Easter 2B
John 20:19-31
Doubting Thomas
Welcome to Doubting Thomas Sunday. This message is not really about Thomas. Or about doubt.
Our reading begins with the disciples hiding in a locked room on the day Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus appeared to them, showed them his wounded hands and side, and their fear turned to joy. Famously, Thomas was absent and found it difficult to believe what the other disciples told him. He wanted to see for himself. Eight days later, on the first day of the week, on what came to be known as the Lord’s Day, Jesus came and repeated the appearance, this time with Thomas present. That did the trick. Thomas believed.
The Wesley Study Bible suggests that the story of “doubting Thomas” should really be known as the story of “absent Thomas.” Thomas didn’t doubt more than the other disciples. Matthew and Luke both report widespread doubts on Easter Sunday. Thomas just didn’t’ happen to be present in the assembly the first time that Jesus appeared. When Thomas had the same experience of Jesus’ risen presence as the other disciples, like them he believed. If Thomas had been present in the assembly on the previous Sunday, there’s no reason to think that he wouldn’t have been overjoyed with the rest of the disciples.
So don’t miss church. Jesus might show up. In fact I’m pretty sure he will.
The section concludes with Jesus asking Thomas, “Do you believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” This is the situation of John’s audience, and it is our situation as well. John is confident that when Jesus’ story is told, it will create life-giving faith.
Seeing and Believing
It’s hard to fault Thomas for wanting to see for himself. We simultaneously live in an age of both extreme skepticism and extreme credulity.
On one hand, there is the scientific, rationalistic mindset that has permeated our culture for the last three hundred years. What’s true? Only what you can prove.
On the other hand, there’s the internet.
People believe all sorts of crazy stuff that gets posted on the internet. Conspiracy theories abound. Politicians try to spin the truth. Scammers try to trick us into believing things that aren’t true so that they can steal from us. Marketers manipulate our beliefs, emotions, and attitudes. We can’t even trust our own eyes. Artificial intelligence can create deep fake videos.
How can we tell if the gospel is misinformation? How do we know if it is fake news? Evidently, John thought that there was something compelling about the story of Jesus itself. As he brings the gospel to a close, he says
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31
John breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to us, the readers. He writes so that you might have faith, that you might believe, that you might have life.
This passage is is not about Thomas. It’s about you and me. And it’s not about doubt. It is about life-giving faith. Last week we read about the women who left the empty tomb in fear and confusion. This week we read that Thomas wanted unassailable evidence. Doubt is natural. Faith is a gift.
Thomas and the other disciples saw Jesus in bodily form. They even saw his wounds. If only there was a way for us to see his broken but living body, to hold it in our hands and experience it for ourselves. Maybe there is.
When we assemble on the first day of the week, our Lord shows us his broken body in broken bread . He makes himself known as the gospel is read and proclaimed. Our risen Lord comes to us word and sacrament by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Fulfillment of a Promise
If you were to read the entire Gospel of John in one sitting, you would quickly see that Jesus was keeping the promises that he made to his disciples on the night before he died. In chapters 14-17 of John’s gospel, we read that Jesus promised to come back to the disciples (14:18, 16:22), and here he is, in a locked room no less (20:19). He promised them that their grief would turn to joy (16:23), and that’s exactly what happened (20:20). He said that he would leave his peace with them, and he announces peace when he appears (20:19-20). He promised that he would send the Holy Spirit to them (16:7), and he gives it to them (20:22). In both sections, he announces that he is sending his disciples just as the Father sent him (17:18, 20:21). All these things connect Jesus’ appearance to his disciples after his resurrection to the night he spent with them before his crucifixion.
Among other things, John wants us to know that the one who appeared to the disciples in a locked room is the same Jesus who walked beside them in Galilee and Judea. He even still bears the scars of his crucifixion. This was a problem in the first century in a slightly different way than it is for us, but it is still a relevant issue for the church.
It is becoming increasingly popular today for people to say that they are spiritual but not religious. I don’t always know what they mean by that, but I get the impression that they have some sort of spiritual experiences in life but that they are not tied to anything in particular in history. We Christians find our spirituality rooted in Jesus, in his life, in his words, in his deeds, in his death, in his resurrection and ascension to God’s right hand.
But more than that, you might say that this is John’s version of Matthew’s Great Commission and Luke’s Day of Pentecost. The Jesus whose words and deeds we read about in the holy gospels is the same Jesus who abides with us by the power of the Holy Spirit, even though we cannot see him, and who sends us into the world to do the work he has given us to do.
And just as he blessed the disciples on Easter, so he blesses us.
Peace Be With You
Jesus greeted his disciples with blessing, “Peace be with you.” “Shalom” is the Hebrew word for “peace.” It was – and is – a customary greeting among Hebrew speaking Jews. Its Arabic cousin “salaam” is used in the same manner. In its social context, the greeting of peace is a statement about the relationship between the speaker and the hearer. It says, “I will not harm you. You are safe with me.” And it is a wish or a prayer for the well being of the other.
The phrase is present here, however, as something more than a courteous formality. God’s word creates what it denotes. Just as God said, “Let there be light,’ and there was light, so when Jesus says, “Peace be with you,” there is peace. There is shalom.
