had seen the Lord. But Thomas declared that he would not believe unless[4] he saw in His Hands and in His Feet the print of the nails.
Eight days after, the apostles were again assembled, Thomas being in their midst. And Jesus suddenly appeared to them, saying: “Peace be to you!” Then He told Thomas to put his finger in the print of the nails in His Hands and Feet, and to put his hand into His Side. Thomas did so, and exclaimed with fervour: “My Lord and my God!” [5] Jesus replied: “Because thou hast seen Me, Thomas, thou hast believed. Blessed[6] are they that have not seen, and have believed.”
COMMENTARY.
Proof of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus appeared in the midst of the assembled apostles, let Himself be touched by them,
- ↑ As. With the same power, and for the same end.
- ↑ Breathed upon them. As a sign that He imparted to them His own Spirit, i.e. the Holy Ghost, to enable them to forgive the sins of men on earth.
- ↑ Retained, i. e. are not forgiven by God. By these words our Lord actually imparted to His apostles the power of binding and loosing which He had previously (chapter XXXVI) promised that He would give them.
- ↑ Unless. Thomas had repeatedly proved his love for, and faithfulness to Jesus, but he could not believe that He had risen bodily from the dead. He thought the other apostles were under a delusion, so he demanded not only to see the wounds cf our Lord, but actually to touch them, before he would yield his faith.
- ↑ My God. Our Lord knew that Thomas had the will to believe, and therefore He appeared to him as he wished, so as to remove all doubts from the mind of this apostle who would have to bear testimony to His Resurrection before Jews and Gentiles. Thomas, as our Lord commanded him, put his finger into the marks of the wounds in His Hands and Feet, and his hand into the wound in His Side; and then all doubt vanished ! Not only did he believe that our Lord was standing before him in His own risen Body, but the wonderful Resurrection made him recognise His Divine Omnipotence as he had never done before, and he sank on his knees before Jesus, and worshipped Him; thus atoning for his former skepticism by the most explicit act of faith.
- ↑ Blessed. Greater would have been his* merit, if Thomas had believed the trustworthy testimony of the other apostles.
