My Lord and my God

One verse I've loved for many years is John 20:27. It says, "Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." But I also love the next verse, which says, "Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" It makes me exclaim the same thing every time I read it or recall it.

It arouses many responses in me. How often do I really stop and acknowledge Him as my Lord and my God? I mean REALLY acknowledge Him as my Lord and my God? And how often do I stop long enough to take note of His tenderness and patience toward me? Thomas had been one of His disciples for THREE YEARS, yet when the other disciples told him they'd seen the Lord, his response was, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." We might be quick to say, "Hellooo?" but can we honestly say we would have had a different response? Maybe not...

But let's go back to the passage. Thomas made some very specific requirements that would have to be met before he would believe the others' report. Well, our Lord met Thomas in each demand he made. He didn't have to. He could have just said, "Ok, Thomas, here I am. NOW do you believe?" He could have reproved him for his unbelief. But He didn't. Even though Thomas may have backed off from those demands when he saw Him, He told Thomas to do the very things Thomas had said he needed to do to believe. Our Lord met Thomas 'where he was.'

Then, He goes on to make a promise to us! Verse 29 says, "Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." WOW! That's for you and me! (as well as those who trod the earth the same time as He did, yet did not get to see Him).

All of this takes me back to the beginning of the book where, in chapter 1, verse 14, John describes Him as 'full of grace and truth.' Oh, isn't He? Even in this one, tiny little episode of what is recorded about Him, in His interaction with (doubting) Thomas, He was full of grace and truth. And He still is...always has been...and always will be. My Lord and my God!