Matthew Henry's Commentary
Verses 19-25
The infallible proof of Christ’s resurrection was his
showing himself alive, Acts 1:3. In these verses, we have an account of his
first appearance to the college of the disciples, on the day on which he rose.
He had sent them the tidings of his resurrection by trusty and credible
messengers; but to show his love to them, and confirm their faith in him, he
came himself, and gave them all the assurances they could desire of the truth
of it, that they might not have it by hearsay only, and at second hand, but
might themselves be eye-witnesses of his being alive, because they must attest
it to the world, and build the church upon that testimony. Now observe here,
I. When and where this appearance was, John 20:19. It was
the same day that he rose, being the first day of the week, the day after the
Jewish sabbath, at a private meeting of the disciples, ten of them, and some
more of their friends with them, Luke 24:33.
There are three secondary ordinances (as I may call them)
instituted by our Lord Jesus, to continue in his church, for the support of it,
and for the due administration of the principal ordinances—the word,
sacraments, and prayer; these are, the Lord’s day, solemn assemblies, and
standing ministry. The mind of Christ concerning each of these is plainly
intimated to us in these verses; of the first two, here, in the circumstances
of this appearance, the other John 20:21. Christ’s kingdom was to be set up
among men, immediately upon his resurrection; and accordingly we find the very
day he arose, though but a day of small things, yet graced with those
solemnities which should help to keep up a face of religion throughout all the
ages of the church.
1. Here is a Christian sabbath observed by the disciples,
and owned by our Lord Jesus. The visit Christ made to his disciples was on the
first day of the week. And the first day of the week is (I think) the only day
of the week, or month, or year, that is ever mentioned by number in all the New
Testament; and this is several times spoken of as a day religiously observed.
Though it was said here expressly (John 20:1) that Christ arose on the first
day of the week, and it might have been sufficient to say here (John 20:19), he
appeared the same day at evening; yet, to put an honour upon the day, it is
repeated, being the first day of the week; not that the apostles designed to
put honour upon the day (they were yet in doubt concerning the occasion of it),
but God designed to put honour upon it, by ordering it that they should be
altogether, to receive Christ’s first visit on that day. Thus, in effect, he
blessed and sanctified that day, because in it the Redeemer rested.
2. Here is a Christian assembly solemnized by the disciples,
and also owned by the Lord Jesus. Probably the disciples met here for some
religious exercise, to pray together; or, perhaps, they met to compare notes,
and consider whether they had sufficient evidence of their Master’s
resurrection, and to consult what was now to be done, whether they should keep
together or scatter; they met to know one another’s minds, strengthen one
another’s hands, and concert proper measures to be taken in the present critical
juncture. This meeting was private, because they durst not appear publicly,
especially in a body. They met in a house, but they kept the door shut, that
they might not be seen together, and that no one might come among them but such
as they knew; for they feared the Jews, who would prosecute the disciples as
criminals, that they might seem to believe the lie they would deceive the world
with, that his disciples came by night, and stole him away. Note, (1.) The
disciples of Christ, even in difficult times, must not forsake the assembling
of themselves together, Heb. 10:25. Those sheep of the flock were scattered in
the storm; but sheep are sociable, and will come together again. It is no new
thing for the assemblies of Christ’s disciples to be driven into corners, and
forced into the wilderness, Rev. 12:14; Prov. 28:12. (2.) God’s people have
been often obliged to enter into their chambers, and shut their doors, as here,
for fear of the Jews. Persecution is allotted them, and retirement from
persecution is allowed them; and then where shall we look for them but in dens
and caves of the earth. It is a real grief, but no real reproach, to Christ’s
disciples, thus to abscond.
II. What was said and done in this visit Christ made to his
disciples, and his interview between them. When they were assembled, Jesus came
among them, in his own likeness, yet drawing a veil over the brightness of his
body, now begun to be glorified, else it would have dazzled their eyes, as in
his transfiguration. Christ came among them, to give them a specimen of the
performance of his promise, that, where two or three are gathered together in
his name, he will be in the midst of them. He came, though the doors were shut.
