and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”
Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he replied, “Until I have seen in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side,
I will not believe.” Eight days later, the disciples were again inside the house and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked,
Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and
see my hands; stretch out your hand, and put it into my side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe!” Thomas said, “You
are my Lord and my God.” Jesus replied, “You believe because you see me, don’t you? Happy are those who have not seen
and yet have come to believe.” There were many other signs that Jesus gave in the presence of his disciples, but they are not recorded in
this book. These are recorded, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Believe, and you will have life through his name!
Lectio Divina:
READ: The disciples are still afraid to venture out since their Master had been
crucified to death. Amidst locked doors the Lord stood in their midst and greeted
them with peace. They were overjoyed but when recounting to Thomas who was
not there when the incident happened. He would not believe. It is only when
Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples with Thomas around that the latter
believed. The other deeds of the Risen Lord were not recorded except those
written so that those who read would believe.
REFLECT: Despite the many resurrection appearances of the Lord, many of the
brethren still do not believe. It is probably a hot issue vigorously debated by those
who believe and those who doubt. The strange thing is, in those conversations
that followed after the women reported the empty tomb, no one ever cited the
Lord’s teachings concerning His death and eventual resurrection. It is as if they
never heard about it. As a matter of fact, Jesus has to explain the fate of the
Messiah as written in the scriptures. This forgetfulness of the Lord’s teaching
concerning what will happen to Him is what made belief difficult for some. So,
Jesus has to manifest Himself several times before the gathered brethren. It is
because of these repeated appearances that the resurrection of Jesus becomes
the cornerstone of the Good News. It is a faith statement produced after the
small band of the Lord’s followers experienced it to the point that there is no
more room for doubt among them.
RESPOND: There are faith statements in our Church that becomes firm
conviction when we have real experience of them in our daily lives. Let us look
back and see in what event or area of our life did these faith statements become
concretized or made real for us.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2021