Unless I See, I Will Not Believe: Doubting Thomas and John 20:25
Quick Summary
John 20:25 captures Thomas's honest struggle with faith: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands... I will not believe." Far from a rebuke of doubt, this moment invites us into a faith that wrestles, questions, and ultimately meets the risen Christ face to face.
Introduction
Few verses in Scripture so perfectly name the human tension between belief and doubt as John 20:25. Thomas’s words—often summarized by his nickname, “Doubting Thomas”—reveal a disciple not weak in faith, but unwilling to settle for hearsay about resurrection. He wants to see, to touch, to know. In that desire, he stands with Abraham asking for signs, with Job demanding answers, with countless believers who’ve whispered, “Unless I see.”
This passage matters because faith, as John presents it, is not blind optimism but a trust that grows through encounter. Thomas’s demand doesn’t close him off from Jesus; it becomes the pathway to revelation. In this post, we’ll explore the Greek depth of Thomas’s words, trace the biblical pattern of wrestling faith, and see how Jesus meets him—and us—with grace, not shame.
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
John 20:24 – "Thomas, who was called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came."
Thomas’s absence from the first resurrection appearance sets the stage. The Gospel writer emphasizes that he was one of the Twelve, reminding readers of his discipleship and loyalty. Earlier (John 11:16), Thomas was ready to die with Jesus. His doubt arises not from apathy, but from deep investment. He missed the first encounter with the risen Christ, and in that absence, faith faltered. Many believers can relate—sometimes faith wavers not because of rebellion but because of timing.
John 20:25 – "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
Thomas’s statement is raw and personal. The Greek structure places heavy emphasis on ou mē pisteusō—“I will never believe.” It’s not casual skepticism; it’s emphatic refusal unless evidence comes. But notice: he doesn’t reject belief outright. He sets conditions: Unless I see… unless I touch… In other words, he wants an embodied faith. He’s saying, “I can’t build my faith on someone else’s story.”
This desire echoes throughout Scripture. Gideon asked for a sign with the fleece (Judges 6:36–40). Moses asked for God’s name and visible presence (Exodus 33:18). Even the psalmists cry, “Why, O Lord, do you hide yourself?” (Psalm 10:1). Thomas is in their lineage—a seeker whose faith wrestles with reality. Jesus does not scold this longing. Instead, He will meet it.
Thomas’s doubt also addresses one of John’s great themes: seeing and believing. Earlier, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29). But before he blesses unseen faith, he honors Thomas’s need to see. John’s Gospel is not anti-evidence; it’s about the journey from sight to trust. Thomas begins at one end of that spectrum and will end as the first to confess Jesus as “my Lord and my God.”
John 20:26–27 – "Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here… do not doubt but believe.'"
A week later, Jesus appears again. The doors are still locked, and yet Jesus stands among them. This time, He comes for one man. Without being told, Jesus repeats Thomas’s exact words back to him, proof that He knew his struggle. The Greek word translated “doubt” is apistos—literally “without faith.” Jesus does not say, “Stop questioning,” but “Stop being faithless.” The invitation is not to suppress doubt but to move through it toward trust.
The physicality of Jesus’ wounds is central. The resurrected body still bears the marks of suffering. This shows continuity between crucifixion and resurrection—the victory doesn’t erase the scars. For Thomas and for us, faith doesn’t mean forgetting pain; it means recognizing God’s presence in it.
John 20:28 – "My Lord and my God!"
This is the climactic confession of the Gospel. From the Prologue—“the Word was God” (John 1:1)—to this moment, John has been leading readers here. Thomas, the last to believe, makes the highest confession of all. His words parallel the divine titles used in Psalm 35:23 and Revelation 4:11. What began as doubt ends as worship.
The structure is personal: My Lord, my God. Thomas’s faith is not inherited or secondhand—it’s intimate, born of encounter. This is the pattern of faith John invites all readers into: encounter, confession, and belonging.
John 20:29 – "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
Jesus’s response shifts the focus from Thomas to future generations. This is not a rebuke, but a benediction. The Greek makarios (“blessed”) evokes the beatitudes—joyful assurance for those who trust beyond sight. The blessing doesn’t invalidate Thomas’s experience; it extends hope to believers who will come later, including us. John ends his Gospel, reminding readers that believing without physical sight is not lesser faith—it is the normal, Spirit-enabled reality of Christian life.