This does not at all weaken the evidence of his having a real human body after
his resurrection; though the doors were shut, he knew how to open them without
any noise, and come in so that they might not hear him, as formerly he had
walked on the water, and yet had a true body. It is a comfort to Christ’s
disciples, when their solemn assemblies are reduced to privacy, that no doors
can shut out Christ’s presence from them. We have five things in this
appearance of Christ:—
(1.) His kind and familiar salutation of his disciples: He
said, Peace be unto you. This was not a word of course, though commonly used so
at the meeting of friends, but a solemn, uncommon benediction, conferring upon
them all the blessed fruits and effects of his death and resurrection. The
phrase was common, but the sense was now peculiar. Peace be unto you is as much
as, All good be to you, all peace always by all means. Christ had left them his
peace for their legacy, John 14:27. By the death of the testator the testament
was become of force, and he was now risen from the dead, to prove the will, and
to be himself the executor of it. Accordingly, he here makes prompt payment of
the legacy: Peace be unto you. His speaking peace makes peace, creates the
fruit of the lips, peace; peace with God, peace in your own consciences, peace
with one another; all this peace be with you; not peace with the world, but
peace in Christ. His sudden appearing in the midst of them when they were full
of doubts concerning him, full of fears concerning themselves, could not but
put them into some disorder and consternation, the noise of which waves he
stills with this word, Peace be unto you.
(2.) His clear and undeniable manifestation of himself to
them, John 20:20. And here observe,
[1.] The method he took to convince them of the truth of his
resurrection, They now saw him alive whom multitudes had seen dead two or three
days before. Now the only doubt was whether this that they saw alive was the
same individual body that had been seen dead; and none could desire a further
proof that it was so than the scars or marks of the wounds in the body. Now,
First, The marks of the wounds, and very deep marks (though without any pain or
soreness), remained in the body of the Lord Jesus even after his resurrection,
that they might be demonstrations of the truth of it. Conquerors glory in the
marks of their wounds. Christ’s wounds were to speak on earth that it was he
himself, and therefore he arose with them; they were to speak in heaven, in the
intercession he must ever live to make, and therefore he ascended with them,
and appeared in the midst of the throne, a Lamb as it had been slain, and
bleeding afresh, Rev. 5:6. Nay, it should seem, he will come again with his
scars, that they may look on him whom they pierced. Secondly, These marks he
showed to his disciples, for their conviction. They had not only the
satisfaction of seeing him look with the same countenance, and hearing him
speak with the same voice they had been so long accustomed to, Sic oculos, sic
ille manus, sic ora, ferebat—Such were his gestures, such his eyes and hands!
but they had the further evidence of these peculiar marks: he opened his hands
to them, that they might see the marks of the wounds on them; he opened his
breast, as the nurse hers to the child, to show them the wound there. Note, The
exalted Redeemer will ever show himself open-handed and open-hearted to all his
faithful friends and followers. When Christ manifests his love to believers by
the comforts of his Spirit, assures them that because he lives they shall live
also, then he shows them his hands and his side.
[2.] The impression it made upon them, and the good it did
them. First, They were convinced that they saw the Lord: so was their faith
confirmed. At first, they thought they saw an apparition only, a phantasm; but
now they knew it was the Lord himself. Thus many true believers, who, while
they were weak, feared their comforts were but imaginary, afterwards find them,
through grace, real and substantial. They ask not, Isa. it the Lord? but are
assured, it is he. Secondly, Then they were glad; that which strengthened their
faith raised their joy; believing they rejoice. The evangelist seems to write
it with somewhat of transport and triumph. Then! then! were the disciples glad,
when they saw the Lord, If it revived the spirit of Jacob to hear that Joseph
was yet alive, how would it revive the heart of these disciples to hear that
Jesus is again alive? It is life from the dead to them. Now that word of Christ
was fulfilled (John 16:22), I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.
This wiped away all tears from their eyes. Note, A sight of Christ will gladden
the heart of a disciple at any time; the more we see of Christ, the more we
shall rejoice in him; and our joy will never be perfect till we come where we
shall see him as he is.
(3.) The honourable and ample commission he gave them to be
his agents in the planting of his church, John 20:21. Here is,
[1.] The preface to their commission, which was the solemn
repetition of the salutation before: Peace be unto you. This was intended, either,
First, To raise their attention to the commission he was about to give them.
The former salutation was to still the tumult of their fear, that they might
calmly attend to the proofs of his resurrection; this was to reduce the
transport of their joy, that they might sedately hear what he had further to
say to them; or, Secondly, To encourage them to accept of the commission he was
giving them. Though it would involve them in a great deal of trouble, yet he
designed their honour and comfort in it, and, in the issue, it would be peace
to them. Gideon received his commission with this word, Peace be unto thee,
Jdg. 6:22, 23. Christ is our Peace; if he is with us, peace is to us. Christ
was now sending the disciples to publish peace to the world (Isa. 52:7), and he
here not only confers it upon them for their own satisfaction, but commits it
to them as a trust to be by them transmitted to all the sons of peace, Luke
10:5, 6.
