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JOHN 20:29 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 20:28John 20:30
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe' — Jesus gently rebukes Thomas's requirement for sight, then pronounces beatitude on future believers who will believe through witness (the apostolic word) rather than resurrection appearance. This verse addresses the post-Easter church, whose faith rests on apostolic testimony and the Spirit's witness rather than direct encounter. The blessed condition of faith-without-sight becomes the standard for all subsequent generations.

Church Fathers on John 20:29

Consider the mercy of the Lord, how for the sake; of one soul, He exhibits His wounds. And yet the disciples deserved credit, and He had Himself foretold the event. Notwithstanding, because one person, Thomas, would examine Him, Christ allowed him. But He did not appear to him immediately, but waited till the eighth day, in order that the admonition being given in the presence of the disciples, might kindle in him greater desire, and strengthen his faith for the future. And…

Chrysostom · 4th century

You ask; If He entered by the shut door, where is the nature of His body? And I reply; If He walked on the sea, where is the weight of His body? The Lord did that as the Lord; and did He, after His resurrection, cease to be the Lord?

Augustine · 4th century

Our Lord gave that flesh to be touched which He had introduced through shut doors: wherein two wonderful, and, according to human reason, contradictory things appear, viz. that after the resurrection He had a body incorruptible, and yet palpable. For that which is palpable must be corruptible, and that which is incorruptible must be impalpable. But He showed Himself incorruptible and yet palpable, to prove that His body after His resurrection was the same in nature as before,…

Gregory the Great · 6th century
Read all 15 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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