“My Lord and My God”: The Divine Confession of Thomas in John 20:28
Introduction
John 20:28 captures one of the most profound confessions of Jesus’ divinity in the New Testament:
“And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”
Greek: ὁ Κύριός μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου (ho Kyrios mou kai ho Theos mou)
This powerful declaration by Thomas after encountering the risen Christ stands as a cornerstone for the Christian doctrine of Jesus’ divinity. Some skeptics attempt to downplay this verse, arguing it’s not a direct address to Jesus, or that it’s merely an exclamation. However, a closer linguistic, textual, and theological examination confirms that Thomas was indeed directly identifying Jesus as both Lord and God.
A Scriptural Parallel: Psalm 35:23 LXX
Interestingly, the Greek phrase in John 20:28 closely mirrors the wording of Psalm 35:23 (LXX):
ὁ Θεός μου καὶ ὁ Κύριός μου
“My God and my Lord”
The similarities are striking, with the only difference being the reversal of the order of the titles God and Lord. While Thomas might not have been aware that he’s quoting Psalm 35:23 directly, the parallelism strongly suggests a theological resonance between the two passages. Importantly, reversing the order of phrases or clauses was a common and accepted literary device in Jewish writings of the time.
As Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner point out in their commentary on 1 Corinthians, such alterations were “an accepted part of citation technique in antiquity” (The First Letter to the Corinthians, p. 127). A clear example of this occurs when comparing For example, compare 1 Corinthians 2:9, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard…” and Isaiah 64:4, “we have not heard, neither have our eyes seen…”
Linguistic Note: Nominative Case as Vocative
A common objection raised by skeptics is that the words “ὁ Κύριός μου” and “ὁ Θεός μου” are in the nominative case, not the vocative, which is typically used when directly addressing someone. Therefore, the claim is made that Thomas may not have been speaking directly to Jesus.
Apart from the fact that the text literally says, “Thomas said to Him…”, this objection misunderstands Greek grammar. In Koine Greek, the nominative form is frequently used as a vocative, especially with nouns such as “Lord” (κύριος) and “God” (θεός), which often retain their nominative forms when used in address. This is seen clearly in several other New Testament passages:
John 13:13 – “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.” (Lord = nominative used vocatively)
Mark 15:34 – “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (θεός used in nominative form but clearly vocative)
Revelation 4:11 – “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power…” (κύριος again used vocatively in nominative form)
Thus, grammatical form alone does not invalidate the direct address to Jesus in John 20:28.