John 20:19-31

19On the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting together. They had locked the doors of the room because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Then Jesus came and he stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’

20After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were very, very happy when they saw the Lord.

21Jesus said again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, in the same way I am now sending you.’

22When he had said this, he breathed on them. He said, ‘Receive God's Holy Spirit.

23If you forgive a person's sins, God will forgive them too. If you do not forgive them, God will not forgive them.’

24One of the 12 disciples was called Thomas. (He was also called ‘the Twin’.) He was not with the other disciples when Jesus came to them.

25So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But Thomas said to them, ‘I will never believe that he is alive again unless I myself see him. I want to see the marks of the nails in his hands. I want to touch where the nails were with my finger. I want to put my hand into his side where the spear went in. If I cannot do that, I will not believe.’

26Eight days after that, the disciples were in the house again. This time Thomas was with them. They had locked the door. But Jesus came and he stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’

27Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger in here. Look at my hands. Put your hand here, in my side. Do not refuse to believe what is true. Now, believe.’

28Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord, and my God!’

29Jesus said to him, ‘You believe because you have seen me. Other people have not seen me, but they do believe in me. God is really happy with those people.’

30Jesus did many other miracles while the disciples were with him. I have not written about all of them in this book.

31But I have written about these things, so that you will be able to believe the truth. You will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Because you believe in him, you will have life with God.