Second Sunday of Easter, Year A
May 1, 2011
May 1, 2011
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16:5-11
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31
"I am never sure how, or why,
Jesus has come to me and stood
in that sequestered place of fear and forgetfulness,
but he has again and again."
~Peter Woods, "Is It Really You? I am listening
In our Gospel lesson for this morning we hear about the disciples’ first encounter with the risen Christ. It is Easter Sunday evening, and the disciples are hiding behind locked doors because they are afraid of the authorities. Suddenly, and quite supernaturally - and John emphasizes this by mentioning the locked doors - quite supernaturally, Jesus stands among them, and he greets them. “Peace be with you,” he says, and then he breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
This passage from John provides a different perspective on the gift of the Holy Spirit and the beginnings of the church than the story in Acts. In Acts, the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples and those gathered on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after Christ’s resurrection - and it comes like a violent wind from heaven and dancing tongues of fire, and it fills the house where the disciples are sitting. The reading from Acts for this morning is the message that Peter preached to the Israelites gathered there right after the Holy Spirit rushed upon them. John, however, doesn’t mention the Pentecost experience. John sees the establishment of the church as inseparably linked with Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. For John, the Holy Spirit comes as a breath from the Risen Lord - after a greeting of “Peace.” And it happens on that first Easter Sunday.
The second half of this particular account in John’s gospel has Jesus appearing to the disciples a week later, and there are some notable differences in this encounter. First, there is no mention of the disciples being afraid. Second, this time Thomas is present. And Thomas, remember, does not believe the story of Christ’s resurrection. He’s been told about it. He’s heard sincere and valid testimony from people he trusts. But none of this makes a difference. “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.” [NRSV] That’s what Thomas says. And suddenly Jesus just appears, this time through shut doors - no mention of locks, though - and he confronts Thomas with his unbelief. Jesus says “Hey Thomas! How about this? Here I am. If you need to see and touch, then go right ahead!” Thomas responds with the most powerful and complete confession in the John’s gospel: “My Lord and My God!”
I think everyone has heard the expression “doubting Thomas” - usually accompanied by the admonition not to be one. The usual way of looking at this passage is from the perspective of Thomas and with the emphasis on his “doubt.” We view Thomas, the one who doubted, with a judgmental eye. After all, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” [NRSV] Jesus expresses this blessing in a verse that seems to contrast the believers - the blessed ones - with Thomas who, by inference, is not as blessed because he needed to see Jesus in order to believe. We see Thomas as a kind of second-class believer.
This is how we traditionally have read this passage - from a perspective that casts a negative tone on doubt. “Why do you doubt, Thomas? The rest of us don’t need to put our fingers in his side. We believe on the basis of the testimony of others, and we’re blessed. Why don’t you?” From that perspective, Thomas becomes a model of discipleship that isn’t quite up to par with the rest of the disciples.
Most translations of this passage use the word doubt. Jesus tells Thomas, “Do not DOUBT, but believe.”[NRSV] I found it extremely interesting to learn that the word ‘doubt’ does not appear in the Greek. A literal translation from the Greek would read more like “do not be without faith, but with faith.” Eugene Peterson translates it, “Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.”[Peterson]
I think that changes things a bit. For one thing, the negative connotation to Jesus’ words to Thomas is gone. Besides, even though Mary Magdelene told the other disciples about her encounter with the risen Lord at the garden tomb, they did not believe. But they don’t get labeled doubters. And they don’t know what to make of her account, so they cower in fear behind locked doors. Incidentally, an archaic definition of “doubt” is “fear.” It isn’t until Jesus appears before them and breathes the Holy Spirit into them that they abandon their own fear. So it isn’t hard to follow that Thomas also fails to believe on the basis of the testimony of others as well. No. Thomas is quite clear about what he needs in order to believe: “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.” [Peterson] I talked about this a little last week - our very human need to have permanent, concrete, physical evidence, and how that need keeps us from seeing anything beyond that need.
But look at the way Jesus handles Thomas’s request and needs. He turns to Thomas, greets him and says, “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.” [Peterson] “Stop being without faith, and be with faith.” There is no judgment or condemnation in Jesus’ words. Instead, Jesus is meeting Thomas’s needs. I’m sure Thomas would like to be faithful, to believe without seeing, but he can’t. So Jesus gives Thomas what he needs for faith. He not only appears to him, but he offers to meet every condition that Thomas has made. Touch me, feel my wounds and then - have faith.
For many of the people hearing John’s gospel for the first time, these words of the risen Christ are words of comfort and assurance. Living years after the last disciple saw Jesus with his or her own eyes, they are faced with the same circumstance as Thomas. They are challenged to believe, to have faith in Jesus Christ, without ever seeing for themselves. But this passage assures them that Jesus will offer them what they need to have faith - to go from unbelieving to believing.
And so it is for us. We do not see Jesus face to face in the flesh. We won’t ever have the opportunity to examine and feel his wounded hands and side. But that doesn’t matter. This story of the unbelieving Thomas tells us that Jesus also offers us what we need in order that we may believe, that we may have faith. God meets us on our terms, on our turf, so that we too, can be blessed.
Peter preached about Jesus’ resurrection at that first sermon to the Israelites on the Day of Pentecost. And when he wrote his first letter to encourage the Christians of the early church in the midst of severe persecution by the Romans by the Emperor Nero, he had this to say to them:
“Although you’ve never seen him, you love him. Even though you don’t see him now, you trust him and so rejoice with a glorious joy that is too much for words. You are receiving the goal of your faith, your salvation.” [1 Peter 1:8-9, Common English Bible]
RESOURCES:
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Peterson, Eugene H. The Message-The Bible in Contemporary Language. NavPress, 2002.
The Student Bible – New Revised Standard Version. Zondervan Publishing:Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1994.
Common English Bible, New Testament. Abingdon:Nashville, 2011.
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