jimbaum wrote:John 20:26-29
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" 27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing."
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
29 Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
WHATEVER Thomas was declaring, it was NOT that Jesus was God. I believe John tells it best, when he tells us "Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the SON OF GOD; and that believing ye might have life through his name." [John 20:30-31]
Upon seeing the resurrected Christ, and seeing the prints of the nails, and all doubt finally and utterly removed, he expresses the only thought left to him, crying "MY LORD and MY GOD."
None of the apostles said to Thomas, "God is risen." They testified "We have seen the Lord."[John 20:25] Thomas already KNEW it was God who would raise him from the dead.
"And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? 19 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again. 20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. 21 And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; 22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day." [Luke 9:18-22]
So Thomas, upon seeing resurrected Christ made the only connection he could between what he saw and what he had already been told to expect; God working a miracle to raise Thomas' Lord.
John concurs with this exegesis. "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." [John 20:30-31][/quote]
Did he believe Jesus was God? No. He knew he himself had only recently been involved in raising the dead. He saw God behind the deed. And he saw his resurrected Lord. AS DID THEY ALL.
John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
Jesus did not say he would raise himself from the dead. He said "I will raise it up" which is a reference to his body, which is the church. When Jesus was being killed, if he had not been raised, the gates of Hell would have prevailed against him; the church was also being killed. If he had not been raised from the dead, there would be no church today.
When he was raised from the dead, he began raising his church by continuing with them forty days - Acts 1:3 "To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, AND SPEAKING OF THE THINGS PERTAINING TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD: 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."
All the scriptures tell us God raised him from the dead, by the Holy Spirit. He did NOT raise himself, because NO MAN could possibly do that. And Luke testified that "Jesus of Nazareth, A MAN approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which GOD DID BY HIM in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:" [Acts 2:22]
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.[Acts 2:23] "raised up" is aorist ACTIVE. God actively raised Jesus from the dead.
WHAT DID THOMAS REMEMBER?
Thomas could well remember Jesus own words - "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day." [Mat 16:21]
"Be raised" is aorist PASSIVE, which means he did not raise himself. Do you really think Thomas did not hear this?
"And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.[Mat 17:22-23]
This time, "be raised" is "future PASSIVE." Both times the reference to Jesus' part in resurrection is to a passave action, indicating Jesus will be raised, not raise himself.
"Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day." [Luke 9:22] "be raised" is "aorist PASSIVE" in this verse. Three times Thomas has heard this testimony, and seen it in action at least once in the case of Lazarus, Besides the times he saw Jesus raising the dead, and when Thomas himself was involved in the same type of miracle.
WHAT WAS EXPERIENCED BY THOMAS? THIS IS WHAT THOMAS REMEMBERED. NOT A LATER REVELATION.
"And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, RAISE THE DEAD, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." [Mat 10:1-8]
"And THE APOSTLES gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and TOLD HIM all things, both WHAT THEY HAD DONE, and what they had taught.31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. 32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately." [Mark 6:30-32]
Thomas had sufficient memory to remember that when Lazarus was raised by God at Jesus' request, it was Jesus who raisd him but it was God behind the deed. THIS IS WHAT THOMAS REMEMBERED.
John 11:14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.
16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. 17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. 18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: 19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. 21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that THOU ART THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, which should come into the world.
28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. 30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. 31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. 32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? 38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, FATHER, I THANK THEE that thou hast heard me. 42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Thomas was a participant in the most amazing sequence of events in history. And he himself raised the dead. And he was a testimony witness to what Jesus said about his own resurrection. And three times it is recorded that Jesus used the passive verb to describe what is soon to take place. Yes, Thomas remembered alright. Only it was not soon to be released revelation he remembered, but recent events experienced.
AND, Jesus denied being our God; John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ASCEND UNTO my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and YOUR GOD.
Now I have a question for you. Why don't you respond to my questions? I have responded to your question several times, but you do not respond to mine, except with another question.