What Thomas said was a different story. We can discuss that another time. I just wish you would stick with what we've been dealing with so far, instead of frequently changing the subject.
Herk,
John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.. . . 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
The thing that Thomas now finally believed and uttered for which he was given such recognition was that Jesus was the one that raised His own body from the grave. (A failure of such recognition would have made him antichrist) Thomas also recognized the divine status of the resurrected Jesus, calling Him his God. Not the God of everyone else as they must come to their own conclusions, but his God because Thomas finally arrived at this fact, seeing with his own eyes the fulfillment of our Lords own prophecy. And to clarify the use of the word God by Thomas verse 31 shows it was not intended to link the Father to the Son as one deity but to identify the Messiah as God to Thomas in His own right but still only the Son of the true God.
This is not as significant as Trinitarians make it out to be because calling humans God was nothing new. The scriptures did this of Moses, prophets and Kings and our Lord used such texts to defend Himself against accusers. But it was the failure of the Apostles at the time and disciples yet to come into the faith to accept this reality visible before Thomas. This is also why John later wrote:
1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
Thomas and the Apostles corrected themselves and accepted such truth but many would not. The Watchtower still will not accept it and is antichrist as a result. They will not recognize that further use of the human body offered in sacrifice does not in any way nullify the sacrifice offered or change such history and was actually authorize well in advance by a commandment no less like this:
John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
For such reasons the prophetic words spoken by the ones dressed in white robes are assured when they said:
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Joseph
