Absent Tomas - John 20:24

John the apostle wrote how Jesus told His disciples, “Whose soever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins you retain, they are retained”, and in chapter twenty and verse twenty-four of his book John shared how “Thomas … was not with them when Jesus came” where we read:

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

The verse begins, “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, ...” John began with the words, “But Thomas” which means “however, nonetheless, notwithstanding and moreover Thomas whose name means a twin”, “one of the twelve” or “a particular and certain disciple belonging to the original twelve disciples of Jesus”, “called Didymus” which means “affirmed, maintained and spoken of as Didymus which means two fold or twain” was according to the following. John shared how Jesus' disciple named “Thomas” was according to the following.

The verse goes on to say, “... was not with them when Jesus came.” John continued with the words, “was not with them” or “was not present with the other disciples of Jesus” “when Jesus came” which means “at the time and moment the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate whose name means Jehovah is Salvation arose and appeared to His disciples”. John shared how “Thomas” was not in attendance at the time Jesus appeared to His disciples.

When we think through John's words in this verse, we learn how Jesus' disciple named “Thomas” was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them. This will be a part of a story that is revealed in our next couple verses, however, at this time, let us imagine how “Thomas'” absence kept him from seeing the Lord Jesus. God desires to have everyone yield to His Son Jesus even though they do not physically see Him, and those who submit to Him will be forgiven of their sins and receive everlasting life with God. Perhaps the question should be asked, “though Jesus is not seen, is He really there?”, and when a person chooses to believe even though they do not see, Jesus will save them from their sins.

Next time John shares how “except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails … and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".