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Scott's Reference Library
John 20:19 through John 20:31 (NIV)
19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were
together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among
them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his
hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending
you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them,
they are not forgiven.”
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples
when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger
where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.
Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace
be with you!” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands.
Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are
those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which
are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have
life in his name.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
VERSES 19-25
This was the first day of the week, and this day is afterwards often mentioned
by the sacred writers; for it was evidently set apart as the Christian sabbath,
in remembrance of Christ’s resurrection. The disciples had shut the doors for
fear of the Jews; and when they had no such expectation, Jesus himself came and
stood in the midst of them, having miraculously, though silently, opened the
doors. It is a comfort to Christ’s disciples, when their assemblies can only be
held in private, that no doors can shut out Christ’s presence. When He manifests
his love to believers by the comforts of his Spirit, he assures them that
because he lives, they shall live also. A sight of Christ will gladden the heart
of a disciple at any time; and the more we see of Jesus, the more we shall
rejoice. He said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, thus showing that their spiritual
life, as well as all their ability for their work, would be derived from him,
and depended upon him. Every word of Christ which is received in the heart by
faith, comes accompanied by this Divine breathing; and without this there is
neither light nor life. Nothing is seen, known, discerned, or felt of God, but
through this. After this, Christ directed the apostles to declare the only
method by which sin would be forgiven. This power did not exist at all in the
apostles as a power to give judgment, but only as a power to declare the
character of those whom God would accept or reject in the day of judgment. They
have clearly laid down the marks whereby a child of God may be discerned and be
distinguished from a false professor; and according to what they have declared
shall every case be decided in the day of judgment. When we assemble in Christ’s
name, especially on his holy day, he will meet with us, and speak peace to us.
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,
and by making known what they have experienced. Thomas limited the Holy One of
Israel, when he would be convinced by his own method or not at all. He might
justly have been left in his unbelief, after rejecting such abundant proofs. The
fears and sorrows of the disciples are often lengthened, to punish their
negligence.
VERSES 26-29
That one day in seven should be religiously observed, was an appointment from
the beginning. And that, in the kingdom of the Messiah, the first day of the
week should be that solemn day, was pointed out, in that Christ on that day once
and again met his disciples in a religious assembly. The religious observance of
that day has come down to us through every age of the church. There is not an
unbelieving word in our tongues, nor thought in our minds, but it is known to
the Lord Jesus; and he was pleased to accommodate himself even to Thomas, rather
than leave him in his unbelief. We ought thus to bear with the weak, Romans
15:1, 2. This warning is given to all. If we are faithless, we are Christless
and graceless, hopeless and joyless. Thomas was ashamed of his unbelief, and
cried out, My Lord and my God. He spoke with affection, as one that took hold of
Christ with all his might; “My Lord and my God.” Sound and sincere believers,
though slow and weak, shall be graciously accepted of the Lord Jesus. It is the
duty of those who read and hear the gospel, to believe, to embrace the doctrine
of Christ, and that record concerning him, 1 John 5:11.
VERSES 30-31
There were other signs and proofs of our Lord’s resurrection, but these were
committed to writing, that all might believe that Jesus was the promised
Messiah, the Saviour of sinners, and the Son of God; that, by this faith, they
might obtain eternal life, by his mercy, truth, and power. May we believe that
Jesus is the Christ, and believing may we have life through his name.