John 20:25 - Exposition

The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord . Mary, Cleopas, Peter, John, bad all tried to animate his drooping spirit. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands (as I presume you have) the print of the nails, and (yet more than you have done—touch as well as see) p ut my finger into the print £ of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will by no means believe —not merely in the Resurrection, which you attest, but in the grand reality I was fain to admit so recently, the supposed fact that he came from the Father, that he is the Way to the Father, that he is in the Father, that he is all he said he was. If Themas could grasp the new life, the new and hitherto unrevealed order of being, if he could spiritually see the realization of all the mystery of love in the Resurrection, then all that he was doubting would flash forth at once from its hiding-place. Perhaps, if he had been present with the rest, he would have accepted it; but how can he "believe through their word"? The extent of his doubt is further seen in this: he did not say, "If I see the print of the nails... I will believe;" but, "Except I see... I will by no means believe." The first manifestation of our Lord seemed to correspond with the first portion of the Savior's high-priestly prayer, viz. that he might himself be glorified; the second manifestation of the day corresponded with the prayer for the disciples; and now the third manifestation is to meet the difficulties of the third and more numerous class, who must gather all their conviction from the evidence of others. This subtle relation between parts of the Gospel shows how profound is the principle of its construction.