John 20:28

"And Thomas answered and said unto Him,
My Lord and my God."

Did Thomas Address Jesus as "God"?

 

When Thomas saw the risen Christ with his own eyes, he said to Him, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

It is important to notice that Jesus did not rebuke Thomas for what he had said.  If Jesus were not God, as Jehovah's Witnesses and many other cults assert, then certainly our Lord would have corrected Thomas.  He would have said something like this:   "Thomas, I know you are amazed and excited, having seen me with your own eyes alive from the dead, but you are terribly mistaken to address me as God.  I am not God, and it is blasphemy for you to use such a term that should only be used of deity. I am not God and should never be addressed as such. I am a mere creature."

No such rebuke or correction was made.  On the contrary, the Lord said, "Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed" (John 20:29).

Should we be surprised that Thomas addressed Jesus as God?   Certainly not, as we remember that even God the Father addressed His Son as God in Hebrew 1:8.

So how do Jehovah's Witnesses answer this clear declaration of the deity of Christ from the lips of Thomas, one of the twelve?  

Sometimes it is foolishly argued that Thomas was so shocked to see Jesus that he blurted out a thoughtless exclamation or expletive (such as someone today saying, "Oh my God!").  How absurd to think of Thomas taking the God's name in vain in this way!  No, the words of Thomas were thoughtful and worshipful and reverent, as he knew he was in the presence of Almighty God, even his Lord Jesus Christ.  Thomas addressed Him properly.

For Further Study

 

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