Theological and Canonical Connections
Thomas’s encounter is not an isolated story but the culmination of a long biblical tradition. Abraham trusted God’s unseen promises (Genesis 15:6). Job, after demanding evidence, declared, “Now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5). The psalmists oscillate between anguish and adoration. In the New Testament, Peter—who also faltered—writes to others, “Though you have not seen him, you love him… and believe in him” (1 Peter 1:8). Thomas becomes the hinge between the apostles who saw and the generations who believe without seeing.
John’s use of sight language ties the Gospel to themes of revelation. Jesus had told Nicodemus, “You must be born from above” (John 3:3)—a spiritual vision. To the blind man in John 9, sight was both physical and spiritual. Now Thomas’s seeing becomes believing, but believing becomes seeing in a new sense. Faith, for John, is not anti-empirical; it is the truest form of perception.
Early church fathers saw in Thomas both warning and hope. Augustine called his confession the climax of John’s Gospel. Gregory the Great said, “The doubt of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the others.” Through his hesitation, Christ’s wounds were touched, confirming resurrection for all.
Even in the broader Christian tradition, Thomas’s story became a pastoral guide for the struggling believer. Faith is not the absence of questions but the refusal to give up in them. Doubt can be the doorway to deeper trust.
Meaning for Today
Faith in our time often feels stretched between evidence and experience. We live in an age that prizes proof, yet the Gospel invites trust. Thomas’s story assures us that God meets honest doubt with grace. There is a world of difference between stubborn unbelief and sincere questioning. The first resists relationship; the second longs for it.
For anyone who has prayed and felt silence, or believed and still wondered, Thomas gives permission. His honesty did not disqualify him from discipleship—it prepared him for revelation. Jesus does not shame him but enters his locked room again, still saying, “Peace be with you.”
The invitation is not to abandon questions but to bring them to Jesus. When faith feels fragile, we can remember that the risen Christ carries scars—the proof that even in our wounding, resurrection is possible. Thomas’s story ends not in doubt, but in doxology.
For the church, this passage challenges any easy triumphalism. The resurrected Jesus still bears marks of crucifixion, and faith still involves mystery. But in that mystery lies intimacy: the one who doubts most deeply ends up speaking the clearest truth.
Works Consulted
Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John, Vol. 2 (AYB, 1966), pp. 1035–1042.
D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (PNTC, 1991), pp. 648–652.
Gail R. O’Day, John (NIB, 1995), pp. 844–849.
Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John, Vol. 2 (Hendrickson, 2003), pp. 1206–1214.
Andreas J. Köstenberger, John (BECNT, 2004), pp. 565–572.
FAQ
1. Why is Thomas called “Doubting Thomas”?
Thomas is called “Doubting Thomas” because of his initial refusal to believe the disciples’ report of Jesus’ resurrection (John 20:25). Yet in John’s Gospel, his doubt becomes the bridge to a deeper confession of faith. Jesus does not condemn his questioning but uses it to lead him to declare, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28).
2. Does God get angry when we doubt?
No. Throughout Scripture, God meets people in their doubts—Abraham asked how he would know God’s promises were true, Moses questioned his calling, Gideon asked for signs, and Mary asked how she could conceive. Jesus meets Thomas not with rebuke but with revelation. Honest doubt, when brought to God, can deepen faith rather than destroy it.
3. How does Thomas’s story apply to modern faith?
Thomas reminds believers that faith isn’t about pretending to be certain—it’s about bringing our questions into relationship with Christ. Jesus welcomes honest struggle and transforms it into worship. For those wrestling with belief in a skeptical world, Thomas shows that doubt can be the doorway to encounter.
4. What is the meaning of “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”?
Jesus’s words in John 20:29 extend the blessing of faith to future generations. Believing without physical sight doesn’t mean believing without evidence—it means trusting the testimony of those who did see and the Spirit’s witness in our hearts. This verse honors the faith of every believer who follows Christ today.
5. What role does seeing play in the Gospel of John?
John’s Gospel often links sight and faith. Jesus heals the blind (John 9), calls disciples to “come and see” (John 1:39), and declares that those who see him have seen the Father (John 14:9). In Thomas’s encounter, physical sight becomes spiritual insight—seeing the risen Christ reveals not only his identity but the nature of true belief.
