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.
(This is the sermon "as written." I 'ad-libbed' quite a bit at the end.)
"Have you believed because you
have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to
believe."
· Let’s “wonder together” for a bit.
· Have you ever wondered what you would do in Thomas’ place? Would
you dive into belief despite the clear evidence of the death of Jesus?
· Have you ever wondered if we are too quick to blame Thomas for a
natural human reaction to the news of the resurrection of Jesus? How would any
of us react? Would we run to the tomb to see for ourselves? Would we sit and
sulk? Would we laugh it off or say “That’s not funny!” to the person carrying
the news?
· Have you ever wondered what Thomas felt when he finally saw Jesus?
Did he feel joy? Did he say the Biblical equivalent of ‘Well, I’ll be a
monkey’s uncle!’? Was he too stunned to speak? He did not even ask for the proof
he originally said he wanted.
· Have you ever wondered how the other disciples took what Thomas
said: 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.
Were they angry? Frustrated? Hurt? I find it interesting that Thomas remained
part of the community of the disciples of Jesus. He was not thrown out despite
his obvious scepticism about the Resurrection.
· Have you ever wondered why John included this incident in his
Gospel? He takes pains to have his readers understand why he is writing - 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.
Maybe there were those in the church John knew who did not believe in the
resurrection or had questions and needed something more. The example of Thomas
– who in another place suggests that the disciples follow Jesus to Lazarus’
burial place that we may die with him. (John 11:16) – could sooth
troubled consciences of those who wondered. There is no condemnation or shaming
of those who wonder, only an urging to believe, even if it is a process of
coming to faith. John says to his readers that you may come to believe
which sounds like a word to those who do not believe or do not believe
completely as yet.
· Faith for John might be more of a way of following than an instant
decision. People have to “come to” faith. In John’s Gospel, Nicodemus, the
woman-at-the-well, and the man-born-blind all came to believe through questions
and an experience of Jesus.
· We have questions, even today. Many of our question are answered
or at least acknowledged by the Gospels, all four of which were written so
that you may come to believe. We can have an experience of Jesus
through faith, through the community of believers, and through both Word and
Sacrament. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus even says that we and believers
like us are given a gift: Have you believed because you have seen
me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.
· In the first letter of John, the author writes to his readers we
declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship
with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus
Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
It appears that unity among the disciples of Christ was important.
· So we wonder… and we believe… and we gather in the name of Jesus
to celebrate what he has done for us and to support each other in faith. We
might even take some comfort and encouragement in the fact that John was
writing his Gospel with us in mind. Maybe not “us” individually, but “us” as
believers yet to come, people who would come to faith without seeing the nail
wounds and touching the spear wound in Jesus’ side.
"Have you believed because you
have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to
believe."
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