[2.] The commission itself, which sounds very great: As my
Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
First, It is easy to understand how Christ sent them; he
appointed them to go on with his work upon earth, and to lay out themselves for
the spreading of his gospel, and the setting up of his kingdom, among men. He
sent them authorized with a divine warrant, armed with a divine power,—sent
them as ambassadors to treat of peace, and as heralds to proclaim it,—sent them
as servants to bid to the marriage. Hence they were called apostles—men sent.
Secondly, But how Christ sent them as the Father sent him is
not so easily understood; certainly their commissions and powers were
infinitely inferior to his; but, 1. Their work was of the same kind with his,
and they were to go on where he left off. They were not sent to be priests and
kings, like him, but only prophets. As he was sent to bear witness to the
truth, so were they; not to be mediators of the reconciliation, but only
preachers and publishers of it. Was he sent, not to be ministered to, but to
minister? not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him? not to
destroy the law and the prophets, but to fill them up? So were they. As the
Father sent him to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, so he sent them into
all the world. 2. He had a power to send them equal to that which the Father
had to send him. Here the force of the comparison seems to lie. By the same
authority that the Father sent me do I send you. This proves the Godhead of
Christ; the commissions he gave were of equal authority with those which the
Father gave, and as valid and effectual to all intents and purposes, equal with
those he gave to the Old-Testament prophets in visions. The commissions of
Peter and John, by the plain word of Christ, are as good as those of Isaiah and
Ezekiel, by the Lord sitting on his throne; nay, equal with that which was
given to the Mediator himself for his work. Had he an incontestable authority,
and an irresistible ability, for his work? so had they for theirs. Or thus, As
the Father hath sent me is, as it were, the recital of his power; by virtue of
the authority given him as a Mediator, he gave authority to them, as his
ministers, to act for him, and in his name, with the children of men; so that
those who received them, or rejected them, received or rejected him, and him
that sent him, John 13:20.
(4.) The qualifying of them for the discharge of the trust
reposed in them by their commission (John 20:22): He breathed on them, and
said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Observe,
[1.] The sign he used to assure them of, and affect them
with, the gift he was now about to bestow upon them: He breathed on them; not
only to show them, by this breath of life, that he himself was really alive,
but to signify to them the spiritual life and power which they should receive
from him for all the services that lay before them. Probably he breathed upon
them all together, not upon each severally and, though Thomas was not with
them, yet the Spirit of the Lord knew where to find him, as he did Eldad and
Medad, Num. 11:26. Christ here seems to refer to the creation of man at first,
by the breathing of the breath of life into him (Gen. 2:7), and to intimate
that he himself was the author of that work, and that the spiritual life and
strength of ministers and Christians are derived from him, and depend upon him,
as much as the natural life of Adam and his seed. As the breath of the Almighty
gave life to man and began the old world, so the breath of the mighty Saviour
gave life to his ministers, and began a new world, Job 33:4. Now this intimates
to us, First, That the Spirit is the breath of Christ, proceeding from the Son.
The Spirit, in the Old Testament, is compared to breath (Ezek. 37:9), Come, O
breath; but the New Testament tells us it is Christ’s breath. The breath of God
is put for the power of his wrath (Isa. 11:4; 30:33); but the breath of Christ
signifies the power of his grace; the breathing of threatenings is changed into
the breathings of love by the mediation of Christ. Our words are uttered by our
breath, so the word of Christ is spirit and life. The word comes from the
Spirit, and the Spirit comes along with the word. Secondly, That the Spirit is
the gift of Christ. The apostles communicated the Holy Ghost by the laying on
of hands, those hands being first lifted up in prayer, for they could only beg this
blessing, and carry it as messengers; but Christ conferred the Holy Ghost by
breathing, for he is the author of the gift, and from him it comes originally.
Moses could not give his Spirit, God did it (Num. 11:17); but Christ did it
himself.
[2.] The solemn grant he made, signified by this sign,
Receive ye the Holy Ghost, in part now, as an earnest of what you shall further
receive not many days hence.” They now received more of the Holy Ghost than
they had yet received. Thus spiritual blessings are given gradually; to him
that has shall be given. Now that Jesus began to be glorified more of the
Spirit began to be given: see John 7:39. Let us see what is contained in this
grant. First, Christ hereby gives them assurance of the Spirit’s aid in their
future work, in the execution of the commission now given them: “I send you,
and you shall have the Spirit to go along with you.” Now the Spirit of the Lord
rested upon them to qualify them for all the services that lay before them.
