2nd Sunday of Easter - John 20:19-31
John 20:19-30
[19] On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." [20] When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. [21] Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." [22] And 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 withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld." [24] Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, 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 in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe." [26] Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, 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; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, 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 believed." [30] Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; [31] but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
[A Sermon Preached on Vicarage]
"My Lord and my God!" The words of Thomas are all too familiar as Jesus presents to him his nail pierced hands and his spear pierced side. At this moment, he realizes that the once dead Jesus is now right here, in the flesh, breathing, and offering him to touch and believe. Jesus’ promise that he would rebuild the temple, that is, his body, came true.
Christ is risen, …. He is risen indeed.
"Let us also go, that we may die with him!" Whose words are these? Maybe they are of bold Peter, the disciple who goes leaves the boat to walk on water. Or maybe they are of John, the loved disciple. What about Matthew who left his former life to follow Jesus? Nope, none of these. They are the words of Thomas. Thomas? The same Doubting Thomas? Yep. In John 11, Thomas is determined and ready to give up his life for this carpenter from Nazareth. He is ready to march into Jerusalem with Jesus and receive whatever fate that will come his way. However, this willingness and enthusiasm to die with him later turned to doubt.
We know this from the story how Jesus appeared to the other disciples through locked doors. He showed them his nail pierced hands and spear pierced side. His resurrection was and is real. Jesus was delivering on His promises. In John 16, Jesus tells his disciples, "I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” That was Jesus promise to those disciples fulfilled.
But Thomas was not there in the room when Christ first appeared to the disciples. And he would was not about to have the wool pulled over his eyes. He would not believe it unless he saw it himself. Some might be saying, "Oh that doubting Thomas, why couldn't he just believe!?" He says, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe." He is the skeptic of the twelve. After all, that is what we have often dubbed him. Thomas always gets the bad rap out of the twelve disciples. But in light of his willingness recorded in chapter 11, would not most if not all of the disciples reacted in the same way. Maybe John is making a point here that even one of the most brazen of the disciples also had fallen short in trusting Jesus' promise to return. Maybe John is making the point that even Thomas fell into doubting God’s promises.
What about us? Do we not as well, filled with enthusiasm for the Lord's work soon find ourselves doubting God’s promises? His promises that His Word will not come back void. His promises that He will be with us each step of the way. All too often I have felt a great zeal to serve in some capacity only to find it fading into doubt and unbelief nearly a minute later. Why is that? Well, it's my reality after all. The reality of my brokenness and sinfulness that I know tells me that I can't actually follow through on this. I can't actually believe that it is going to happen. My reality tells me that I can't. The reality that I know from other people tells me that many times promises do not come true. It seems like reality is always against us.
Reality told Thomas that a man can't raise from the dead. His reality told him that this Jesus whom he was once ready to die with was still dead. The world tells us the same thing. We often say we need to see him for ourselves, then we'll really believe. How often do we feel as though we need to touch his wounds, then, oh then, we'll have faith! We'll have faith that he can use us for his service. Oh doubting Thomas, Oh doubting us!
But the reality that Thomas knew is blown away. Jesus is The Reality. He is from eternity, He is God in the flesh. He stretches out His hands and reveals his side for Thomas to touch and believe. Resurrection is the Reality. It's not a simple spiritual resurrection, it's a bodily one, real one. Jesus is in the flesh, he's breathing, he's eating, He's Alive! Death has no dominion over Him. Believe Thomas, touch and believe. In fact we do not even know if Thomas ever touched Jesus' wounds. But Jesus offers him the objective truth of his Resurrection. The Reality is that Jesus lives.
Jesus blows our reality away with His as well. He says, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." That is what faith is, believing without seeing. We have been given the faith to believe on him; to believe that His promises are true; to believe that his promise of resurrection is true for us as well.
Yet, as long as we are in this age, we are still saint and sinner. We often find doubts assailing us and wish to see Jesus with our own eyes; to throw our hands into his side. Jesus showed up and offered to let Thomas touch his wounds and see Him. So what about us? Does He allow us to touch and believe?
YES! Jesus instituted two means of God's grace that we could touch, feel and taste to give us certainty of God's promises to us. In Baptism, He allows us to feel the waters washing over our heads as the Word works to forgive sins and include us in His Kingdom. As we taste the bread and wine, His very body and blood are there, in, with and under those elements, forgiving sins and strengthening faith. We have a taste of the Resurrection which is now given to us through the Holy Spirit. He does let us touch and believe.
The Reality is that Christ is risen…He is Risen indeed. This reality comes to us when gathered around Word and Sacrament.
Paul see's this reality as he quotes in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." While in prison, he realizes that no matter what the circumstances, Christ's reality trumps all of mankind's rationale. Our Faith is not based on our daily circumstances of this world, but rather on the reality of Christ crucified and risen for sinners. He is the one who turns our weaknesses into strength. Our faith is based not in ourselves (not even our ability to believe strongly enough - That is still a work), but in God's truthful promises! Christ Jesus is the faithful one who grants us faith.
His Reality is now our Reality through Baptism. Since we have died with Christ we will certainly be raised with Him as well. His reality tells us that we are His workmanship, created in Christ to do those things which He has prepared in advance for us to do. Our realities are drastically changed by Jesus.
There will be a day when every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That is Jesus promise to you and me. We, as Christians, look forward to see the reality of Christ’s Resurrection made known and established throughout the universe. As His children bought with a price, may we in joy exclaim those words of Thomas, "My Lord and my God!"
