Again, on the eighth day of the Resurrection, the Lord Jesus appeared to His disciples, the doors being shut And Thomas was with them, who was not there on the former occasion, and he — when they told him that they had seen the Lord — replied, “Unless I see in His Hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails,” etc., as recorded in the Gospel, “I will not believe.”1 Then the Good Shepherd, watchful over His little flock, says to them, “Peace be unto you.” Then saith He to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger and behold My Hands, and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into My Side, and be not faithless, but believing.” Then Thomas fell down before Him, and touched the wounds of His Lord, and said, “My Lord and my God !” For he saw the manhood, and believed in the Godhead. Then he, too, confessed, as the others had done, his fault in having forsaken Him. But the Lord, raising him up, said, “Fear not ; all sins are forgiven thee.” This doubting of Thomas was permitted for the benefit of others, that they might thereby have more evident proofs of the truth of the Resurrection. Behold our Lord, then, attentively, and observe His accustomed kindness, lowliness, and fervent love ; how He shows His wounds to Thomas and the other disciples, that He may altogether remove the cloud of uncertainty from their hearts, both for their benefit and for ours. Moreover, our Lord preserved the marks of His wounds chiefly for these three reasons : that He might cause His Apostles to believe in His Resurrection; that He might show them to the Father, when He wills to appease Divine Wrath and intercede for us as our Advocate ; that He might show them to the reprobate on the Day of Judgment.2 The Lord Jesus, then, remains a while with His mother and His disciples, speaking of the things of the Kingdom of Godand they are filled with joy, hearing His sublime teaching, and beholding His countenance, radiant with joy and beauty. Attend well to every detail of this scene ; behold Him, His disciples, His mother, Magdalen, etc. Stand yourself reverently and afar off ; unless, perhaps, moved with pity, He should seem to call you nearer to Him. At length, He proposes that they go into Galilee, to Mount Tabor, as it is said, and that there they shall see Him. And, having blessed them, He departed from them. But they remained as before, full of hunger and thirst for His Presence, yet very much comforted.
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