Whom Christ employs he will clothe with his Spirit, and furnish with all
needful powers. Secondly, He hereby gives them experience of the Spirit’s
influences in their present case. He had shown them his hands and his side, to
convince them of the truth of his resurrection; but the plainest evidences will
not of themselves work faith, witness the infidelity of the soldiers, who were
the only eye-witnesses of the resurrection. “Therefore receive ye the Holy
Ghost, to work faith in you, and to open your understandings.” They were now in
danger of the Jews: “Therefore receive ye the Holy Ghost, to work courage in
you.” What Christ said to them he says to all true believers, Receive ye the
Holy Ghost, Eph. 1:13. What Christ gives we must receive, must submit ourselves
and our whole souls to the quickening, sanctifying, influences of the blessed
Spirit-receive his motions, and comply with them—receive his powers and make
use of them: and those who thus obey this word as a precept shall have the
benefit of it as a promise; they shall receive the Holy Ghost as the guide of
their way and the earnest of their inheritance.
(5.) One particular branch of the power given them by their
commission particularized (John 20:23): “Whosesoever sins you remit, in the due
execution of the powers you are entrusted with, they are remitted to them, and
they may take the comfort of it; and whosesoever sins you retain, that is,
pronounce unpardoned and the guilt of them bound on, they are retained, and the
sinner may be sure of it, to his sorrow.” Now this follows upon their receiving
the Holy Ghost; for, if they had not had an extraordinary spirit of discerning,
they had not been fit to be entrusted with such an authority; for, in the
strictest sense, this is a special commission to the apostles themselves and
the first preachers of the gospel, who could distinguish who were in the gall
of bitterness and bond of iniquity, and who were not. By virtue of this power,
Peter struck Ananias and Sapphira dead, and Paul struck Elymas blind. Yet it
must be understood as a general charter to the church and her ministers, not
securing an infallibility of judgment to any man or company of men in the
world, but encouraging the faithful stewards of the mysteries of God to stand
to the gospel they were sent to preach, for that God himself will stand to it.
The apostles, in preaching remission, must begin at Jerusalem, though she had
lately brought upon herself the guilt of Christ’s blood: “Yet you may declare
their sins remitted upon gospel terms.” And Peter did so, Acts 2:38; 3:19.
Christ, being risen for our justification, sends his gospel heralds to proclaim
the jubilee begun, the act of indemnity now passed; and by this rule men shall
be judged, John 12:48; Rom. 2:16; Jas. 2:12. God will never alter this rule of
judgment, nor vary from it; those whom the gospel acquits shall be acquitted,
and those whom the gospel condemns shall be condemned, which puts immense
honour upon the ministry, and should put immense courage into ministers. Two
ways the apostles and ministers of Christ remit and retain sin, and both as
having authority:—[1.] By sound doctrine. They are commissioned to tell the
world that salvation is to be had upon gospel terms, and no other, and they
shall find God will say Amen to it; so shall their doom be. [2.] By a strict
discipline, applying the general rule of the gospel to particular persons.
“Whom you admit into communion with you, according to the rules of the gospel,
God will admit into communion with himself; and whom you cast out of communion
as impenitent, and obstinate in scandalous and infectious sins, shall be bound
over to the righteous judgment of God.”
III. The incredulity of Thomas, when the report of this was
made to him, which introduced Christ’s second appearance.
1. Here is Thomas’s absence from this meeting, John 20:24.
He is said to be one of the twelve, one of the college of the apostles, who,
though now eleven, had been twelve, and were to be so again. They were but
eleven, and one of them was missing: Christ’s disciples will never be all
together till the general assembly at the great day. Perhaps it was Thomas’s
unhappiness that he was absent—either he was not well, or had not notice; or
perhaps it was his sin and folly—either he was diverted by business or company,
which he preferred before this opportunity, or he durst not come for fear of
the Jews; and he called that his prudence and caution which was his cowardice.
However, by his absence he missed the satisfaction of seeing his Master risen,
and of sharing with the disciples in their joy upon that occasion. Note, Those
know not what they lose who carelessly absent themselves from the stated solemn
assemblies of Christians.
2. The account which the other disciples gave him of the
visit their Master had made them, John 20:25. The next time they saw him they
said unto him, with joy enough, We have seen the Lord; and no doubt they
related to him all that had passed, particularly the satisfaction he had given
them by showing them his hands and his side. It seems, though Thomas was then
from them, he was not long from them; absentees for a time must not be
condemned as apostates for ever: Thomas is not Judas. Observe with what
exultation and triumph they speak it: “We have seen the Lord, the most
comfortable sight we ever saw.” This they said to Thomas, (1.) To upbraid him
with his absence: “We have seen the Lord, but thou hast not.” Or rather, (2.)