Shalom is life as God intended it in all of its facets. It’s not just an individual matter. Jesus will transform the entire world. God wants shalom for me, but he wants it for you, too. He wants it for our neighborhoods and our communities and for every land.
When Jesus walked in Galilee and Judea, there was shalom. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, calmed storms, raised the dead, corrected the errant, reconciled the sinful, and radiated God’s holiness. Jesus’ presence created a small pocket of shalom where God’s intention in creation was restored and renewed. Wherever Jesus is, there is shalom.
Peace be with you. God is bringing about his shalom wherever the church gathers in Jesus’ name. We still live in a fallen world and we are still fallen creatures, but by the grace of God there is something new at work as well. Where Jesus is, there is shalom, and he is with us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Receive the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit shows up frequently in Jesus’ teachings in the Gospel of John and forms the background for the creed’s final article. For our purposes this morning, I want to focus on one thing.
On the night before he died, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would speak for God. Jesus called the Holy Spirit the “Paraclete” or “advocate,” that is a person who speaks on behalf of another. Just as it is today, “advocate” is another word for a lawyer! The Holy Spirit, Jesus said, will remind us of what Jesus said, testify on Jesus’ behalf and guide us into all truth. It is the Holy Spirit who makes it possible to encounter Jesus in word and sacrament and who gives us new life in the Kingdom of God. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we know Jesus’ presence in our midst and receive his peace.
And in our reading, the next thing that Jesus did was to breathe on the disciples and say, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” That’s weird. Why did he breathe on them?
Do you recall how God formed the first man in Genesis?
Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
God breathed life into Adam, and Jesus breathes new life into all those who believe. In the Nicodemus story of John 3, we learn that water and spirit are the means by which people are born from above and see the Kingdom of God. “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6), Jesus said. It is the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63). The gift of the Holy Spirit is the gift of a new creation, a different kind of creation.
Jesus can bestow the Spirit because he is the one who uniquely bears the Holy Spirit. In the beginning of the fourth gospel, John the Baptist announced two things about Jesus. First, that he saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus and remain on him. And second, that Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Which leads us to the next section of this story.
As the Father Has Sent Me, So I Send You
With the blessing of peace and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus commissioned his disciples to be his representatives in the world. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” I count more than 40 times in the Gospel of John where Jesus said that the Father sent him.
It’s rather humorous to imagine these frightened men hiding behind locked doors being sent out to speak up for a man who had just been crucified. Until they encounter Jesus, they are not going anywhere. When Jesus appears to them, that all changes.
It is important to note that Jesus is not handing off the baton for others to finish what he started. Jesus is still, today, right this very moment, being sent by the Father. That’s what the grammar here indicates. His work for the Father never stopped. It continues. Now, he just shares his work with us.
So what were the disciples sent to do?
In John’s gospels, the disciples are mostly witnesses and ambassadors. They are sent into the world to tell the story of Jesus, incarnate, crucified, and risen, and to enact the story of Jesus in their communities by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus works in us and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit as the church recalls his words and deeds and puts them into practice.
If You Forgive
Closely tied to Jesus sending his disciples into the world is the matter of forgiveness. “If you forgive anyone their sins,” Jesus said, “they are forgiven. If you retain them, they are retained.”
Surprisingly, this is the only explicit reference to forgiveness in John’s gospel.
Somehow, Jesus’ sending his disciples is connected to forgiveness. But how?
Here’s how. The believers’ witness to Jesus’ story – along with their demonstration of Christ-like love within their community – will force people to decide for or against Jesus and his church.
Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” (John 13:20)
This crisis of decision is at the heart of John’s gospel. Jesus’ dictum, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven” must be understood in this context. He’s not talking about sacramental acts of confession and penance, and he’s not conveying to church leaders the authority to pass moral judgment. Rather, in John, Jesus himself is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). How people receive Jesus determines the effectiveness of his work for them (John 3:17-18).
Following the resurrection, then, believers represent Jesus as they tell his story to the world. The proclamation of the Word of God creates both life-giving faith for those who receive it and lethal opposition among some who reject it. It is only in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the peace of Christ that we can accomplish this task.
When You Pass the Peace
Jesus speaks his word of peace anew to us on this Lord’s Day as we are gathered by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In a few moments, we will stand and offer this peace to each other. I would like for you to use your imagination a bit as we do this. Try imagining that the word of peace that you hear comes not just from the lips of your neighbor, but from Jesus himself. It is Jesus who is saying to you,“Peace be with you.” What would that feel like?
And instead of a handshake, imagine the ancient greeting of peace. Jesus leaning in, close enough to your face to feel his breathing, to feel his life-giving breath infusing your body with the life of God himself.
And then imagine the opposite. As the Father sent Jesus, so he sends you and me. Imagine, then, that the word of peace that you speak is not a mere formality, but the Lord himself speaking through you. Feel the mercy and grace of Jesus flowing from you to those around you.
Maybe this is not an act of pure imagination. Is he not here? Will we not encounter him in his broken body and blood, just as assuredly as the disciples who beheld his wounded hands and side?
One thing is true, whether you can picture it in your imagination or not, whether you feel it in your heart or not, the same Jesus who presented his hands and side to his disciples on Easter so long ago, presents himself to us in these gifts that we are about to receive.
Peace be with you. Receive the Holy Spirit. As the Father has sent me, so send I you. For the life of the world. Amen.
Mitchell Lewis 