What is the stand of the JW on the testimony of the doubting Thomas, when, after putting his hands in the wounds of Jesus, exclaimed, My Lord and My God. Catholics often point to that as confirmation of the divinity of Jesus.
John 20:28
While you wait for Logically to respond, as he is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I can answer from my personal experience with them. I was never technically a Witness, but I did grow up with them and went to their meetings a lot as a youth. An extended member of my family used to care for me and took me to their meetings and would study their publications with me against my parents repeated wishes. (I don’t believe that last part is indicative of normal JW practice, in fact I am sure it isn’t, but this JW relative believed Satan was blinding our minds because we were Jewish and felt called by God to “save us.” Any-who…)
How do Jehovah’s Witnesses explain John 20:28 in the light of the fact that they do not believe that Jesus is God?
Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that there is no objection to referring to Jesus as “God,” since Christ occupies a position far higher than mortals often referred to in Scripture as “gods.” (John 10:34, 35; Psalm 82:1-6). At John 1:18 Jesus is referred to as “the only Son, God" or "the only-begotten God” and at Isaiah 9:6 he is prophetically described as the “Mighty God.” In Watchtower theology none of these mean that Jesus is one and the same as God. And Jehovah’s Witnesses also point out there is a difference between someone who is “mighty” and the One referred to as the
Almighty God.
Jehovah’s Witnesses also claim that Thomas had regularly heard Jesus address the Father in prayer as “the only true God.” (John 17:3) Though there is no definitive Scriptural evidence to support this, Witnesses also claim that Thomas had unquestionably and without a doubt heard the report from Jesus after his resurrection in which Jesus had said: “I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” (John 20:17) “How can God have himself as a God?” they ask.*
Because of the contextual proximity of verse 20:28 to these recorded events in the Gospel of John, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach it is incorrect to read Thomas’ exclamation independent of them. They also point out the contextual proximity of the following statement: “these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.”–John 20:31a.
The Semitic (Hebrew) word “son” means more than a male offspring. It often means “one and the same as,” and is often used this way in the Gospels (“sons of vipers,” Matthew 23:33; “sons of thunder,” Mark 3:17; “son of peace,” Luke 10:6; “son of perdition/destruction,” John 17:12). However Jehovah’s Witnesses dismiss that the Semitic definition of “son” can be applied to Jesus in John 20:31, and that this verse, following Thomas’ exclamation is stating that Jesus is the offspring or creation of God. In other words, despite what one might conclude after reading Thomas’ words, the context and the statement of John 20:31 (as long as “son” is read in the English-language sense) cannot be taken at literal face value.
They state that “if anyone has concluded from Thomas’ exclamation that Jesus is himself ‘the only true God’ or that Jesus is a Trinitarian ‘God the Son,’ he needs to look again at what Jesus himself said (vs. 17) and at the conclusion that is clearly stated by the apostle John (vs. 31).”–Watchtower publication
Reasoning from the Scriptures, pp. 212-213.
*In answer to this question, the first-century Christians did not immediately understand Jesus as God, let alone that he was truly risen at the moment Jesus makes this statement to Mary Magdalene at John 20:17. Jesus’ statement, “My Father and your Father…my God and your God” is idiomatic, implying kinship in worship. A similar idiom occurs by the Moabite Ruth at Ruth 1:16: “Your people shall be my people and your God, my God.” The expression means “we are spiritual brethren,” and Jesus’ was using it to highlight not only his relationship to the Father, but the new one that now existed between Jesus and his disciples and the disciples and God. Jesus’ and his followers were now spiritual brethren on a higher level than before, soon to be begotten by the Spirit of the same Father. It should be of interest that it is only after this that Thomas says to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” (20:28) Instead of the context suggesting that the use of the word “son” in the concluding words of John 20:31 are not Semitic in meaning, the opposite is true. Thomas receives the Epiphany that Jesus is God in the flesh, not merely a son of God like the angels, but the Son of God, in the sense that “son” means “one and the same as.”
