Some have believed that Thomas is calling Jesus his God in this verse.
Joh 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Is Jesus the God of Thomas? Let’s look at some context and further verses. 11 verses earlier when speaking to Mary Magdelene he tells her who her God is. Jesus said:
Joh 20:17 … I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
His God was his father, and he is telling us that his God is also Mary’s God. Mary’s God was also his father. If Jesus was the God of Mary why would he not say so? Is Mary’s God a father, son and holy spirit? No. Jesus is telling her that her God is a father. And that her father is the God of Christ also. And Christ tells her that he is her brother.
When we look at Christ we can see the father through Christ. Is Christ the father? Let’s read this carefully.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Joh 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
Christ when speaking of the father says “I speak not of myself”. In other words “I am not the father, the father is someone else”.
We can see the “glory of the father” in his only begotten son. But Christ is not the father, and also not God. Jesus when talking to his father refers to his father as “the only true God”.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
In this verse again with a careful eye we see that God sent Christ and Christ is clearly not the only true God but someone entirely different from God. Let’s go further. Let’s see what Paul says about our Lord and our God:
1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
This verse does not teach that we have “One God the father, son and holy spirit”. This verse talks about 2 beings. God our father and Jesus our Lord.
Joh 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord(Jesus) and my God(your father and my father, your God and my God).(brackets added).
Thomas is speaking to Christ and honoring the father and son in this verse. Christ is never identified as the eternal God except when he comes in Jehovah’s name as the mediator of Jehovah.
Joh 5:43 I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
Many believe Christ is identified as “God” in John 20:28 and that Christ is also “God” and therefore came in his own name, received nothing from his father, but possessed it of himself as a co-eternal, co-equal and was not given all power and authority in heaven and earth but was actually the almighty one himself.
Here are a few greetings from some of the apostles. Let’s look at who is listed as “God” and “Lord” in these verses. And these are only some of them.
Gal 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
2Jn 1:3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
And I by no means am exhausting this topic. There is one God the father, and by beholding Christ we have seen the father.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Now some are saying that we should call Christ “God”. And I believe it is ok to refer to him as “God” when referring to his nature. The bible says he “was in the form of God”(Phi 2:5). He was fully God in respect to his nature and substance which he received by inheritance. This was something that the father gave to the son.
But in regards to his identity he says we are his “brethren”(John 20:17). And that his God is a “father” and so in regards to the identity of Christ he is “the son of God”. Christ is not the son of himself, nor is he part of a co-eternal, co-equal trinity.
Will we confess Jesus Christ is God? The bible doesn’t teach that:
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Will you confess that Jesus is “Lord” or “God”? And the glory goes to “God the father” not “God the trinity”. This is the theme of the bible. And though this answer is not a simple 2 second yes or no to this verse I believe that God has a reason so that we might get to know him more closely and the controversy makes us dig to get the treasures of this truth about the father and son.
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