Jesus' Eleventh Appearance 

Thomas spent a week alone in the hills around Olivet. During this time, he only saw people who were at Simon's house and John Mark. After finding him at nine o'clock in the morning on Saturday, April 15, Peter and John took him back to the Mark home. The next day, Thomas listened to the stories of the Master's appearance but refused to believe. He said Peter made them think they saw the Master. Nathaniel tried to reason with him but failed. His emotional stubbornness and chagrin at having run away from them created a situation of isolation that even Thomas did not understand. He had left his friends and gone his own way, so even when he was back, he unconsciously tended to disagree. He hated giving in and was slow to surrender. He enjoyed the attention he received and the efforts of his fellows to persuade and convert him without realizing it.

The apostles were eating dinner a little after six o’clock when Thomas said, "I will not believe unless I see the Master with my own eyes and put my finger in the mark of the nails." As they ate supper with the doors closed and barred, the resurrected Jesus suddenly appeared inside the table's curvature, facing Thomas.

As Jesus appeared in front of them, he said, "Peace be upon you. For a full week have I tarried that I might appear again when you were all present to hear once more the commission to go into all the world and preach this gospel of the kingdom. Again I tell you: As the Father sent me into the world, so send I you. As I have revealed the Father, so shall you reveal the divine love, not merely with words, but in your daily living. I send you forth, not to love the souls of men, but rather to love men. You are not merely to proclaim the joys of heaven but also to exhibit in your daily experience these spirit realities of the divine life since you already have eternal life, as the gift of God, through faith. When you have faith, when power from on high, the Spirit of Truth, has come upon you, you will not hide your light here behind closed doors; you will make known the love and the mercy of God to all mankind. Through fear you now flee from the facts of a disagreeable experience, but when you shall have been baptized with the Spirit of Truth, you will bravely and joyously go forth to meet the new experiences of proclaiming the good news of eternal life in the kingdom of God.

You may tarry here and in Galilee for a short season while you recover from the shock of the transition from the false security of the authority of traditionalism to the new order of the authority of facts, truth, and faith in the supreme realities of living experience. Your mission to the world is founded on the fact that I lived a God-revealing life among you; on the truth that you and all other men are the sons of God; and it shall consist in the life which you will live among men – the actual and living experience of loving men and serving them, even as I have loved and served you. Let faith reveal your light to the world; let the revelation of truth open the eyes blinded by tradition; let your loving service effectually destroy the prejudice engendered by ignorance. By so drawing close to your fellow men in understanding sympathy and with unselfish devotion, you will lead them into a saving knowledge of the Father’s love. The Jews have extolled goodness; the Greeks have exalted beauty; the Hindus preach devotion; the faraway ascetics teach reverence; the Romans demand loyalty; but I require of my disciples life, even a life of loving service for your brothers in the flesh."

Jesus then looked upon the face of Thomas: "And you, Thomas, who said you would not believe unless you could see me and put your finger in the nail marks of my hands, have now beheld me and heard my words; and though you see no nail marks on my hands since I am raised in the form that you also shall have when you depart from this world, what will you say to your brethren? You will acknowledge the truth, for already in your heart you had begun to believe even when you so stoutly asserted your unbelief. Your doubts, Thomas, always most stubbornly assert themselves just as they are about to crumble. Thomas, I bid you be not faithless but believing – and I know you will believe, even with a whole heart."

When Thomas heard these tender words, he fell on his knees and affirmed: "I believe! My Lord and my Master!" Then Jesus said: "You have believed, Thomas, because you have really seen and heard me. Blessed are those in the ages to come who will believe even though they have not seen with the eye of flesh nor heard with the mortal ear."

Jesus moved over to the head of the table and instructed them to go to Galilee, where he would again greet them. He then vanished from their sight.

Without a shade of uncertainty, the eleven apostles knew they had spoken with the Master and that he had risen from the dead. Before dawn of the next day, they headed for Galilee.