To inform him: “We have seen the Lord, and we wish thou hadst been here, to see
him too, for thou wouldest have seen enough to satisfy thee.” Note, The
disciples of Christ should endeavour to build up one another in their most holy
faith, both by repeating what they have heard to those that were absent, that
they may hear it at second hand, and also by communicating what they have
experienced. Those that by faith have seen the Lord, and tasted that he is
gracious, should tell others what God has done for their souls; only let
boasting be excluded.
3. The objections Thomas raised against the evidence, to
justify himself in his unwillingness to admit it. “Tell me not that you have
seen the Lord alive; you are too credulous; somebody has made fools of you. For
my part, except I shall not only see in his hands the print of the nails, but
put my finger into it, and thrust my hand into the wound in his side, I am
resolved I will not believe.” Some, by comparing this with what he said (John
11:16; 14:5), conjecture him to have been a man of a rough, morose temper, apt
to speak peevishly; for all good people are not alike happy in their temper.
However, there was certainly much amiss in his conduct at this time. (1.) He
had either not heeded, or not duly regarded, what Christ had so often said, and
that too according to the Old Testament, that he would rise again the third
day; so that he ought to have said, He is risen, though he had not seen him,
nor spoken with any that had. (2.) He did not pay a just deference to the
testimony of his fellow-disciples, who were men of wisdom and integrity, and
ought to have been credited. He knew them to be honest men; they all ten of
them concurred in the testimony with great assurance; and yet he could not
persuade himself to say that their record was true. Christ had chosen them to
be his witnesses of this very thing to all nations; and yet Thomas, one of
their own fraternity, would not allow them to be competent witnesses, nor trust
them further than he could see them. It was not, however, their veracity that
he questioned, but their prudence; he feared they were too credulous. (3.) He
tempted Christ, and limited the Holy One of Israel, when he would be convinced
by his own method, or not at all. He could not be sure that the print of the
nails, which the apostles told him they had seen, would admit the putting of
his finger into it, or the wound in his side the thrusting in of his hand; nor
was it fit to deal so roughly with a living body; yet Thomas ties up his faith
to this evidence. Either he will be humoured, and have his fancy gratified, or
he will not believe; see Matt. 16:1; 27:42. (4.) The open avowal of this in the
presence of the disciples was an offence and discouragement to them. It was not
only a sin, but a scandal. As one coward makes many, so does one believer, one
sceptic, making his brethren’s heart to faint like his heart, Deut. 20:8. Had
he only thought this evil, and then laid his hand upon his mouth, to suppress
it, his error had remained with himself; but his proclaiming his infidelity,
and that so peremptorily, might be of ill consequence to the rest, who were as
yet but weak and wavering.
Verses 26-31
We have here an account of another appearance of Christ to
his disciples, after his resurrection, when Thomas was now with them. And
concerning this we may observe,
I. When it was that Christ repeated his visit to his
disciples: After eight days, that day seven-night after he rose, which must
therefore be, as that was, the first day of the week.
1. He deferred his next appearance for some time, to show
his disciples that he was not risen to such a life as he had formerly lived, to
converse constantly with them but was as one that belonged to another world,
and visited this only as angels do, now and then, when there was occasion.
Where Christ was during these eight days, and the rest of the time of his abode
on earth, it is folly to enquire, and presumption to determine. Wherever he
was, no doubt angels ministered unto him. In the beginning of his ministry he
had been forty days unseen, tempted by the evil spirit, Matt. 4:1, 2. And now
in the beginning of his glory he was forty days, for the most part unseen,
attended by good spirits.
2. He deferred it so long as seven days. And why so? (1.) That
he might put a rebuke upon Thomas for his incredulity. He had neglected the
former meeting of the disciples; and, to teach him to prize those seasons of
grace better for the future, he cannot have such another opportunity for
several days. He that slips one tide must stay a good while for another. A very
melancholy week, we have reason to think Thomas had of it, drooping, and in
suspense, while the other disciples were full of joy; and it was owing to
himself and his own folly. (2.) That he might try the faith and patience of the
rest of the disciples. They had gained a great point when they were satisfied
that they had seen the Lord. Then were the disciples glad; but he would try
whether they could keep the ground they had got, when they saw no more of him
for some days. And thus he would gradually wean them from his bodily presence,
which they had doted and depended too much upon. (3.) That he might put an
honour upon the first day of the week, and give a plain intimation of his will,
that it should be observed in his church as the Christian sabbath, the weekly
day of holy rest and holy convocations. That one day in seven should be
religiously observed was an appointment from the beginning, as old as
innocency; and that in the kingdom of the Messiah the first day of the week
should be that solemn day this was indication enough, that Christ on that day
once and again met his disciples in a religious assembly. It is highly probable
that in his former appearance to them he appointed them that day seven-night to
be together again, and promised to meet them; and also that he appeared to them
every first day of the week, besides other times, during the forty days. The
religious observance of that day has been thence transmitted down to us through
every age of the church. This therefore is the day which the Lord has made.
