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The number and chronological order of the appearances of Jesus after the Day of Resurrection, is not entirely clear. There appears to have been at least four other appearances.
A week after the appearance to the Disciples in Jerusalem, Jesus appeared again to them. It would seem from this account, that Thomas was not with them in Jerusalem the week before. It had been a week, and as far as we know, no one had seen Him. There is an interesting parallel between this time of His life and an earlier time in His life. In the beginning of His ministry, He spent 40 days "unseen". He was up in the mountains, fasting, being tempted of the Devil. From His resurrection until His ascension, He spent 40 days, for the most part, "unseen". This time He was attended by Heavenly Spirits.
Perhaps Jesus waited a week to test the faith of the eleven that He had spoken to at Jerusalem and to let Thomas stew in his un-belief. Also, it was necessary that these Disciples become used to His absence. Matthew Henry suggests that these appearances of Jesus on the first day of the week, Sunday, put honor upon this day and gave credence to the establishment of it as the Christians day of worship.
We find the Disciples presumably, in the same "locked" room in Jerusalem, but certainly with less fear and more concern for their futures. This time, Thomas is with them. Notice this about Thomas:
The question is, why did Jesus treat Thomas this way? Before the crucifixion, Jesus was very tolerant for their lack of faith and understanding, He considered their "frame". But now, He must leave them, now He needed people that He could depend on. It appears that Thomas failed even more than the rest, to understand the true nature of Jesus and His mission. Jesus felt that Thomas needed chastising and He wanted to do this in the presence of the other Disciples. But notice how tenderly He did it.
He appears in their midst, as He had done before and immediately puts them at ease much as He had before. "Peace be unto you." Then He singles out Thomas. "Come here Thomas." What thoughts must have gone through the mind of Thomas. For days now, the other Disciples had insisted that He was alive, but still he doubted. Now he stood before the risen Lord. What would he do, what would he say? "Thomas, come here and put your finger on my hand and place your hand in the wound on my side." Surly, by now, Thomas must have known that this was the risen Lord, but Jesus insisted, partly out of rebuke, and partly to dispel his unbelief.
Did it work? Yes, Thomas cried out, "My Lord and my God." Thomas probably did not touch the wounds of Jesus, the sight of them was enough, he believed as Jesus verified in verse 29, "Thomas, you have seen and believed." That Thomas believed that Jesus was the Christ and Savior of the world is borne out in a Gospel according to Thomas, found in the Red Sea Scrolls in 1922. Thomas started his Gospel with this very incident, this was the beginning of Christ's ministry for Thomas.
Thomas finally did what we must all do to receive eternal life:
With this, Jesus declares Thomas to be a believer. Matthew Henry says that sound and sincere believers though they may be slow and weak shall be graciously received by the Lord and shall be given the assurance of it. How do we know that we are saved? Paul says that the lost may not know that they are lost but the saved have the assurance of God. This is what we call a "know so" salvation and Thomas received it and he knew it.
Then Jesus said to Thomas, "You saw me and believed, what about those who will not see me and still believe?" Paul says that this is a demonstration of Divine Grace, the ability to believe by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. For us it is a gift of God.
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