Page:Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ (1836).djvu/410

 new revelation of the divine power and character of Jesus, found his disciples. None of them expected his resurrection;—none would really believe it, until they had seen him with their own eyes. Thomas therefore showed no remarkable skepticism, when, hearing from the others, that one evening, when he was not present, Jesus had actually appeared alive among them, he declared his absolute unbelief,—protesting, that far from suffering himself to be as lightly deceived as they had been, he would give no credit to any evidence but that of the most unquestionable character,—that of seeing and touching those bloody marks which would characterize, beyond all possibility of mistake, the crucified body of Jesus. "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." After eight days, the disciples were again assembled, and on this occasion Thomas was with them. While they were sitting, as usual, with doors closed for fear of the Jews, Jesus again, in the same sudden and mysterious manner as before, appeared all at once in the midst, with his solemn salutation, "Peace be with you!" Turning at once to the unbelieving disciple, whose amazed eyes now for the first time fell on the body of his risen Lord, he said to him, "Thomas! Put thy finger here, and see my hands; and put thy hand here, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing." The stubbornly skeptical disciple was melted at the sight of these mournful tokens of his Redeemer's dying agonies, and in a burst of new exalted devotion, he exclaimed, "My Lord! and my God!" The pierced hands and side showed beyond all question the body of his "Lord;" and the spirit that could, of itself, from such a death, return to perfect life, could be nothing else than "God." The reply of Jesus to this expression of faith and devotion, contained a deep reproach to this slow-believing disciple, who would take no evidence whatever of the accomplishment of his Master's dying words, except the sight of every tangible thing that could identify his person. "Thomas! because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they, who though not seeing, yet believe."

"Put thy finger here."—This phrase seems to express the graphic force of the original, much more justly than the common translation. The adverb of place, [Greek: ôde], gives the idea of the very place where the wounds had been made, and brings to the reader's mind the attitude and gesture of Jesus, with great distinctness. The adverb "here," refers to the print of the nails; and Jesus holds out his hand to Thomas, as he says these words, telling him to put his finger into the wound.

Not seeing, yet believe.—This is the form of expression best justified by the indef