He wasn’t the only one.
Thomas gets singled out.
That’s how the story is usually told. Everyone else believed, Thomas didn’t, and he needed proof.
But that’s not really what happened.
The other disciples didn’t believe at first either. When the women came back and told them the tomb was empty, they didn’t take it at face value. Luke says it sounded like nonsense to them. Peter ran to check for himself.
And later, two of them walked with Jesus for miles on the road to Emmaus. He explained things to them in a way only He could, and they still didn’t recognize Him until afterward.
And this wasn’t coming out of nowhere. Jesus had told them ahead of time what was going to happen. More than once. They had heard it and still had a hard time putting it together when it actually happened.
That’s the part that gets skipped.
These weren’t outsiders. These were the same men who had been with Him, and even they didn’t immediately understand what they were seeing.
Thomas just wasn’t there the first time Jesus appeared to the group.
So when they told him, he responded the same way they had, just more directly. Unless I see it, I’m not going to believe it.
He said it out loud. That’s the difference.
Then comes the line people remember.
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
It’s often used like a quiet rebuke of Thomas, but that doesn’t really fit either.
It wasn’t describing the other disciples. They had already seen.
It was pointing forward, to everyone else who wouldn’t get that moment. No room, no wounds to touch, no direct proof in front of them.
That’s today.
Not in the room. Not seeing it directly. Hearing about it and deciding what to do with it.
And it’s not an easy thing to believe.
The people closest to it struggled with it, even after being told in advance. Now it’s often treated like a simple statement. Something people say without stopping on what it actually means.
A man was executed in a brutal way, buried, and then came back to life.
We say we believe that.
But sometimes it sounds more like we’ve gotten used to saying it than actually thinking through it.
Thomas asked to see.
He wasn’t the only one.
P.S.- If you’d like to read through the Bible this year, you can join us at His Word Together.
No commentary.
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Just steady time in the Word.
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