“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
His name means ‘twin,’ and he appears several times in John’s Gospel as someone who asks direct, sometimes challenging questions. He’s not portrayed as particularly faithless—earlier in John’s Gospel, when Jesus decided to return to Judea despite danger, Thomas said, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him’ (John 11:16). He’s loyal but realistic, committed but cautious.
DAY 1
John (The Beloved Disciple)
THE EYEWITNESS AUTHOR
“These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
The Gospel of John identifies its author as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’ (John 21:20-24), and early church tradition consistently identifies this as John, one of the twelve apostles and part of Jesus’s inner circle along with Peter and James. John was an eyewitness to the events he describes. He was present at the Last Supper, witnessed the crucifixion, and according to his account, was among the first to see the empty tomb. John’s Gospel was written later than the other three (probably between 85-95 AD), which means he had decades to reflect on these events and their significance.