The Grands Letter (John/GLJ)
Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D. on August 22, 2025 5:08 am (CST)Dear Grands,
John 20:21-28, “So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Following Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, He was preparing for His return to the Father in Heaven. All of the disciples were present, except for Thomas. Jesus would not leave His disciples without the spiritual guidance they would need to continue His work on the earth. The guidance He had always given them would now be left to the control of the Holy Spirit. So, when Thomas returned to the group, they shared with him that they had seen the LORD. Still, Thomas would not believe until Jesus revealed Himself to him. Thomas’s response was then exuberant: “My LORD and my God!”
If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and LORD, His Holy Spirit resides within you. He is then your comforter and guide. If you have not received the LORD Jesus, you are without the help you sorely need. Trust Him today! There’s no friend like Jesus!
Heartily in Christ,
Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
United States of America
“We will never know that Christ is all we need
Until He becomes all that we have.”
–Corrie ten Boom
