What does John 20:26 mean?
After Jesus was crucified, both His empty tomb and resurrected Person were seen alive by several of His followers (John 20:1–18; Luke 24:10–11; 23–24). Most of the disciples resisted that truth until Jesus appeared, miraculously, inside a locked room (John 20:19–23). One of inner circle, Thomas, had not been there. He not only refused to believe what had happened, he made an exaggerated demand. Unless he could stick his fingers into Jesus' crucifixion wounds, he wouldn't believe (John 20:24–25).As He did in His prior appearance, Jesus again passes through a locked door and declares "peace" to the disciples. Most likely, this caused some of the same emotions as His last visit.
This time, however, Jesus will confront Thomas and his overblown, exaggerated demand. Thomas demanded an absurd level of proof before he would believe—now Jesus is graciously offering what Thomas said he wanted. Scripture does not explicitly say that Thomas touched Jesus in response to this, but it does indicate he responded to Christ's appearance with belief (John 20:27–28).