Doubting Thomas

When Jesus appeared to his disciples on the evening of the day he rose from the dead, Thomas, also called Didymus, was not with them. When the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" Thomas refused to believe it. "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

A week later, the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. "Peace be with you," he said. Then he turned to Thomas. "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Thomas's doubt, and the honest, physical proof he asked for, has given comfort to countless people who have struggled to believe without seeing for themselves. Jesus didn't turn Thomas away for his doubt -- he met him in it, gently, and led him to one of the clearest declarations of faith in the entire Gospels.