The other Gospel writers record two separate appearances to the apostles as a group.

On one occasion Jesus came to them when Thomas was! absent and, perhaps to assure them of his bodily resurrection, he ate with them.1

On the other occasion Thomas was present and, after Jesus granted Thomas2, the same tangible proof of his resurrection that he had previously given the others3, he said, Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.4

It would seem that our present verse (14) may best be identified with our Lord's second appearance to the apostles as a group. They, like Thomas, had not been willing to accept the testimony of others concerning his resurrection. This was not good for, in all the years that were to follow, men and women would come to believe in him, not through tangible proof, not because of logic, but because of the testimony of others ~ and most of all, as we now know, because of the testimony of the Scriptures!

It was perhaps in view of all of this that Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.5 The acceptance of Jesus Christ as the risen Lord is not a matter of intellectual understanding. It is a matter of simple faith.

There are many things about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the life hereafter that the most brilliant minds will never be able to grasp. Yet, even the lowliest individual who lives may come to a knowledge of God in Christ through an act of simple faith, Lord, I believe!