Second Sunday of Easter

Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter Year B | 11 April 2021 | John 20:19-31 | by The Rev. Beth A. Schlegel | 

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.“ ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, „Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.“ ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, „Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.“
²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So 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.“
²⁶A 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.“ ²⁷Then 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.“ ²⁸Thomas answered him, „My Lord and my God!“ ²⁹Jesus said to him, „Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.“
³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But 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.

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Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Thomas gets a bad rap.

The official news message from the local government was that some of Jesus’ followers had taken Jesus’ body out of the tomb to an undisclosed location.

The news the women had brought back was simply unbelievable. They had seen a young man dressed in white who told them Jesus had been raised from the dead and would see them in Galilee.

Thomas vaguely remembered Jesus having said something about that, but he had not paid much attention.

Now, the others said that while he was out, Jesus had come through the locked door, into the upper room, and showed them his wounds and given them the blessing of his peace.

How could Thomas believe this unbelievable story? It defied reason.

So, he did what any person who wants to cling to sanity would do: “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

He had no idea he was being set up – by God, no less.

Why else would Jesus not have appeared to them when all were present?

No, Thomas has been set up for this story – not to make him a subject of ridicule or shame, but for our sake.

We were not there in that room, either. We were not there for any of Jesus’ appearances alive to the disciples.

But God knows we need a way to believe the truth of Jesus’ resurrection.

We need someone who can say to our doubts and disbelief, “Yeah – I didn’t believe it at first either, but I can testify that the unbelievable is true. Jesus lives. Jesus is risen from the dead. I saw it with my own eyes.”

Thomas is our guy.

I do not like the nickname “Doubter” for Thomas. I prefer “Thomas the Confessor”, for when his faith was confirmed, he confessed Jesus as his Lord and God.

The point of the whole story – the reason Thomas was divinely set up for this particular encounter is what Jesus replied to him:

“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Blessed are we who weren’t there that first Easter.

Blessed are the first hearers of John’s Gospel who were not there, either.

Blessed are all the saints between 33 AD and now who did not see Jesus risen from the dead that first Easter and yet have come to believe in him as Lord and God, Savior of the world.

But let’s go a little deeper.  How does anyone come to believe in Jesus?

What was it Thomas was demanding that day? Just to see?

No – he wanted to experience the risen Lord. To see, touch, smell, hear—know the presence of Jesus.

It’s what all the disciples yearned for when the women came back with their news.

We can imagine their conversation when the women came – “Can this be true? Should we go to Galilee and wait for him? That’s a long journey, if we don’t really know. Of course, it’s true. Jesus would not lie.

No, but he did not say when we should meet him. Should we leave right away? If he is alive, i wish he would just come to us.

And Jesus did come to them – that very evening – while they were still in Jerusalem. He gave them the experience of him alive they yearned for.

So, what about us blessed because we do not see Jesus bodily alive? How do we come to faith through an experience of the risen Lord?

It is precisely through the Church’s obedience to the Lord’s commands: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-19)

We experience the living Jesus with our ears, as he speaks to us through the words of the Bible and the sermon.

We experience the living  Jesus as the water of baptism is poured over us in God’s holy name, the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; the oil of anointing marks us with the cross of Christ our Savior; the pastor’s hands rest on our head as the Holy Spirit with the seven-fold gifts is imparted to us; the new robe of Christ’s purity clothes us; as the community gathers in prayer and welcome and celebration of our new birth into eternal life.

We experience the living Jesus as we gather around the Lord’s table where the community is reconciled with the Lord’s own wounded peace; our ears hear his words of promise and forgiveness: This is my body given for you; this cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins; our hands touch his body; our tongues taste his love; and the community is sent as one into the world to testify to what has happened.

¹We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life. (1 John 1)

We experience the living Jesus as we care for one another, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and homebound, and providing for the poor.

Thomas reminds us that there are many in our world today who are yearning for an experience of the living Jesus – and we are sent to bear witness to the truth of his resurrection and presence among us.

Let us not hide Easter under a bushel, but rather let us shine the light of our faith in all that we do.

Hallelujah! Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!