Doubts, however, still lingered in the minds of some, and these our Lord graciously condescended to remove; for "while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained."
"Remit" here means forgive; sins remitted are sins forgiven. To "retain" means just the contrary—not forgiven sins; "retained" means sins that are not forgiven, of which the guilt still rests upon those who have committed them. Jesus did not, of course, mean that His Apostles, or any human being, had power to forgive or remit the smallest sin committed against God; none can forgive sin, but God only. But our Lord meant, that when, by the teaching of the Apostles, poor sinners should be brought to believe the Gospel and repent, they, the Apostles, might safely declare unto them the blessed truth, that their sins are forgiven, and done away with, for the sake of all that Jesus Christ has done for us.
But in the same way, the Apostles must warn all who will not believe and repent, that their sins cannot be forgiven; but that their guilt remains, and must hereafter meet with due punishment.
Chapter XLVII.—UNBELIEF OF THOMAS.
"But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came." As soon as they met again, "the other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord." Thomas, however, was so convinced that it was impossible for Jesus to appear again in His own body, that he declared that he would not believe, unless he actually saw that it was the very same body which had been crucified: therefore, "he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print," or hole made by "the nails, and thrust my hand into" the wound made by the spear in "his side, I will not believe."
This want of faith was wrong: Thomas knew that the other Apostles would not say anything that they did not believe to be true; and it was impossible that all the ten, should have merely fancied that they had seen and talked with their beloved Lord and Master.
Thomas was now left for one whole week in his unbelief; and a good many of the disciples, who had not themselves seen Jesus, took his view of the matter: though the ten Apostles, and a great number of the disciples, were convinced that Christ was indeed risen.
"And after eight days again," that is, on the first day of the next week, "the disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut," so that He could not possibly have come into the room that way, "and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you."
The disciples were probably at supper, for St. Mark says, "he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen." To "upbraid" means to reproach: all had deserved reproach for their slowness and unwillingness to believe the testimony of others, but to Thomas such upbraiding was principally addressed: but whilst he reproved, Jesus also showed mercy: for "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." Thomas had now received the proofs which he had demanded; he saw and was convinced that Jesus had indeed, according to the Scriptures, risen in his own human body from the grave. "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they, that have not seen, and yet have believed." These are comfortable words for all Christians who believe without seeing: and we may indeed thank God for the unwillingness of this Apostle to believe, as it afforded a still further testimony to the reality of the Resurrection.