them after Christ’s death. And he also described a most unexpected event that happened while they were trembling inside locked doors:

“And now it was evening on the same day, the first day of the week; for fear of the Jews, the disciples had locked the doors of the room in which they had assembled and Jesus came and stood there in their midst. `Peace be upon you,’ He said. And with that He showed them his hands and His side which had been pierced with a lance. Thus the disciples saw the Lord and were glad. Once more Jesus said to them, `Peace be upon you; I came upon an errand from my Father, and now I am sending you out in my turn.’ With that, He breathed on them, and said to them: `Receive the Holy Spirit; when you forgive men’s sins, they are forgiven, when you hold them bound, they are held bound.’

“There was one of the twelve, Thomas, who is also called Didymus, who was not with them when Jesus came. And when the other disciples told him, `We have seen the Lord,’ he said to them, `Until I have seen the mark of the nails in His hands, until I have put my finger into the mark of the nails and put my hand into His side, you will never make me believe.’

“So eight days afterwards, once more the disciples were within, and Thomas was with them; and the doors were locked. Jesus came and stood there in their midst: `Peace be upon you,’ He said. Then He said to Thomas, `Let me have your finger; see, here are my hands. Let me have your hand: put it into my side. Cease your doubting, and believe.’ Thomas answered, `You are my Lord and my God!’

“And Jesus said to him, `You have learned to believe, Thomas, because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have learned to believe.” (John 20, 19-21)

Certainly it is not easy to believe this story of the Resurrection of Christ. It is necessary also to read the reports of His other appearances after this time (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20 and 21) and then to judge whether they sound authentic or fraudulent. It is also necessary to see the difference made by this unexpected event on His followers. It was something more than mere imagination that changed them from the trembling group locked behind doors for fear of their lives, into the fearless men described in the Acts of the Apostles.

These same men began to preach in the very streets where Christ had been arrested and dragged off to His death. They were arrested and brought before the rulers who threatened them with death if they continued to preach. But they simply answered :

“Judge for yourselves whether it would be right for us, in the sight of God, to listen to your voice instead of God’s. It is impossible for us to refrain from speaking of what we have seen and heard.’ And they, after threatening them further, let them go; they could find no means of punishing them, because all the people were exclaiming at the astonishing circumstances of what had happened.” (Acts 4, 19-21)

THE MAIN QUESTION