December 10, 2023
Divine Respect
“Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.’”
John 20:28-29 (NASB)
When my father was stationed in Germany serving in the Army, our family was with him. We traveled all over Europe. He often went to bases for temporary assignments. Many times when we traveled with him, we entered German businesses, homes, or places where my dad was expected. They referred to him as Herr Pope. During this time many German people served alongside military personnel. I never paid much attention to the term Herr, but today I learned it from this study. This phrase indicates respect and power to those who were interacting with Dad. He was kind of a big wig in those days. He inspected military bases all over Europe to determine readiness in the event of war. His team was comprised of over 20 people when he went to each base. His position was important, but he wasn’t the Savior of the world!
“Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” Thomas’s doubt had been fulfilled. He knew the evidence pointed to Jesus’s deity. This is one of the greatest statements by any of the apostles. Peter once confessed Jesus as the Messiah in Matt. 16:16 “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Thomas used two words in this verse to refer to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” The word Lord is, kyrios. “In German the word ‘Herr’ (lord) is the most common expression for a fact which is present only in the personal sphere, among men, and which constitutes an essential part of personal being. This is the fact that there is a personal exercise of power over men and things. In this man may be either the subject of the exercise of power (as lord), or its object (as servant), but either way he is its object as concerns his relation to God.”[1] The second word used is “God.” This is the word Theos. It simply means God, the Divine Being, the Object of Our Worship. It is quite a hard term to define since God is unknowable in many things. “The question of the etymology of θεός has never been solved. It can thus tell us nothing about the nature of the Gk. concept of God. θεός is originally a predicative term; hence its use is as broad and varied as the religious interpretation of the world and of life by the Greeks.”[2] To understand this a little better and how the words fit together in Thomas’s statement, Newman says this: “In order to indicate clearly that Thomas addressed Jesus as both Lord and God, it may be necessary to introduce his statement by ‘Thomas spoke to Jesus as,’ ‘Thomas addressed Jesus as,’ or ‘in speaking to Jesus, Thomas said.’ In some languages it may be more appropriate to translate ‘Thomas answered him. You are my Lord and my God.’ In languages in which the use of the conjunction and would imply two individuals, it may be necessary to translate ‘you are my Lord, even my God.’ In certain languages one cannot possess such terms as ‘Lord’ or ‘God.’ If so, it may be necessary to translate ‘you are the one who rules over me, and you are God whom I worship.’”[3]
Jesus accepted Thomas’ worship. Why? Because He is who He said He is!
[1] Foerster, W., & Quell, G. (1964–). In G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich (Eds.), Theological dictionary of the New Testament (electronic ed., Vol. 3, p. 1040). Eerdmans.
[2] Kleinknecht, H., Quell, G., Stauffer, E., & Kuhn, K. G. (1964–). In G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich (Eds.), Theological dictionary of the New Testament (electronic ed., Vol. 3, p. 67). Eerdmans.
[3] Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). (p. 619). United Bible Societies.