eace be unto you. And when He had said this, He showed unto
them His hands and His side. The disciples therefore were glad, when
they saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto
you: as the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. And when He had
said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the
Holy Ghost: whosesoever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto
them; whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one
of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.
But he said unto them, Except I shall see in His hands the print of
the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my
hand into His side, I will not believe. And after eight days again
His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto
you. Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see My
hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into My side: and be
not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto Him, My
Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen Me,
thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet
have believed."--JOHN xx. 19-29.

On the evening of the day whose dawning had been signalised by the
Resurrection, the disciples, and, according to Luke, some others, were
together. They expected that the event which had restored hope in their
own hearts would certainly excite the authorities and probably lead to
the arrest of some of their number. They had therefore carefully closed
the doors, that some time for parley and possibly for escape might be
interposed. But to their astonishment and delight, while they were
sitting thus with closed doors, the well-known figure of their Lord
appeared in their midst, and His familiar greeting, "Peace be with you,"
sounded in their ears. Further to identify Himself and remove all doubt
or dread He showed them His hands and His side; and, as St. Luke tells
us, even ate before them. There is here a strange mingling of identity
and difference between the body He now wears and that which had been
crucified. Its appearance is the same in some respects, but its
properties are different. Immediate recognition did not always follow
His manifestation. There was somet