Did Thomas actually touch Jesus's side?

Question

John 20:24-29
²⁴Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
²⁶A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
²⁸Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
²⁹Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

I either always lazily read or remember being taught that Thomas actually touched Jesus's side (or maybe The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio influenced me). But under close reading it appears that Thomas didn't touch Jesus, he merely saw Jesus because the scripture doesn't explicitly say he touched Jesus and Jesus said "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (emphasis added mine).

Is this a good interpretation and/or is there any other scripture that would support or not support this?

Answer 1

Safe answer: John 20 is the only passage of scripture that discusses this event, so the short answer is - we can't say for sure. In general, we need to be cautious about "reasoning from an absence of scripture."

My guess: Thomas made a statement to the effect of "I refuse to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and the only thing that could change my mind would be if He Himself appeared and proved it to me". He is pretty "over the top" with his demand, because not only did he say Jesus had to appear, but that Thomas would have to actually stick his fingers in each of Jesus' wounds! I think he was trying to make it very clear where he stood on the matter!

Jesus responded by appearing to him and offering to grant his request. Thomas appears to have been shocked and humbled by this, and seems very repentant, judging by his statement, "My Lord and my God!" I have a very hard time believing that Thomas proceeded to probe each of His wounds with his fingers, but that's just a guess.

Answer 2

In our tradition, the hymnography states unequivocally that Thomas does touch his side. The words:

"The apostle touched thy flesh and was not burned..."

So this essentially affirms two theological points about the resurrected Christ:

1. He was physical, as in, solid
2. His resurrected body was not physical in a normal way, and would have harmed an ordinary person because of its power.

It also affirms that Thomas did touch Christ, according to Orthodox teaching.

Also, This explains part of why Christ advises Mary Magdalene to not touch him; touching him directly was not safe for a person to ordinarily do.

But Thomas we are made to understand was granted an exception so that his faith could be bolstered. Similar to how the Apostles were granted to see the Divine Light in the Transfiguration, if only for a short period.

Answer 3

One more interesting fact is that, when apostles of Jesus Christ saw he was crucified & dead on cross and after his burial. They were worried and they were almost convinced to go to their fishing business, it is mentioned in Bible, in few places even after seeing Jesus Christ, they only moved to do their fishing business, their faith was same(weak) when Jesus was with them physically and even after his crucifixion, St. Thomas was not exception where as he was bit high when compared with others that he expressed his condition as (I will believe Jesus resurrection only when I touch His Wound). So with a condition set to his believe how could St. Thomas could have travelled long way to spread Good News in Asia. Jesus appeared to apostles when Thomas was there and asked him to touch His wounds, that proof only could make St. Thomas to make him believe Jesus resurrection, But Jesus Christ said when St. Thomas touched His wound, you touched My wound and you believe in Me, Blessed as those who have not seen and have believed