Jesus says to him, Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed blessed they who have not seen and have believed.
Thomas has touched the proofs he demanded and confessed his risen Master. The Lord answers with a blessing that reaches past that room to everyone who would believe later. His words weigh two kinds of faith: one that waits for evidence, and one that rests on a word.
Faith that waited for proof
The Lord does not scold Thomas, yet neither does He hold him up as the model. Commentators note that sight produced this confession, true as it was, and that this marks its limit:
Some have thought that the faith of Thomas here rises far above that of all the other disciples, and that nothing higher in testimony ever came from apostolic lips. This opinion, though common, cannot be founded on the general context. Christ, in reply to Thomas, pronounces those more blessed who did not see, and yet believed. It can hardly be called even Christian faith, as our Lord hints. Christian faith is believing in Him whom we have not seen — walking by faith, not by sight.
Faith that rests on the word
If sight is not the ground, what is? One writer separates faith built on evidence from faith built on Scripture. He warns how little the first can do:
To "see and believe" therefore falls wholly short of what the work of God gives; just as traditional faith or evidence answers to it now in Christendom. It is human. It leaves the conscience uncleansed and the heart without communion... Faith, to be of value and have power, rests not on sight or inference, but on Scripture... The faith that is founded on evidences may strengthen a person against Deism, Pantheism or Atheism. But it never gave remission of sins, never led one to cry, "Abba, Father," never filled the heart with His grace and glory.
Believing without proof is no poorer arrangement. It honours God:
We can render to God no tribute that is more welcome to Him than taking Him fully and simply at His word without asking for any confirmation by sight or by feeling.
Who the blessed are
He speaks the blessing over people not yet born. Writers tie them to believers of today, while the Lord is away:
The Lord does own the faith of Thomas. But He adds, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." This is the blessed portion of those who form Christ's assembly during the time of His absence, as the apostle Peter can say, "Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory" (1 Peter 1:8).
Thomas as a picture of a later day
One writer reads the whole scene as a sketch of God's dealings, with Thomas standing for Israel in the last days:
Thomas's doubts disappear. It is the expression, in this remarkable summary of God's dealings, of the position of the Jewish remnant in the last days. They will believe when they see Him, and Jesus makes the difference between believers who have not seen Him — our position — and those who will believe when they see Him. The blessing rests upon us. Thomas's confession, true and right as it was, shows, it seems to me, the Jewish position... The testimony of the others will not have convinced them. They will see and look on Him whom they have pierced.
Both groups are real believers, and both are happy; the difference is where the Lord places His special approval:
The latter order or character is that of today, for we "walk by faith, not by sight." The former order is that of the future — the day of the coming of the Lord, when every eye will see Him... Both classes are happy and privileged, but the Lord, by His words to Thomas, has placed a special mark of approval and favour on those who believe on Him during the time of His absence.
What the unseeing believe
This blessing is not vague believing. It has a content — who the wounded Man in that room really is:
Happy Thomas, yet happier are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Believed what? That the One who bears in His body the wounds He received on the cross of Golgotha is none other than the Eternal Word, by whom all things were made. He is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Not a second best
We may wish we had stood in that room. One writer answers that wish:
We can easily imagine what a wonderful thing it was to have looked on Him and to have heard Him. But no thinking believer need hesitate to say this: we have far more of Himself in and by the word than if we had seen and heard Him all through His life and ministry on earth without that word.
Summary
- Sight — Thomas believed because he saw. His confession was true, yet the Lord does not call him blessed for it.
- Word — the faith Christ calls blessed rests on Scripture, not on evidence. Taking God at His word is a tribute He welcomes.
- Blessing — He speaks that blessing over believers of today, who love and rejoice in a Lord they have never seen.
- Reach — Thomas pictures those who believe only when they look on the pierced One. The blessing rests on those who believe while He is unseen.
- Result — believing without seeing is no second best. Through the word we have more of Christ than eyes alone could give.