Isaiah 64:4

64:4 Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, ¹ 

no eye has seen any God besides you,

who intervenes for those who wait for him.

Zechariah 9:17

9:17 How precious and fair! ²  Grain will make the young men flourish and new wine the young women.

Mark 16:11

16:11 And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

John 20:25-29

20:25 The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, ³  “Unless I see the wounds ⁴  from the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the wounds from the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe it!” ⁵ 

20:26 Eight days later the disciples were again together in the house, ⁶  and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, ⁷  Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put ⁸  your finger here, and examine ⁹  my hands. Extend ¹⁰  your hand and put it ¹¹  into my side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe.” ¹²  20:28 Thomas replied to him, ¹³  “My Lord and my God!” ¹⁴  20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people ¹⁵  who have not seen and yet have believed.” ¹⁶ 

John 20:1

The Resurrection

20:1 Now very early on the first day of the week, ¹⁷  while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene ¹⁸  came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance. ¹⁹ 

Colossians 2:9

2:9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives ²⁰  in bodily form,

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ²¹  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ²² 

Colossians 3:2

3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

[64:4]  ¹ tn Heb “from ancient times they have not heard, they have not listened.”

[9:17]  ² sn This expostulation best fits the whole preceding description of God’s eschatological work on behalf of his people. His goodness is especially evident in his nurturing of the young men and women of his kingdom.

[20:25]  ³ tn Grk “but he said to them.”

[20:25]  ⁴ tn Or “marks.”

[20:25]  ⁵ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context. The use of “it” here as direct object of the verb πιστεύσω (pisteusw) specifies exactly what Thomas was refusing to believe: that Jesus had risen from the dead, as reported by his fellow disciples. Otherwise the English reader may be left with the impression Thomas was refusing to “believe in” Jesus, or “believe Jesus to be the Christ.” The dramatic tension in this narrative is heightened when Thomas, on seeing for himself the risen Christ, believes more than just the resurrection (see John 20:28).

[20:26]  ⁶ tn Grk “were inside”; the word “together” is implied.

[20:26]  ⁷ tn Grk “the doors were shut”; “locked” conveys a more appropriate idea for the modern English reader.

[20:27]  ⁸ tn Or “Extend” or “Reach out.” The translation “put” or “reach out” for φέρω (ferw) here is given in BDAG 1052 s.v. 4.

[20:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “see.” The Greek verb ἴδε (ide) is often used like its cognate ἰδού (idou) in Hellenistic Greek (which is “used to emphasize the …importance of someth.” [BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 1.b.ε]).

[20:27]  ¹⁰ tn Or “reach out” or “put.”

[20:27]  ¹¹ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[20:27]  ¹² tn Grk “and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

[20:28]  ¹³ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[20:28]  ¹⁴ sn Should Thomas’ exclamation be understood as two subjects with the rest of the sentence omitted (“My Lord and my God has truly risen from the dead”), as predicate nominatives (“You are my Lord and my God”), or as vocatives (“My Lord and my God!”)? Probably the most likely is something between the second and third alternatives. It seems that the second is slightly more likely here, because the context appears confessional. Thomas’ statement, while it may have been an exclamation, does in fact confess the faith which he had previously lacked, and Jesus responds to Thomas’ statement in the following verse as if it were a confession. With the proclamation by Thomas here, it is difficult to see how any more profound analysis of Jesus’ person could be given. It echoes 1:1 and 1:14 together: The Word was God, and the Word became flesh (Jesus of Nazareth). The Fourth Gospel opened with many other titles for Jesus: the Lamb of God (1:29, 36); the Son of God (1:34, 49); Rabbi (1:38); Messiah (1:41); the King of Israel (1:49); the Son of Man (1:51). Now the climax is reached with the proclamation by Thomas, “My Lord and my God,” and the reader has come full circle from 1:1, where the author had introduced him to who Jesus was, to 20:28, where the last of the disciples has come to the full realization of who Jesus was. What Jesus had predicted in John 8:28 had come to pass: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he” (Grk “I am”). By being lifted up in crucifixion (which led in turn to his death, resurrection, and exaltation with the Father) Jesus has revealed his true identity as both Lord (κύριος [kurios], used by the LXX to translate Yahweh) and God (θεός [qeos], used by the LXX to translate Elohim).

[20:29]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “are those.”

[20:29]  ¹⁶ tn Some translations treat πιστεύσαντες (pisteusante") as a gnomic aorist (timeless statement) and thus equivalent to an English present tense: “and yet believe” (RSV). This may create an effective application of the passage to the modern reader, but the author is probably thinking of those people who had already believed without the benefit of seeing the risen Jesus, on the basis of reports by others or because of circumstantial evidence (see John 20:8).

[20:1]  ¹⁷ sn The first day of the week would be early Sunday morning. The Sabbath (and in this year the Passover) would have lasted from 6 p.m. Friday until 6 p.m. Saturday. Sunday would thus mark the first day of the following week.

[20:1]  ¹⁸ sn John does not mention that Mary Magdalene was accompanied by any of the other women who had been among Jesus’ followers. The synoptic accounts all mention other women who accompanied her (although Mary Magdalene is always mentioned first). Why John does not mention the other women is not clear, but Mary probably becomes the focus of the author’s attention because it was she who came and found Peter and the beloved disciple and informed them of the empty tomb (20:2). Mary’s use of the plural in v. 2 indicates there were others present, in indirect agreement with the synoptic accounts.

[20:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “from the tomb.”

[2:9]  ²⁰ sn In him all the fullness of deity lives. The present tense in this verse (“lives”) is significant. Again, as was stated in the note on 1:19, this is not a temporary dwelling, but a permanent one. Paul’s point is polemical against the idea that the fullness of God dwells anywhere else, as the Gnostics believed, except in Christ alone. At the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity assumed humanity, and is forever the God-man.

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ²² tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”