ACC ~ John 20 v25

REOPENING OLD WOUNDS

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Why does the hand of a faithful disciple in this fashion retrace those wounds that an unholy hand inflicted? Why does the hand of a dutiful follower strive to reopen the side that the lance of an unholy soldier pierced? Why does the harsh curiosity of a servant repeat the tortures imposed by the rage of persecutors? Why is a disciple so inquisitive about proving from his torments that he is the Lord, for his pains that he is God, and from his wounds that he is the heavenly Physician? …

Why Thomas, do you alone, a little too clever a sleuth for your own good, insist that only the wounds be brought forward in testimony to faith? What if these wounds had been made to disappear with the other things? What a peril to your faith would that curiosity have produced? Do you think that no signs of his devotion and no evidence of the Lord’s resurrection could be found unless you probed with your hands his inner organs that had been laid bare with such cruelty? Brothers, his devotion sought these things, his dedication demanded them so that in the future not even godlessness itself would doubt that the Lord had risen. But Thomas was curing not only the uncertainty of his own heart but also that of all human beings. And since he was going to preach this message to the Gentiles, this conscientious investigator was examining carefully how he might provide a foundation for the faith needed for such a mystery. [1] … For the only reason the Lord had kept his wounds was to provide evidence of his resurrection. SERMON 84.8. [2]

[1] On this point, see also Gaudentius Sermon 17 (PL 20:961-62).

[2] FC 110:52-54**.

THOMAS IS A PRECISE PERSON

ORIGEN: Thomas seems to have had some precision and carefulness about him, which is shown also by what he said. He most likely did not believe those who said they had seen the Lord. It could have been an apparition, like what had happened in Matthew. [1] I think this was the feeling of the other apostles too, but especially of Thomas. That the other apostles had some such thought on seeing Jesus is clear from there being written, “They supposed it was an apparition, [2] and he answered and said to them,”Handle me and see, for a spirit does not have bones and flesh as you see me having.” [3] FRAGMENT 106 ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. [4]

[1] Mt 24:5.

[2] Gk phantasma.

[3] lk 24:39.

[4] ESUS IS INFORMED THAT LAZARUS IS SICK | JOHN 11:1-5

THOMAS BELIEVES THE DEATH BUT NOT THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

AMMONIUS: Thomas was charged with being a real curiosity seeker because he thought the resurrection was impossible. Thus, he not only said “unless I see” but also “unless I touch,” lest somehow what he saw turned out to be an illusion. Therefore, when Thomas had heard from the disciples that Christ had been injured by a spear, Thomas believed them, even though he had not seen it. However, he did not believe their report of the resurrection, as if it were beyond reason. He did not say this so much out of unbelief but out of grief, because he himself had not been deemed worthy of seeing the risen Christ. It fit God’s purpose that Thomas did not believe, so that we all might know through him that the body that had been crucified had been raised. Since Thomas wanted to see the wounds all around Christ’s flesh, as well as his flesh itself, to see if he had risen, Thomas was searching for him. FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 633. [1]

[1] JKGK 354.

JESUS IS THE ONLY CRUCIFIED KING

JUSTIN MARTYR: David refers to Jesus’ suffering and to the cross in a parable of mystery in Psalm 22[:16-18], “They pierced my hands and my feet.” … But you still maintain that this very psalm does not refer to Christ because, in your blindness, you fail to realize that no one in [the Jewish] nation who has been called king or Christ has ever had his hands or feet pierced while alive or has died in this mysterious fashion—that is, by the cross—except this Jesus alone. DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO 97. [1]

[1] ANF 1:247-48**.

THE PHYSICAL RESURRECTION

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: We are taught by the slight lack of faith shown by the blessed Thomas that the mystery of the resurrection is effected on our earthly bodies and in Christ as the firstfruits of the human race. He was no phantom or ghost, fashioned in human shape, simulating the features of humanity, nor yet, as others have foolishly surmised, a spiritual body that is compounded of a subtle and ethereal substance different from the flesh. For some attach this meaning to the expression “spiritual body.” Since all our expectation and the significance of our irrefutable faith, after the confession of the holy and consubstantial Trinity, centers in the mystery concerning the flesh, the blessed Evangelist has very pertinently put this saying of Thomas side by side with the summary of what preceded. For observe that Thomas does not simply desire to see the Lord but looks for the marks of the nails, that is, the wounds on his body. For he affirmed that then, indeed, he would believe and agree with the rest that Christ had indeed risen again, and risen in the flesh. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12.1. [1]

[1] LF 48:682**.

Jn