The Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus was NOT resurrected in the body, in which He died; that God the Father gave Him another body for the little while He was back on the surface of the planet. Of all the verses the Russellites should hope not to appear in Scripture is John 20:26-28. “And after eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace be unto you”. Then saying 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.” And Thomas answered and said unto Him, “My Lord and my God.” And Jesus said unto him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Thomas was not present at the first visit with the risen Christ. Like some of my brethren, he must have not thought the Sunday evening service was worthy of his attendance!! I hope their plight is not as Thomas. Thomas missed the message of that evening delivered in person by the risen Lord. Because he missed the message, he was not prepared and therefore did not believe that Christ had truly risen!! John 20:24 Being his own man, Thomas was not intimidated by the witnesses of Christ visit and in verse 25 was very bold in his denunciation of their testimony. Like a lot of people, Thomas ran his mouth when he should have listened to the other brethren! What is worse, like our brethren of this day, Thomas had to face the Lord with his lack of faith!! Verse 28 IS NOT an exclamation of surprise and astonishment; it is an address to the Lord, a statement of belief!! This is evident from the words he responded and said—he answered and said. This would be out of place before an exclamation. It introduces a reply to what Jesus said, and shows a firmly convinced attitude that He was Lord and God!! Jesus accepted the declaration of Thomas by His statement in the next verse: “Jesus said unto him, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” Note: it was sight that convinced Thomas. He was convinced because he had SEEN the Lord, and it was truly Him!! The Jehovah’s (Lying) Witnesses state, remember, that Jesus appeared is some form assumed for the occasion, or was a phantom of some sort. Note: it was sight, it was the SAME BODY that had been crucified and Jesus was not daring him, Jesus was inviting Thomas to ‘REACH HITHER THY HAND, AND THRUST IT INTO MY SIDE’
It gets worse for the Lying Witnesses: Thomas called Jesus Lord and God!! Here, in John 20:28, the definite article appears!!! (You remember their argument about the ‘definite article’ don’t you?) In the margin of their 1951 edition of the New World Translation, they attempt to show by listing six scriptures (Exodus 22:8, Psalms 82:1, Isaiah 9:6, John 1:1, John 1:18, John 10:35) that ‘my God” of John 20:28 really should be written “a god”. By their own lying they are trapped!! The definite article appears before THEOS is this passage!! It declares Jesus to be THE GOD!! They call Him Jehovah!! It would have been better for them to have left off their argument about the definite article they make such a stand with, would you not say??
I have often wondered why Thomas could have doubted that the Christ would not rise from the dead. He was with Christ at the resurrection of Lazarus; it was Thomas who chided the others about going to Jerusalem. I never have thought he had an improper motive for it was his immediate repentance that Jesus applauded. Who was in his seat the night of the resurrection, for there were 11 present? Mark 16:14, Matthew 28:16.
