John
20:19-31
19 When it was evening on that day, the first
day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were
locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
"Peace be with you." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands
and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said
to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send
you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 24 But
Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when
Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the
Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in
his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side,
I will not believe." 26 A week later his disciples were again in the
house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and
stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to
Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and
put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28 Thomas answered him,
"My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed
because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come
to believe." 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that
you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that
through believing you may have life in his name.
"Unless I see
the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails
and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
·
When we get to this Sunday after
Easter, we always hear this passage about Thomas. I think Thomas gets the short
end of the stick all the time. He gets called “Doubting Thomas”, which is true
in the start of the story, but he ends as a believer. And not just a believer
in the Resurrection but in all that it means. He doesn’t just say “Jesus! It’s
you!”; he says “My Lord and my God!”
·
First, Thomas reacts to the news of
the Resurrection exactly as the rest of the disciples did. We heard on Easter
Sunday how the disciples did not believe Mary Magdalene’s news. Now they
believe when they encounter Jesus. When the news comes to any of them, Mary
included, confusion reigns. It is only when they encounter Jesus that things
become clearer.
·
What strikes us is the conditions set
by Thomas: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my
finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not
believe."
·
Thomas appears to be setting terms.
He won’t believe unless he gets to experience the Risen Christ in a very
particular manner.
·
What we would call “doubt” in Thomas
is not that unusual. We want to know; we want to be sure. We want to
have faith and we want to have it our own way.
·
Do you ever wonder if we set
conditions for faith… much like Thomas did?
·
Do we say “I’ll believe when the time
is right.” Or “I’ll believe if you do this for me, God.”? Do we set conditions
like “… as long as it doesn’t take too much of my time.” Or “… if I can be
known as a good, upstanding person.”?
·
There have been people who follow
Jesus only because it makes a good show, or because it makes them appear to
their neighbors as a person of high moral standards and integrity. There have
also been those who make a show of following Jesus in order to get ahead;
history abounds with such stories.
·
When we look at the narration of
people coming to believe in the Resurrection, there is a common thread, one
beyond the presence of Jesus that is built on his presence.
·
Mary encountered the Risen Christ and
believed. She told the others and when they had encountered the Risen Jesus,
they believed. So did Thomas, despite his pre-conditions… which Jesus was ready
to fulfill, by the way: "Put your finger here and see my
hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but
believe."
·
Didn’t we all encounter Jesus in a
similar way? Weren’t we somehow invited to “Come and see.” I’ve never met him
face to face (that I know of, anyway), but I have encountered him – in his
Word, in his Supper, in his forgiveness, in his disciples... in you! That’s
every bit as real as putting my hand in his side and my finger in the nail
marks. Who knows? Maybe that’s how we know him when we meet him.
·
So what pre-conditions has Jesus set
for us? What requirements has he laid out for faith? What will the saving grace
of the Cross cost us?
·
The answer is as it always has been –
nothing. Grace costs us nothing. If it were not free, it would not be grace. If
it were deserved, it would not be free.
·
There are two very hopeful parts to
this Gospel passage. First, Thomas doubts and he believes. We all doubt and we
believe, limping and sore as our faith might be. We believe and we believe we
will encounter Jesus, just as we are and just where we are.
·
Second, what does Jesus tell Thomas? "Have
you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have come to believe."
·
Those words were written for us and
about us and to us. Just as faith is possible for us, so is a meeting with the
Risen Christ which will leave us amazed and without words, except for “My
Lord and my God!”
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