Verse 27. Then he said to Thomas, "Bring thy finger here, and see my hands: and bring thy hand, and put it in my side..." 6 Since Thomas did not say anything, Jesus Christ warns him and gives him what he wanted, showing that even when Thomas made these demands, He was both present and heard as God. That is why Jesus Christ uses even those very words.

Verse 27... And do not be unfaithful, but faithful. He says this in reproach of Thomas for the fact that he had previously objected to the disciples, not because he wanted to be more precise, but because he did not believe in the Resurrection.

Verse 28. And Thomas answered, and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Seeing the wounds of the nails on the hands of the Saviour and the wound of the spear on His side, Thomas immediately believed, not seeking to touch them. Some, however, assert that Thomas, having felt it, exclaimed: "My Lord and my God."

Verse 29. Jesus said to him, "For when thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."7 Peter and John believed in the Resurrection of the Lord even when they had not seen Him, but had only seen the grave clothes and the cloth that was on His head. The rest of the disciples also, after Peter had seen the risen Lord and proclaimed to them, although they had not seen Him themselves, nevertheless believed in the Resurrection. Thou hast found, says Luke, one-tenth, and those who are with them, saying, "Truly the Lord is risen, and hath appeared unto Simon" (Luke 24:33). (But why does the same Evangelist say that when Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples, they feared and feared what they were, and saw the spirit, etc., and also that even to those who did not believe for their joy and wondered, He said to them, "Do you have anything to eat here" (Luke 24:36 and 41)? that they did not believe that Jesus Christ had risen, but because they doubted whether Jesus Christ had appeared to them, and wanted to be more certain of it). The blessedness pronounced by Jesus Christ, who did not see and believed, extends also to those who believed through preaching. Therefore, if anyone says: "Blessed are they who lived in the time of Jesus Christ, and who have seen Him," let him remember that blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed. But how can an incorruptible body have traces of blows and be subject to touch? How?... This is supernatural and permitted by the Dispensation of God, since Jesus Christ both ate and drank only for the greater conviction of the disciples.

Verse 30. And many other signs did Jesus do before His disciples, which are not written in these books... 1 Of course, we are talking here about the signs that Jesus Christ performed after the Resurrection; wherefore the Evangelist added: before His disciples. Just as before the Resurrection many signs were needed in order for people to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, so after the Resurrection it was necessary to perform many of them in order for them to believe that He was risen. Or it is said here in general about those miracles that were performed by Jesus Christ before the Resurrection, and about those that were performed by Him after the Resurrection.

Verse 31. And this was written, that ye may believe that Jesus is Christ the Son of God... 2 It is not for ambition, says John, that we have written down all these things, for otherwise we would have written down many other things, but for the sole necessity, namely, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, foretold by the prophets.

Verse 31... And let them believe, life in His name,3 that is, through Him, since He Himself is life; The life of Imate, of course, is eternal.

CHAPTER XXI

Verse 1. Wherefore Jesus appeared to His disciples (having risen from the dead) on the sea of Tiberias... 4 After His Resurrection, Jesus Christ was not with His disciples constantly, as before, but appeared to them only from time to time. The expression "appeared" and others like it show that Jesus Christ, by the nature of His already incorruptible body, was invisible to ordinary eyes, but only by His condescension and by the special purposes of God's Economy He was sometimes visible. The sea mentioned here was in Galilee, where the disciples went, again encouraged in spirit.

Verse 1... And when it appeared... 5 As the Evangelist goes on to say.

Verses 2-3. And Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called the Twin, and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going to fish." And he said to him, "Let us also go with thee..." 6 Since the Saviour was no longer constantly with the disciples, and the other Comforter had not yet come, and the preaching had not yet been fully entrusted to them, they had nothing to do, and turned to their former occupation, and engaged in fishing, but not for selfish purposes, as before.

Verse 3... And he went out and went out into a ship...,1 which belonged to Peter, or to the sons of Zebedee, or to someone he knew.

Verse 3... and that night there was nothing... 2 This happened according to the dispensation of God, as will be said later. Probably, says Chrysostom, the rest of the disciples followed them along the dry path as spectators, in order to occupy idle time, and spent the night with them.

Verse 4. And in the morning, Jesus stood by the breeze: but we did not know the disciple, for Jesus exists.3 Perhaps the appearance of His incorruptible body appeared in greater splendor than before, or He was not recognized by the disciples by the special will of God.