O God, may the
finger of your Spirit stir through the clutter of my words to point to a new
understanding. Amen.
Today’s
reading is one of four post-resurrection stories in the Gospel of John. The
first is the Easter morning narrative, in which Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb
and finds the stone removed. She notifies Peter and the Beloved Disciple, who
then come but leave for their homes. The second story in John’s Gospel relates
the appearance of the risen Jesus to Mary Magdalene. Those two scenes take up
the first 18 verses in chapter 20.
The
next two stories make up the reading for today. The first takes place with the
disciples gathered at a house in the evening of Easter Day in or near Jerusalem,
and there is an appearance of Jesus to his disciples, when Thomas is absent.
The second narrates an appearance of Jesus to his disciples a week later when
Thomas is present. No explanation is given for the gathering of the disciples
but the reason for the disciples to meet behind locked doors is fear. They’re
hiding out because the person they thought would save them has died and they’re
sure their number is up next. They’re lost and they don’t know what to do now.
Jesus
appears in the midst of the disciples and gives them the common Jewish
greeting: “Peace” (or “Shalom”). He identifies himself by showing his hands and
side. The reaction of the disciples is one of rejoicing. A commissioning
follows. Jesus says that he had been sent by God, which leads into the
“Johannine Pentecost”. According to the Fourth Evangelist, the gift of the
Spirit was bestowed on the evening of Easter Day itself, not on Pentecost some
seven weeks later, as others have it. The disciples are immediately
commissioned and given the Spirit as a power that will enable them to witness
to Christ. Then the authorization to forgive sins completes the series of
events on Easter Day.
All
of these events are quite important, but it is the next scene that I’d like to focus
on today. The scene that opens with the disciples gathered again in the house
on the following Sunday, but this time Thomas is present. After Jesus first
appeared to the disciples, they told an absent Thomas that they had seen the
risen Lord. Thomas was emphatic about not believing unless he had the same
experience. When Jesus later comes again to the house where the disciples were
hiding, he invites Thomas to see and touch the wounds in his hands and side. He
does not humiliate Thomas but gives him what he needs. Thomas confesses: “My
Lord and my God!”
The
final verse of the scene is a bit tricky. Jesus’ lays out a final beatitude,
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Is Jesus
rebuking Thomas for not believing without seeing?
But
Thomas didn’t doubt Christ, he doubted his followers. He doubted those that
gave witness to the risen Christ, perhaps because they showed no evidence. Thomas
gets a lot of flak for doubting Jesus’ return, but the rest of the disciples
were no different. They didn’t believe Mary when she announced that she had
seen Jesus. Instead, two of them ran to the tomb to see it with their own eyes.
They didn’t believe Jesus when he appeared to them in the room. They needed him
to show his scars. Even after encountering the risen Christ, they were locking
themselves in a room. Is there any wonder that Thomas didn’t believe them? He had
to ask questions; he had to make sure. So, is Thomas really all that
different from the rest of the disciples?
John
doesn’t say why Thomas isn’t in the room for the initial appearance of Jesus. It
is assumed that Thomas was a doubter and lost his faith when Jesus died on the
cross. But put yourself in Thomas’ shoes. How would you feel after watching
your teacher, mentor, friend die such a gruesome death? Maybe Thomas preferred
to grieve alone so chose not to go to the upper room with the rest of the guys?
What if Thomas, after watching Jesus die on the cross, wasn’t in the room with
the others because he had already gone back to his life? Does that make Thomas
a doubter, or a realist? Thomas has been told by Jesus himself that by seeing
Jesus he has seen God. So, when the disciples tell him three days after the
crucifixion that they have seen Jesus alive, is it any wonder he wants to see
for himself?
He
knows what seeing Jesus means. Seeing Jesus means seeing God. Ah, yes, you
might say, but he doesn't just want to see him, he says he will not believe
until he does see him. But, here again, we see Thomas actually being faithful
to Jesus. Because Jesus has told the disciples, "Beware that you are not
led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and 'The time is
near!' Do not go after them." (Luke 21:8). Thomas will not be led astray.
He's going to test. He must see for himself. After all, seeing is believing. He
must ask questions; he must make sure. Ultimately, Thomas is both the one who
sees and believes that Jesus has risen and the one who has not seen, but
believes beyond seeing that Jesus is Lord.
I
can relate to Thomas. I am a questioner, a doubter. My path to standing here
today is full of doubt, and questions, and searching. I have never stopped
asking questions. Does that make me less faithful to Christ, to God? Some might
say so, but Jesus himself tells us to not accept things on blind faith. Truly,
doubt is the pathway to faith. When we doubt, we probe, question, and search.
Perhaps Thomas started with doubt, but he ended with the greatest testimony of
the disciples, “My Lord and my God!”
In
Thomas, we see the pattern of Christian evangelism established from the
beginning of John’s Gospel. One person encounters Jesus. Then they share their
experience with the next person, who may express some reluctance. Then that
person experiences Jesus on their own and becomes convinced about him and then
shares the news about Jesus with the next person. Andrew tells Peter. Philip
tells Nathanael. The Samaritan woman tells the townspeople. “Come and See” is
the refrain.
With
respect to the witness of the resurrected Jesus, Mary Magdalene starts it off.
She encounters Jesus, shares the news; the others don’t really buy it until
they have their own experiences so that they can own the experience. They
become convinced and then share it with Thomas. Like the other disciples,
Thomas doesn’t come to the fullest faith until he has his own experience. Then
the story moves through the chain, and you and I are up next.
Thomas
makes his confession and, through this text, testifies to us. Now what will we
do? Will we hang in there with some level of interest and commitment until we
encounter Jesus in a way that moves us to the next level? What evidence do we
use to show that there is a risen Christ? If all we do is lock ourselves in
rooms (sanctuaries, churches, institutions), then why would anyone believe that
we have been changed by a miraculous experience? Do we actually believe that
Jesus breathes the Spirit into us, asking to work on being disciples ourselves
and then going into the world to talk about the faith and life we have in
Christ? Or do we prefer to sit in our locked rooms commiserating about what
used to be? If nothing else, I hope that the story of Thomas shows us that
Jesus’ plan is not for us to sit in a locked room by ourselves.
In
the end, it’s not Thomas’s doubting that matters; it’s his believing. Everybody
doubts; not everyone believes. Jesus addresses us who have not been
eyewitnesses to the resurrection. We are also blessed when we believe. As John
affirms, the whole of the gospel is given to us to help us believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and to have new life in his name. If we are
unable to talk openly and clearly about the life Christ has called us to, then
we will never be able to share that message with friends, family, neighbours,
and others that we meet each day. We will be less likely to believe the promise
of new life that Jesus gives us. And we will be unable to share with others why
our faith is meaningful to us.
A
life of discipleship calls us to our own spiritual growth, but also to sharing
that faith. We need to unlock the doors and stop hiding in familiar spaces
hoping the rest of the world won’t bother us. If we take resurrection
seriously, then we need to boldly and faithfully walk into the world knowing
that God is waiting for us, working with us, and blessing us as we minister to
all of God’s creation. And we need to trust in the promise that God has already
brought us into a new life.
I
pray that we become a believing Thomas. That while we may start in doubt, we
become awestruck and moved to proclaim to world “My Lord and my God!”
Amen
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