Doubting Thomas touched the scars and confessed, 'My Lord and my God.'
What would it take for you to believe that a crucified man had risen from the dead? Thomas demanded proof, and in John 20:19-31 the risen Christ gives it, appearing among His disciples behind locked doors with the words, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19, NKJV). Dr. Toby B. Holt preaches this Easter-evening account where Jesus shows His pierced hands and side, meets one honest doubter, and draws from him the highest confession in the Gospel: “My Lord and my God!” This Reformed exposition shows how the risen Christ confronts doubt, proves His bodily resurrection, and builds a faith that rests on His Word.
0:00 — “Unless I See, I Will Not Believe.” Thomas voices his honest doubt (John 20:25).
3:39 — Behind Locked Doors, Peace. The risen Christ appears to His fearful disciples (John 20:19).
9:56 — The Scars That Prove It. He shows His pierced hands and side (John 20:20, 27).
14:39 — “My Lord and My God!” Doubt gives way to the highest confession (John 20:28).
23:00 — “That You May Believe.” John’s whole purpose: life in His name (John 20:29-31).
John records that they met “for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19, NKJV). Their Lord had been crucified, and they expected the same hostility. Into that fear the risen Christ comes and stands in the midst, saying, “Peace be with you.” The first word of the resurrected Savior to His failing disciples is not rebuke but peace, the peace He secured at the cross.
This was more than a customary greeting. Having borne the wrath of God for sin, Christ now pronounces the peace He purchased. As Paul writes, “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1, NKJV). The wounds He shows them in the next verse are the ground of that peace.
“When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side” (John 20:20, NKJV). The scars identify Him as the same Jesus who was crucified, proving the resurrection is bodily, not a vision or a ghost. The risen body bears the marks of the cross, joining the crucifixion and the resurrection as one saving work.
Thomas said, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails... I will not believe” (John 20:25, NKJV). His demand for sight set itself against the testimony of the other disciples. Yet Christ does not cast him off; He returns specifically for Thomas. The Lord is patient with honest doubt, even as He calls it to repentance and faith.
Thomas’s confession in John 20:28 (NKJV) is the clearest declaration of Christ’s deity in the Gospels. He calls Jesus both Lord and God, and Jesus accepts the worship rather than correcting it. The Westminster Confession affirms that the Son is “very and eternal God” (WCF 8.2); Thomas confesses exactly that, kneeling before the risen Christ.
Yes, plainly. The pierced hands, the wounded side, and the invitation to touch all establish a physical, risen body (John 20:27, NKJV). Reformed theology holds that Christ rose in the same body in which He suffered, now glorified. The resurrection is not a symbol of survival but the historical raising of the crucified Lord.
In John 20:29 (NKJV) Jesus pronounces a blessing on all who will believe without seeing Him as Thomas did. Saving faith does not require physical sight; it rests on the apostolic testimony recorded in Scripture. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17, NKJV).
God has appointed His Word as the means by which faith is given. The Westminster Confession teaches that our full persuasion of Scripture’s truth comes from “the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts” (WCF 1.5). We believe the eyewitness account of the apostles because the Spirit makes the Word effective.
John states his purpose directly: “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 20:31, NKJV). The Gospel is not a neutral record but a Spirit-inspired summons to faith. Scripture is sufficient to bring sinners to saving belief in Christ.
It shows a Savior who meets the doubter. Christ came back for Thomas, addressed his exact objection, and said, “Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (John 20:27, NKJV). Honest doubt brought to Christ is not turned away, but it is not left where it is either; He calls the doubter to rest on His Word and worship Him as Lord and God.
1. Peace Behind Locked Doors
The disciples were hiding in fear when Jesus came and stood among them. His first word was not blame for their abandonment but peace, the peace He had just secured by His death. He showed them His hands and side, and their fear turned to gladness. The risen Christ comes to frightened, failing people with the very peace He purchased on the cross. “Then, the same day at evening... Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19, NKJV).
2. The Scars That Prove the Savior
When Jesus appears, He does not hide His wounds; He displays them. The print of the nails and the wounded side mark Him as the same Lord who was crucified, now risen in the body. The cross and the empty tomb belong together, for the One who died is the One who lives. The scars are the evidence of a real, bodily resurrection. “Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands... Do not be unbelieving, but believing’” (John 20:27, NKJV).
3. The Highest Confession
Confronted by the risen Christ, Thomas’s doubt collapses into worship. He calls Jesus both Lord and God, and Jesus receives it. This is the goal of the whole Gospel: not merely to settle a question about an empty tomb, but to bring sinners to confess and worship Christ as God in the flesh. Faith that does not bow before Him as Lord is not yet saving faith. “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:28, NKJV).
The Scripture Text: John 20:27-29 (NKJV)
“Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”
Continue studying: explore the full Gospel of John sermon series, or browse the complete Reformed Sermon Archive.
About The Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt serves as the third President of New Geneva Theological Seminary (Colorado Springs, CO), founded 1993. An expository preacher with over 1.9 million sermon downloads on SermonAudio.com, Dr. Holt brings over 17 years of pastoral experience to his verse-by-verse Bible teaching. New Geneva offers fully online Reformed theological education — M.Div., Th.M., D.Min., and other degrees.
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