Second Sunday of Easter, April 28, 2019
Gospel: 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.
Dear Friends,
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
It occurred to me that that is a strange thing to say if what you wanted to know is if he had wounds in his side and hands. Wouldn’t the appropriate acclamation be “Yep, he has wounds consistent with a crucifixion!”? And what about his feet? Why aren’t those noted? And he has breath but appeared out of thin air with locked doors. None of those things is consistent with life or death, so this is something spiritual.
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
This is Thomas’ statement of faith in the person of Jesus Christ to him. It is a personal confession of belief. Suddenly he is as good as the disciple Jesus loved who ran to the tomb and looked in and saw…saw… nothing! By the time his gospel was written there was no one who had been an eye witness to Jesus’ appearances. The author and his community were wrestling with the fact that they believed in the Messiah without having witnessed him in person. This is their story for us. “We believe,” they shout from the pages. “We hope you don’t need to see either.”
Peace to you, Keith
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