II. Where, and how, Christ made them this visit. It was at
Jerusalem, for the doors were shut now, as before, for fear of the Jews. There
they staid, to keep the feast of unleavened bread seven days, which expired the
day before this; yet they would not set out on their journey to Galilee on the
first day of the week, because it was the Christian sabbath, but staid till the
day after. Now observe, 1. That Thomas was with them; though he had withdrawn
himself once, yet not a second time. When we have lost one opportunity, we
should give the more earnest heed to lay hold on the next, that we may recover
our losses. It is a good sign if such a loss whet our desires, and a bad sign
if it cool them. The disciples admitted him among them, and did not insist upon
his believing the resurrection of Christ, as they did, because as yet it was
but darkly revealed; they did not receive him to doubtful disputation, but bade
him welcome to come and see. But observe, Christ did not appear to Thomas, for
his satisfaction, till he found him in society with the rest of his disciples,
because he would countenance the meetings of Christians and ministers, for
there will he be in the midst of them. And, besides, he would have all the
disciples witnesses of the rebuke he gave to Thomas, and yet withal of the
tender care he had of him. 2. That Christ came in among them, and stood in the
midst, and they all knew him, for he showed himself now, just as he had shown
himself before (John 20:19), still the same, and no changeling. See the
condescension of our Lord Jesus. The gates of heaven were ready to be opened to
him, and there he might have been in the midst of the adorations of a world of
angels; yet, for the benefit of his church, he lingered on earth, and visited
the little private meetings of his poor disciples, and is in the midst of them.
3. He saluted them all in a friendly manner, as he had done before; he said,
Peace be unto you. This was no vain repetition, but significant of the abundant
and assured peace which Christ gives, and of the continuance of his blessings
upon his people, for they fail not, but are new every morning, new every
meeting.
III. What passed between Christ and Thomas at this meeting;
and that only is recorded, though we may suppose he said a great deal to the
rest of them. Here is,
1. Christ’s gracious condescension to Thomas,John 20:27. He
singled him out from the rest, and applied himself particularly to him: “Reach
hither thy finger, and, since thou wilt have it so, behold my hands, and
satisfy thy curiosity to the utmost about the print of the nails; reach hither
thy hand, and, if nothing less will convince thee, thrust it into my side.”
Here we have, (1.) An implicit rebuke of Thomas’s incredulity, in the plain
reference which is here had to what Thomas had said, answering it word for
word, for he had heard it, though unseen; and one would think that his telling
him of it should put him to the blush. Note, There is not an unbelieving word
on our tongues, no, nor thought in our minds, at any time, but it is known to
the Lord Jesus. Ps. 78:21. (2.) An express condescension to this weakness,
which appears in two things:—[1.] That he suffers his wisdom to be prescribed
to. Great spirits will not be dictated to by their inferiors, especially in
their acts of grace; yet Christ is pleased here to accommodate himself even to
Thomas’s fancy in a needless thing, rather than break with him, and leave him
in his unbelief. He will not break the bruised reed, but, as a good shepherd,
gathers that which was driven away, Ezek. 34:16. We ought thus to bear the
infirmities of the weak,Rom. 15:1, 2. [2.] He suffers his wounds to be raked
into, allows Thomas even to thrust his hand into his side, if then at last he would
believe. Thus, for the confirmation of our faith, he has instituted an
ordinance on purpose to keep his death in remembrance, though it was an
ignominious, shameful death, and one would think should rather have been
forgotten, and no more said of it; yet, because it was such an evidence of his
love as would be an encouragement to our faith, he appoints the memorial of it
to be celebrated. And in that ordinance where in we show the Lord’s deathwe are
called, as it were, to put our finger into the print of the nails. Reach hither
thy hand to him, who reacheth forth his helping, inviting, giving hand to thee.
It is an affecting word with which Christ closes up what he
had to say to Thomas: Be not faithless but believing; me ginou apistos—do not
thou become an unbeliever; as if he would have been sealed up under unbelief,
had he not yielded now. This warning is given to us all: Be not faithless; for,
if we are faithless, we are Christless and graceless, hopeless and joyless; let
us therefore say, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.
2. Thomas’s believing consent to Jesus Christ. He is now
ashamed of his incredulity, and cries out, My Lord and my God, John 20:28. We
are not told whether he did put his finger into the print of the nails; it
should seem, he did not, for Christ says (John 20:29), Thou hast seem, and
believed; seeing sufficed. And now faith comes off a conqueror, after a
struggle with unbelief.
