Do you ever feel like Thomas?

Jann Martin April 3, 2005

click for printable version

John 20:19-31

Gospel Lesson

¹⁹ That evening, on the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! "Peace be with you," he said. ²⁰ As he spoke, he held out his hands for them to see, and he showed them his side. They were filled with joy when they saw their Lord! ²¹ He spoke to them again and said, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." ²² Then he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you refuse to forgive them, they are unforgiven."

²⁴ One of the disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. ²⁵ They told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he replied, "I won't believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side."

²⁶ Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. He said, "Peace be with you." ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe!"

²⁸ "My Lord and my God!" Thomas exclaimed.

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anyway."

³⁰ Jesus' disciples saw him do many other miraculous signs besides the ones recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life.

This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

It was the evening of Jesus' resurrection. Mary had told the disciples that she had seen and talked to Jesus. After supper, the disciples were gathered with the doors locked, because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. They were probably meeting to pray and to possibly discuss the news that Mary had given them, that Jesus was alive. What were they to do next? All of a sudden, Jesus was standing there with them. He said to them, "Peace be with you!" He then showed them His hands and side. Can you imagine the emotions they must have felt in seeing and knowing that Jesus was not dead and that He had joined them once again? The air must have felt electric. Jesus had told them he would be gone a little while but then would return. But their only experience with death was that it was final and you didn't see your loved one again. They had seen His lifeless body and were trying to deal with their loss when He appeared before them. It must have been like a reunion with a loved one after a difficult separation. When Jim, who at the time was my fiancé, returned from Viet Nam, he had come home a week earlier than we had expected. He came to the school where I was doing student teaching. The Special Education Teacher had him wait in her office while she came out to the playground where I was with the children. When she opened the door to her office Jim was standing there and I almost flew across the room into his arms. I felt relief that he was safely home, joy at seeing him again and peace that my prayers had been answered. The disciples must have felt some of the same emotions, relief that Jesus wasn't dead, joy at seeing Him again, but also wonder and amazement that what He had predicted had come true. I can imagine they were all trying to talk at once asking questions and trying to make sense of the last few days.

Then He once again said "Peace be with you!" He said that the Father had sent Him to do His ministry and that He, Jesus was now sending them to continue His work. He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you refuse to forgive them, they are unforgiven." The first time God breathed on man was when He created Adam giving him life. Now with this breath from Jesus, God gives us an eternal spiritual life. Jesus tells them that they are to tell the people to whom they minister that their sins are forgiven. The disciples are not able to forgive the sins but they can tell the people that God will forgive their sins if they accept Jesus and His message. This gift of the Holy Spirit has been passed down to each of us, and we too can tell others that they will have their sins forgiven if they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

This first appearance of Jesus after His resurrection marks the beginning of the church. The people were gathered in prayer, and then the risen Christ was among them. God had sent Him to give His message to the world, now Jesus was sending the disciples to tell the world of the forgiveness of sins, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Our church is no different from that first church. We are rooted in Christ and have the gift of the Holy Spirit, which enables us to spread the story of Christ. We also have some of the same problems they had, such as attracting new members, keeping old ones, and motivating the members of the congregation to participate in the many different ministries of the congregation. A church congregation is different from other social groups because its origin is divine. It is the call and commission of Christ that is important not the success or failure of the congregation. We are, however, as a child of God with the gift of the Holy Spirit, called to share His message with all we come in contact with.

The following Sunday Jesus came to the disciples once again. He again said "Peace be with you!" when he appeared to them. This time Thomas, who was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared the first time, was there to witness the risen Christ. Thomas had told the disciples that he wouldn't believe that Christ had risen from the Dead until he could touch His hands and side. When Jesus appeared, He came over to Thomas saying, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe!" "My Lord and my God!" Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anyway."

Do you ever feel like Thomas? Do you ever wish you could reach out and touch Jesus? I remember hearing of a little child telling his father that he wished Jesus would put skin on so he could be held by Him. Do you ever wish you could be cradled in His arms? Do you ever wish you could sit down, have a conversation with Him and be really sure you are hearing His words in reply? When we pray, we are talking with Him, but it's sometimes hard to be sure we are hearing His reply correctly. We do have Him present with us with His gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is in each of us, ready to guide us whenever we turn to Him. We can find His answers to us in the pages of His word in the Bible.

When Paul preached about Jesus' resurrection, he was met with laughs and disbelief. We still run into the same problems he did in sharing this wonderful story. Paul told of the resurrection as Jesus return in a new body, a spiritual body. He spoke of it as of a seed that is planted and then it grows in a new form. Jesus body was a physical mortal body and now it is an immortal spiritual body.

With Jesus' resurrection, we have hope and can handle the difficulties that life hands us. We can do this because we know the end of the story. We know that there is eternal life with Christ in heaven if we only accept Him and His gift of forgiveness.

Jesus wasn't hard on Thomas for his doubting. He won't be hard on us either. Doubts can be good; they can lead to questioning, then searching and studying. Through this, we can find answers, belief and a stronger faith.

Amen.

©Jann Martin 2005