Sunday, August 2 — My Lord and My God
Everybody has been the one left out of the group chat when the big news broke — everyone else already knows, already celebrated, and you're the last to hear it secondhand. That's Thomas, for a whole week. And Jesus goes back for him.
John 20:24-29 — KJV 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
John 20:24-29 — WEB 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn't with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." 26 After eight days again his disciples were inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the middle, and said, "Peace be to you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don't be unbelieving, but believing." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed."
Explanation
A week has passed since that first locked-room appearance, and Thomas has spent every day of it hearing "we have seen the Lord" from ten people he trusts, and still not believing it. That's worth sitting with. Thomas isn't a stranger to the resurrection story or a skeptic by nature — he's watched Jesus raise Lazarus, he's followed Him toward Jerusalem even when he expected it to mean death. He's not doubting because he's faithless. He's doubting because the claim is enormous and he wasn't there to see it.
So he says exactly what he needs: nail prints, his finger, his hand in Jesus's side. It's blunt, even a little defiant. And when Jesus finally does appear eight days later, He doesn't lecture Thomas for setting conditions. He meets every single one of them. Reach here your finger. See my hands. Put your hand in my side. Jesus gives Thomas precisely what he asked for, offered without a hint of resentment.
Thomas's response is the highest confession of who Jesus is anywhere in John's Gospel: My Lord and my God. Not just "you're alive," but a direct declaration of Jesus's divinity. The honest doubter ends up making the boldest statement of faith in the entire book. That's not a contradiction — it's the point. Real faith doesn't require pretending the questions were never asked. Sometimes the most rock-solid belief is the kind that had to work its way through real doubt to get there.
And then Jesus adds one more line, and this is the one aimed straight at us: blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed. That's every reader of this devotional. We don't get nail prints. We get a story, passed down, and an invitation to trust it anyway. This whole week has walked toward this moment — seeking while He's near, extending mercy to doubters, asking honest questions about the way, calling on God for real instead of performing faith, searching for Him even from a distance, trusting the peace He offers behind locked doors. Thomas shows us it's possible to doubt honestly and still end up kneeling. That's the invitation today, too.
Thought for the Day You don't need proof to be blessed — just belief.
Reflection Question What would it take for you to move from "we have seen the Lord" being someone else's story to being your own confession, "My Lord and my God"?
Prayer Lord, we haven't seen the nail prints, but we've seen You work in enough of our lives to believe You're real. Meet us in our honest doubts the way You met Thomas — without shame, with exactly what we need. Turn our questions into confession. We say with him today: My Lord and my God. Amen.
Today is Sunday school. We save you a seat.