(1.) Thomas is now fully satisfied of the truth of Christ’s
resurrection—that the same Jesus that was crucified is now alive, and this is
he. His slowness and backwardness to believe may help to strengthen our faith;
for hereby it appears that the witnesses of Christ’s resurrection, who attested
it to the world, and pawned their lives upon it, were not easy credulous men,
but cautious enough, and suspended their belief of it till they saw the utmost
evidence of it they could desire. Thusout of the eater came forth meat.
(2.) He therefore believed him to be Lord and God, and we
are to believe him so. [1.] We must believe his deity—that he is God; not a man
made God, but God made man, as this evangelist had laid down his thesis at
first,John 1:1. The author and head of our holy religion has the wisdom, power,
sovereignty, and unchangeableness of God, which was necessary, because he was
to be not only the founder of it, but the foundation of it for its constant
support, and the fountain of life for its supply. [2.] His mediation—that he is
Lord, the one Lord, 1 Cor. 8:6; 1 Tim. 2:5. He is sufficiently authorized, as
pleni-potentiary, to settle the great concerns that lie between God and man, to
take up the controversy which would inevitably have been our ruin, and to
establish the correspondence that was necessary to our happiness; see Acts
2:36;Rom. 14:9.
(3.) He consented to him as his Lord and his God. In faith
there must be the consent of the will to gospel terms, as well as the assent of
the understanding to gospel truths. We must accept of Christ to be that to us
which the Father hath appointed him. My Lord refers toAdonai—my foundation and
stay; my God to Elohim—my prince and judge. God having constituted him the
umpire and referee, we must approve the choice, and entirely refer ourselves to
him. This is the vital act of faith, He is mine, Song 2:16.
(4.) He made an open profession of this, before those that
had been the witnesses of his unbelieving doubts. He says it to Christ, and, to
complete the sense, we must read it,Thou art my Lord and my God; or, speaking
to his brethren, This is my Lord and my God. Do we accept of Christ as our Lord
God? We must go to him, and tell him so, as David (Ps. 16:2), deliver the
surrender to him as our act and deed, tell others so, as those that triumph in
our relation to Christ: This is my beloved. Thomas speaks with an ardency of
affection, as one that took hold of Christ with all his might, My Lord and my
God.
3. The judgment of Christ upon the whole (John 20:29):
“Thomas because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, and it is well thou art
brought to it at last upon any terms; but blessed are those that have not seen,
and yet have believed.” Here,
(1.) Christ owns Thomas a believer. Sound and sincere
believers, though they be slow and weak, shall be graciously accepted of the
Lord Jesus. Those who have long stood it out, if at last they yield, shall find
him ready to forgive. No sooner did Thomas consent to Christ than Christ gives
him the comfort of it, and lets him know that he believes.
(2.) He upbraids him with his former incredulity. He might
well be ashamed to think, [1.] That he had been so backward to believe, and
came so slowly to his own comforts. Those that in sincerity have closed with
Christ see a great deal of reason to lament that they did not do it sooner.
[2.] That it was not without much ado that he was brought to believe at last:
“If thou hadst not seen me alive, thou wouldst not have believed;” but if no
evidence must be admitted but that of our own senses, and we must believe
nothing but what we ourselves are eye-witnesses of, farewell all commerce and conversation.
If this must be the only method of proof, how must the world be converted to
the faith of Christ? He is therefore justly blamed for laying so much stress
upon this.
(3.) He commends the faith of those who believe upon easier
terms. Thomas, as a believer, was truly blessed; but rather blessed are those
that have not seen. It is not meant of not seeing the objects of faith (for
these are invisible, Heb. 11:1; 2 Cor. 4:18), but the motives of faith—Christ’s
miracles, and especially his resurrection; blessed are those that see not
these, and yet believe in Christ. This may look, either backward, upon the
Old-Testament saints, who had not seen the things which they saw, and yet
believed the promise made unto the father, and lived by that faith; or forward,
upon those who should afterwards believe, the Gentiles, who had never seen
Christ in the flesh, as the Jews had. This faith is more laudable and
praise-worthy than theirs who saw and believed; for, [1.] It evidences a better
temper of mind in those that do believe. Not to see and yet to believe argues
greater industry in searching after truth, and greater ingenuousness of mind in
embracing it. He that believes upon that sight has his resistance conquered by
a sort of violence; but he that believes without it, like the Bereans, is more
noble. [2.] It is a greater instance of the power of divine grace. The less
sensible the evidence is the more does the work of faith appear to be the
Lord’s doing. Peter is blessed in his faith, because flesh and blood have not
revealed it to him, Matt. 16:17. Flesh and blood contribute more to their faith
that see and believe, than to theirs who see not and yet believe. Dr. Lightfoot
quotes a saying of one of the rabbin, “That one proselyte is more acceptable to
God than all the thousands of Israel that stood before mount Sinai; for they
saw and received the law, but a proselyte sees not, and yet receives it.”
