John 20:19-31
Last week we heard the resurrection
account from the Gospel of John.
The Gospel of John, is clearly the most theologically imbued
Gospel. It contains a high
“Christology” meaning that Jesus is already portrayed throughout the Gospel as
the risen Son of God. I know,
Christology, is a seminary SAT word, that’s used by seminary professors and
their students who want to do well in their classes. And it’s a good one.
It’s what makes John such an endearing Gospel to read, remember and
quote. Jesus say’s I am the vine
and you are the branches, I am the resurrection and the life, and I am the good
shepherd. After reading the Gospel
of John there is no doubt for us contemporaries that Jesus is the way, the
truth, and the life. But one
disciple, Thomas, had a few doubts, let’s hear now the story from John the 20th
chapter….
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.’ After
he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed
on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of
any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was
not with them when Jesus came. 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.’
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.’ 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.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ 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.’
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book. 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.
It’s too bad that Thomas didn’t have
this Gospel in his back pocket to pull out and read when he doubted that Jesus
was really, none other than his Jesus, now risen. Throughout time a lot has been written about this doubting
Thomas. In fact in beginning to
study this scripture I went to “Text Week”, a reliable source for
commentary. I discovered there
were 25 historical commentaries and 135 contemporary commentaries and articles
written about Thomas. So I escaped out of the website quickly totally
overwhelmed. Let’s just say to
begin Thomas had a few qualms about who Jesus really was. Was this man who
claims to be Jesus for real? So he
had a few doubts. Your doubts, my
doubts, Thomas’ doubts, ok...most of us have doubts at some time or another.
There is so much more that is happening
in this passage that begs our close reflection however. It still had not been twenty four hours
since Mary Magdalene stood weeping at the empty tomb and Jesus, disguised as
the gardener, appears to her. Then
she understands so she does as he requests and tells the disciples that she has
seen her Lord. They didn’t know
what to do and they needed some time to process what had just happened over
this particular Passover.
A joyful procession, anxiety in
Jerusalem, an intimate meal, betrayal, denial, whipping and weeping, death and
then this resurrection. That was
their week. It is no wonder that
they are hole up in a house with the doors locked because of their disbelief at
everything that happened and their fears of a few religious leaders.
Just when the disciples didn’t know
what to do next after Jesus resurrection, they decide to do nothing and to stay
behind a locked door. Why take a
chance on the unknown? It’s so
much easier and safer to stick together as a tight little group. Yet it’s Jesus who comes to them and
shows them what to do next. It’s Jesus who lifts them up and instills the
spirit within them.
That familiar, strong and calming
voice. Perhaps it sounded like a
mother’s lullaby, or a favorite hymn from your childhood, or like a much loved
story told to you over and over even though you know the end, or even a voice
calling for the sea to stop raging.
It was calm. In those four
words, ‘Peace be with you’, Jesus is really saying, be still, be calm, relax,
let your fear and doubts melt away, let the wholeness of my love reside in your
heart. He is saying I am with
you. I will not fail you. Trust in me. I will walk next to you wherever you want and need to
go. I’ll be by your side even on
those roads that you really shouldn’t be going down. I’ll manage to get in when the doors have been closed and
locked up tight.
Jesus shows them his wounds and again
says, “Peace be with you. God has
sent me, so now I’m sending you.”
He breathes on them the divine breath of God and at once they are filled
with the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives
them his peace, he commissions them for greater work and he empowers them to go
out and do this work.
But unfortunately Thomas wasn’t there
for this Jesus sighting, he didn’t see the scars that the others saw. Too bad because we know that second hand
stories, particularly miraculous events kind of stories never quite pull the
same punch. A week later when they
all were gathered in that house again with the door shut tight, at an opportune
moment, Jesus comes to them.
Thomas was with them this time with all of his doubts.
But Jesus didn’t tell Thomas off, or
give him a good talking to, no reprimands, chastisements, or sarcasm. Simply he says, “Peace” like he did the
first time he came to the others and allows Thomas all the time and evidence
that he needs to come around and believe like the rest of them.
As I want to reflect on this passage
this morning, it’s not so much about Thomas and his doubts and fears. He’s human just like us and we all live
with our doubts and fears. It’s
really about Jesus. It’s about his
tenacity to find us in our deepest, most locked away places. Those places where we shut him and
everyone else out rather than let them in. It is about his persistent love and his ability to be
incredibly patient with our human quirks, our less than desirable habits, or
our want or need to keep him at arms length. It’s about Jesus’ ability to transform the fears of our
living, the questions of our faith and his ability to open us to his presence
and to help us emerge from those places of doubt. I don’t know about you but that’s the kind of Jesus I want.
Behind closed doors is a phrase that
gets kicked around a lot but I think we know those doors all too well. They are
those closed doors that we stand behind trembling with fear, hiding like an
animal from its predators. And
we’ve all been there.
We’ve all sat behind doors that have
shut out the world to our inner workings, the messy and fearful closets of our
souls. But also the joy of
friendship and compassion. We’ve
all huddled behind locked doors and have shut out those whom we dislike, or
even those whom we love. Why do we
do this? What is there to
hide? More importantly what is
there to fear? Are we afraid that
we will be harmed? Are we afraid
that we will have to change? You
know when we lock ourselves in we are also locking other people out. And that is tragic.
It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote,
“He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear.”[i] Living life means there will surely
always be something to fear..the economy, illness, yourself, the other. Or maybe this, if you have never
encountered fear then perhaps you have never pushed yourself to the unlimited
possibilities of your life.
It was so wonderful last week to have a
packed sanctuary. There were old
friends and strangers; there were acquaintances and families from afar.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were like that every week? The energy was electrifying and the
smiles on people’s faces were bright as the sun. The spirit of God was alive
and well at OCC. Thank goodness
our doors were open and we were not sitting inside here with the lights off and
the doors closed amid fear Thank
goodness our hearts were open to accept those who sat in your unofficial but
assigned seats!
But what will happen in a few short
weeks? Will we go back to the same
old ways, the same old fears? Will
we settle down again into the same pews, the same rut, the same way of dong
things behind the sanctuary doors?
Thank goodness God doesn’t let us alone
but persistently and consistently figures out how to enter in and grants us
that peace which passes all of our human intelligence and understanding.
God moves us. God readies us and equips us with the Holy Spirit to
worship, to live our lives faithfully, to witness love eternal and to serve
others and work towards justice and peace. True discipleship is risky business yet we must live our
faith and our doubts courageously.
May the doors to this sanctuary, this sacred place swing wide open so
that you can embrace this broken world and each and every person who enters
it.
May that same Spirit who was breathed
on the disciples behind their closed door light upon us to comfort and energize
us for what the future holds for we are an Easter people.
Amen.
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