In a recent video titled What Did Thomas Mean When He Said “My Lord and My God"? it seems that I did a less than adequate job explaining how Scripture shows that Thomas couldn’t have been calling Jesus his God. I say that because several viewers asked me to explain what I thought I had thoroughly explained using Scripture. In this addendum, I’m going to try to clarify by painting a word picture of what happened to Thomas at that moment of revelation.
First of all, let’s talk about “Doubting Thomas.” I think that’s a misnomer. He should be called “Unbelieving Thomas.” Thomas didn’t just have doubts. He’d lost his faith, his belief that Jesus was the Messiah because he couldn’t bring himself to believe that Jesus had come back to life, even with the testimony of his 10 companions.
Thomas, like the rest of the Jews, had hopes for a Messianic New Order in which Israel would again rise to world power. But Thomas’ hopes had rested squarely on the shoulders of Jesus. So, when he saw Jesus executed like a common criminal, those high hopes were utterly dashed.
Thomas did not yet realize that his expectations were misplaced. So, he was so distressed by the apparent failure of Christ’s ministry that he ouldn’t even allow himself to believe that Jesus had been resurrected. That was the issue. Do you see that? If not, consider what Jesus said to him just before he uttered the phrase that Trinitarians and Twinitarian latch onto to support their belief that Jesus is God.
Jesus said: "Bring your finger here, and see My hands; and bring your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing." (John 20:28 BLB) Ask yourself, what was Jesus trying to prove when he told Thomas to “be not unbelieving, but believing”? Was he trying to prove that he was God? Or was he trying to prove to Thomas that he was actually alive, having been resurrected by God as prophesied and promised?
Isn’t it obvious that the whole setup with the finger in the nail hole of his hands and Thomas’ hand in the wound on his side was proof that it was Jesus standing before Thomas whom he saw dead on the cross only three days before?
So, what did Thomas do? Most Bibles says that he exclaimed, “My Lord and My God.” But I’ve since learned that he answered our Lord. According to the Greek Interlinear, we see Thomas is responding to what Jesus said to him in these words:
“ANSWERED THOMAS AND SAID TO HIM THE LORD OF ME AND THE GOD OF ME.”
For all we know, Thomas could have fallen to the ground weeping at Jesus’ feet and uttered those words in a solemn whisper, his voice full of emotion. Who knows!? All we do know is what he said. His words were an answer to what Jesus had just told him to do, to stop being unbelieving and become believing.
Thomas wasn’t making a declaration that Jesus was God. He was reaffirming to Jesus that he was once again a believer. Not just a believer in Jesus as his Lord, but a believer in the God whom Jesus had repeatedly said was his Father. Through the prophets and again through Jesus, Thomas had been told that God would raise the Messiah on the third day, but when Jesus had died, Thomas lost his faith. He became an unbeliever, not just in Jesus as the Christ, but in the God of Israel who had failed to provide the Messiah as Thomas expected him to be.
Now suddenly Jesus had come back from the dead and asked Thomas to believe again. How did Thomas respond? By acknowledging that Jesus was again his Lord, and that God, the God of Israel, the only God Thomas had ever known and believed in, was again Thomas’ God.
If you still have the desperate Trinitarian need to find any verse that out of context seems to support your belief that Jesus is God, then you better not read the following verses that conclude the Gospel of John. Seriously, stop now, because if you truly believe that the apostle John was revealing that Jesus is God by recording Thomas’ words, then he sure missed a golden opportunity to drive home his point. He concludes his gospel by writing:
“Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:29-31 NKJV)
So, John makes it very clear that the signs Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples including Thomas, were given to prove not that he is God, but rather that he is the Christ, the Messiah, God’s anointed one, and that he is God’s Son.
I do hope that clears things up. Thank you for your time. If you’d like to support our work, please use this link.