IV. The remark which the evangelist makes upon his
narrative, like an historian drawing towards a conclusion, John 20:30, 31. And
here,
1. He assures us that many other things occurred, which were
all worthy to be recorded, but are not written in the book: many signs. Some
refer this to all the signs that Jesus did during his whole life, all the
wondrous words he spoke, and all the wondrous works he did. But it seems rather
to be confined to the signs he did after his resurrection, for these were in
the presence of the disciples only, who are here spoken of, Acts 10:41. Divers
of his appearances are not recorded, as appears, 1 Cor. 15:5-7. See Acts 1:3.
Now, (1.) We may here improve this general attestation, that there were other
signs, many others, for the confirmation of our faith; and, being added to the
particular narratives, they very much strengthen the evidence. Those that
recorded the resurrection of Christ were not put to fish for evidence, to take
up such short and scanty proofs as they could find, and make up the rest with
conjecture. No, they had evidence enough and to spare, and more witnesses to
produce than they had occasion for. The disciples, in whose presence these
other signs were done, were to be preachers of Christ’s resurrection to others,
and therefore it was requisite they should have proofs of it ex abundanti—in
abundance, that they might have a strong consolation, who ventured life and all
upon it. (2.) We need not ask why they were not all written, or why not more
than these, or others than these; for it is enough for us that so it seemed
good to the Holy Spirit, by whose inspiration this was given. Had this history
been a mere human composition, it had been swelled with a multitude of
depositions and affidavits, to prove the contested truth of Christ’s
resurrection and long argument drawn up for the demonstration of it; but, being
a divine history, the penmen write with a noble security, relating what
amounted to a competent proof, sufficient to convince those that were willing
to be taught and to condemn those that were obstinate in their unbelief; and,
if this satisfy not, more would not. Men produce all they have to say, that
they may gain credit; but God does not, for he can give faith. Had this history
been written for the entertainment of the curious, it would have been more
copious, or every circumstance would have brightened and embellished the story;
but it was written to bring men to believe, and enough is said to answer that
intention, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear.
2. He instructs us in the design of recording what we do
find here (John 20:31): “These accounts are given in this and the following
chapter, that you might believe upon these evidences; that you might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, declared with power to be so by his
resurrection.”
(1.) Here is the design of those that wrote the gospel. Some
write books for their diversion, and publish them for their profit or applause,
others to oblige the Athenian humour, others to instruct the world in arts and
sciences for their secular advantage; but the evangelists wrote without any
view of temporal benefit to themselves or others, but to bring men to Christ
and heaven, and, in order to this, to persuade men to believe; and for this
they took the most fitting methods, they brought to the world a divine
revelation, supported with its due evidences.
(2.) The duty of those that read and hear the gospel. It is
their duty to believe, to embrace, the doctrine of Christ, and that record
given concerning him, 1 John 5:11. [1.] We are here told what the great gospel
truth is which we are to believe—that Jesus is that Christ, thatSon of God.
First, That he is the Christ, the person who, under the title of the Messiah,
was promised to, and expected by, the Old-Testament saints, and who, according
to the signification of the name, is anointed of God to be a prince and a
Saviour. Secondly, That he is the Son of God; not only as Mediator (for then he
had not been greater than Moses, who was a prophet, intercessor, and lawgiver),
but antecedent to his being the Mediator; for if he had not been a divine
person, endued with the power of God and entitled to the glory of God, he had
not been qualified for the undertaking-not fit either to do the Redeemer’s work
or to wear the Redeemer’s crown. [2.] What the great gospel blessedness is
which we are to hope for—That believing we shall have life through his name.
This is, First, To direct our faith; it must have an eye to the life, the crown
of life, the tree of life set before us. Life through Christ’s name, the life
proposed in the covenant which is made with us in Christ, is what we must
propose to ourselves as the fulness of our joy and the abundant recompence of
all our services and sufferings.Secondly, To encourage our faith, and invite us
to believe. Upon the prospect of some great advantage, men will venture far;
and greater advantage there cannot be than that which is offered by the words
of this life, as the gospel is called, Acts 5:20. It includes both spiritual life,
in conformity to God and communion with him, and eternal life, in the vision
and fruition of him. Both are through Christ’s name, by his merit and power,
and both indefeasibly sure to all true believers.
