John 20.19-31

Easter Two | April 24 2022 | John 20.19-31 | Carl A. Voges |

The Passage

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his sides.  Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” 

Now, Thomas, one of the Twelve called the Twin, 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 in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them.  Although the doors were locked, 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, and put out your hand, and place it in my side.  Do not disbelieve, 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 believed.”

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 believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.  [English Standard Version]

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” [Revelation 1.8]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

Although it has just been a week since the Church celebrated not only the Resurrection of its Lord but also its Rescuer and Sustainer, it may be obvious in many parishes of North America that his people have moved on to other matters.  The Great Fifty Days of Easter are unfolding today, but there are realities in the world’s life that are clamoring for our attention: the political realities in different states, including potential terrorist attacks,  are leaving people with deep uncertainties; young people are hemmed in by the self-centering they are unwilling to confront; church structures and parishes in the Lutheran tradition keep trying to make names and reputations for themselves; older people are discovering that the number of those who care about them is diminishing; different cultures are unraveling because the Trinity’s Life has gotten dimmer and dimmer.

Today, however, the Lord’s people resist moving on to these matters such as these because of the lasting impact of what the Son has done in his dying and rising for the world’s people.  It is obvious that Easter Day is the greatest day of the year because it reveals the Lord’s stunning Resurrection!  But, in ways not always as obvious, the Second Sunday of Easter is the next greatest day!  How come?  Because this Sunday reveals the gifts spilling out of the Lord’s Resurrection!

Five of those gifts are detailed in today’s Gospel.  These gifts are overwhelming, particularly for people who struggle daily with their natural self-centering and the turmoil created by such centering.  These gifts pour out of the Son’s Resurrection on the evening of that first Easter Day and on another evening eight days later.  In both evenings Jesus’ disciples have locked themselves into a place because they are anxious and fearful of what may happen to them (even though they have been told of the empty tomb and the reason for its emptiness!).  Jesus’ gifts to the disciples then and his baptized people now are: his peace, his sending, his Holy Spirit, his forgiveness and retaining of sin, his belief.

First, Jesus’ gift of peace, one in which all of us share, reflects both the presence and reality of him marking us as his people in Baptism.  The Hebrew background for this gift is “shalom,” a Hebrew word describing the wholeness and wellness of the LORD God’s Life that would surface when his Anointed One (the Messiah) came to the world.  Earlier in the Gospel, chapters 14-17 (Jesus’ farewell conversation with his disciples), Jesus had promised the gift of peace.  Now he fills that promise out.  Jesus’ greeting of peace clearly is no ordinary greeting, like “hello” or “how are you doing.”  Greeting signals both his divine presence and his marking of us as his people.  Jesus then shows the disciples his hands and his side.  This vividly demonstrates the link between his crucifixion and resurrection.  Seeing Jesus, the disciples are filled with joy.  Again, this is no ordinary joy, like happiness or giddiness, it is the joy that comes from eternity.  Like peace, its Hebrew background points to the reality of the Lord’s Life that will appear when the Messiah comes.

Second, Jesus’ gift of sending, which begins with our Baptisms into him and concludes with our deaths in him, reflects the Father’s sending of his Son to this world.  In the farewell conversation mentioned earlier, Jesus had noted that his followers, too, would be sent into the world.  That notation is now fulfilled as he sends his disciples into the world, propelled as the Father sent Jesus.  This sending will cause the world’s people to see the light of Jesus’ Life or to be blinded by it, a pattern that already emerged in Jesus’ own ministry.  This pattern results in the redemption of these people or in their destruction.

As our Lord crosses the lives of people who are wrapped up in themselves and who are heavily afflicted and burdened so do we cross such lives.  These crossings cause people to either see the light of the Lord’s Life or to be blinded by it.  Put another way, these crossings trigger either redemption or destruction of those who are encountering the Lord’s Life.

Third, after saying these words, Jesus breathes on his disciples and gives them his Holy Spirit.  Jesus’ gift of the Holy Spirit, which occurs at Baptism and finds us maturing in it as we grow older, recalls the passage in Genesis 2 when the LORD God breathed Life into the dust he had shaped as the first man.  This gift of the Spirit signals our new creation – having been born first into the world, it signals our re-birth as the Lord’s people.

Fourth, Jesus’ breathing of the Spirit gives his followers his power over sin.  The great news is that they are no longer at the mercy of sin’s presence, of Satan’s control or the final reality of death.  Jesus’ gift for the forgiving and retaining of sin is one that is exercised not only weekly in the Liturgy, but also daily.  Practically every person imbedded in the LORD God understands that Forgiveness tumbles out of our confrontation with and our confession of sin (remember, biblically, sin is the natural desire to have all things revolving around ourselves!).  Thankfully we are able to see that Forgiveness working through our relationships with the LORD God as well as with one another rather easily.  What is difficult to see is the retaining of sin, a retention which means that death has the final word, that Satan is in control, that sin’s presence continually surrounds and harasses us.  This retaining often comes up in intense conversations between pastors and parishioners.  Because those conversations are very private and are not shared with others, the retaining is not that visible.  But, unfortunately, it plays out when pastors and parishioners refuse to confront sin and think the issue or problem will go away (sin only goes away when we confront it in the presence of the LORD God!).  Jesus’ gift of the power over sin to his followers is magnificent, but it is also explosive!

Finally, there is Jesus’ gift of believing, the growing recognition and trust that real Life is found only in the LORD God.  This is brought out very clearly in the conversation between Jesus and Thomas.  Thomas is not present for the first appearance of the resurrected Jesus.  When others tell him they have seen the Lord, he states that unless he can prove it’s really Jesus, he will not believe!  When Jesus makes his second appearance eight days later, he challenges Thomas to prove he is the Jesus he knew before the crucifixion and resurrection.  He also tells Thomas to not be faithless, but believing.

What occurs next is barely noticed: Thomas does not place his fingers in the marks created by the nails that were run through Jesus’ hands!; Thomas does not squeeze his hand into the cavity of Jesus’ side!  Without proving what he said he was going to prove, Thomas suddenly recognizes the resurrected Jesus and confesses – My Lord and my God!  In response, Jesus blesses those people who let their lives be drawn into his without seeing him directly.  This blessing is meant for followers like us!

John then concludes that Jesus did many more signs than the seven he recorded in his Gospel.  But John recorded these seven so we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we may have Life in his Name.  John’s Gospel detailed seven of our Lord’s signs; today the Scriptures and Sacraments of  Baptism, Forgiveness and the Lord’s Supper are those same signs.  As we grow to see the LORD God in those holy places, we find him building up our trust in him and strengthening our desire to follow him (even when we are being hammered by doubt or challenging our Lord like Thomas did!).

Yes, with the unfolding of Easter’s Great Fifty Days, the Lord’s baptized people may be tempted to move on to other matters; the smart ones, however, will not!  They will note, on this second greatest day of the year, the immense gifts tumbling out of their Lord’s Resurrection!  They will let those gifts work into and around and through their lives as they make their way through these Great Fifty Days!  These gifts enable us to see that our lives are no longer driven and shaped by the world’s matters, they are driven and shaped by the Life and eternal ways of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our 

   hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord

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Pr. Carl A. Voges, STS,  Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com