The Gospel isn’t meant to be gulped down on Sunday morning, but gnawed on through the week so it really becomes a part of us. You’ve got to work at it, like a dog with a good bone! Here’s the Gospel for this coming Sunday — the Second Sunday of Easter — with food for thought about the holiness of doubt. Gnaw away!
Second Sunday of Easter – John 20:19-31
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were locked in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Temple authorities. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Having said this, the savior showed them the marks of crucifixion. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw Jesus, who said to them again, “Peace be with you. As Abba God sent me, so I’m sending you.” After saying this, Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.”
It happened that one of the Twelve, Thomas—nicknamed Didymus, or “Twin”—was absent when Jesus came. The other disciples kept telling him, “We’ve seen Jesus!” Thomas’ answer was, “I’ll never believe it without putting my finger in the nail marks and my hand into the spear wound.” On the eighth day, the disciples were once more in the room, and this time Thomas was with them. Despite the locked doors, Jesus came and stood before them, saying, “Peace be with you.” Then, to Thomas, Jesus said, “Take your finger and examine my hands. Put your hand into my side. Don’t persist in your unbelief, but believe!” Thomas said in response, “My Savior and my God!” Jesus then said, “You’ve become a believer because you saw me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus performed many other signs as well—signs not recorded here—in the presence of the disciples. But these have been recorded to help you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Only Begotten, so that by believing you may have life in Jesus’ Name.
The Backstory – What’s Going On Here?
This is the original ending to the Gospel of John (as you can tell from the last paragraph). Later, the “Do you love me?/Feed my sheep” episode with Peter was added as an epilogue. John is the only Gospel that includes this story of Thomas.
This is an incredibly rich story that books have been written about, but here are a few interesting points:
*Remember the key question for John’s Gospel is “where does God live now that the Temple is destroyed.” John’s answer is that God dwells in the midst of the community of John, and this resurrection appearance emphasizes that. Jesus appears in the midst of the disciples and, unlike Luke’s account of Pentecost, breathes the gift of the Spirit into that gathered group. They are now the presence of God.
*In John, Jesus’ glorification happened on the cross, so the proof of the presence of Christ is not a sign or a miracle but the wounds. Jesus primary identity remains as the one who suffered. That identity is now passed on to the community.
*The link between seeing and believing is key here. The Easter stories in John are all about seeing and believing … and also about not seeing and not believing. As the Good News of the resurrection spreads, as John’s community grows it can only happen not through more actual witnesses to the resurrection but to people who believe without seeing. John is clear that the stories of Jesus’ empty tomb and his appearances are not just for those fortunate enough to be there, but for all to believe … and that far from the actual witnesses to the resurrection being favored, those who believe without seeing are the more favored.
A few things to chew on:
*The story begins with the disciples locked away in fear of the authorities. They were afraid of persecution and perhaps even prosecution and death. They were afraid of sharing Jesus’ fate. What John’s Gospel makes clear is that the proof for being Christ’s body is bearing those scars and sharing in his fate. A friend of mine, Gary Cartwright, a deacon in Florida, always says “We call ourselves Christians, and then when we take a stand about something we act all surprised when people chase after us with a piece of wood, nails and a hammer!” What does it mean for we as the church not only to share in the identity of the crucified and risen Christ … but to embrace it?
*The word John uses for “believe” is the Greek word pistis, which is better translated “trust.” It is the difference between embracing an intellectual concept and putting your whole life in something or someone’s hands. In our baptismal service the candidates are asked of Christ “Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?” Think about what that means — your whole trust. What does it mean for you as a person to vow that? What about us as a community?
Try This:
Easter is a season of joy and celebration but also a season of proclamation. Sunday, we proclaimed our joy at the resurrection of Christ. It was our highest attendance Sunday of the year … some of whom were brought by “the regulars.” That inviting and bringing was a wonderful act of Easter joy and proclamation. This week think about whom you could invite to be a part of our community this Sunday … then go out and make the call!
The Holiness of Doubt
Thomas gets a bad rap for doubting — and its undeserved in two respects.
First, he was not the only disciple to doubt the resurrection — the others had heard the women tell the tale but were still cowering in the upper room in fear when Jesus appeared to them.
But more important, Thomas’ doubt, which we have been so easy to criticize, represents the humanity that is in all of us – and a fairly Western development in that humanity at that.
Post-enlightenment European-centric peoples want proof. And as a people, we have come to rely on proof. And that’s not a bad thing. Evidence is important. Evidence tells us that climate change is real. Evidence tells us what medical programs work and which do not. Evidence tells us that the earth is more than 6,000 years old and that perhaps we should look for a different sort of truth in the book of Genesis.
But our desire for proof should not lead to a fear of doubt. And it certainly shouldn’t lead us to run away from mystery. Because as much as empirical evidence is important, our ability to enter into mystery — into “the cloud of unknowing” is one of the most crucial parts of our humanity.
Perhaps nobody ever said this more eloquently than one of the most revered scientists of all time, Albert Einstein.
In 1930, Einstein composed a credo called “What I Believe.” It concluded with an explanation of what he meant when he called himself religious:
“The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle. To sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is something that our minds cannot grasp, whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly: this is religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I am a devoutly religious man.”
As we stand before the empty tomb this Easter, these words are important for us. The fact that our mind cannot grasp something doesn’t mean that it isn’t real. In fact, that ability to be awestruck and not be able to wrap our brains around something is one of the most precious parts of our humanity.
Keep striving for evidence. Embrace the reason that God gives us. But just as powerfully embrace the experience that is beyond evidence and reason. Embrace the mystery that is God.
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Collect for Sunday
Pray this throughout the week as you gnaw on this Gospel.
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
