The Upload
Posted on Apr 01, 2016 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you had a blessed Easter.
Our Gospel text this coming Sunday, April 3, is the same text we read every year on the Second Sunday of Easter, John 20:19-31. Now, most of us refer to this story as the story of “Doubting Thomas,” but as I have said before, I don’t like to refer to Thomas in this way because I think it makes Thomas look bad. Thomas was not a bad guy. In fact, I think Thomas is just like you and me. He had doubts, and he needed to express those doubts so he could grow in his faith. I also think Thomas was a brave person, unlike the other disciples who were scared and locked themselves in a room.
John tells us that on the evening of that first Easter, the disciples locked themselves behind closed doors because they were afraid. Now, I understand why they were afraid. Their leader, Jesus, had been taken away, and had been persecuted and then crucified before their very eyes, and now they were afraid the same could happen to them. But if things were so scary, why was Thomas not locked away in hiding with them? Was Thomas out moving on with his life? Was Thomas out trying to figure out what to do next?
Regardless of why Thomas was not present on that first Easter night with the other disciples, I am sure he was still confused like the others. The death of Jesus was not what any of them thought would happen, even though Jesus had told them it would happen. I am sure all of them felt like time had stopped and like they had the wind knocked out of them. All of them, including Thomas, were wondering how they would now continue on without Jesus.
I have felt that way before, haven’t you? I know when my dad died, I was lost for a long time. I was a grown man with a wife and children of my own, but I had never lived without him in my life. Even though we didn’t live in the same state, I talked to him several times a week. And when he suddenly died, I felt like someone took the breath right out of me, and I was scared.
At times like this, when you feel confused and lost, it is also hard to believe in God, isn’t it? And this is how I think the disciples felt on that first Easter, and so they locked themselves up. But the awesome thing is, Jesus came to them in their fear and breathed into them the Holy Spirit and began to take their fears away. Thomas wasn’t there, though, and so his fear, his unbelief persisted, and one week later Jesus came to him, too.
This Easter season, we are challenged to remember that, in his Resurrection, Jesus comes to us, too. Oh, I know it isn’t the same as him standing in front of us and breathing on us like he did with the disciples, but he does come. He comes to us when we gather for community worship each week. He comes to us in the bread and the wine. He comes to us through our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. He comes to us and says, “You are not alone, I am with you.”
So, today we are faced with that 2000-year-old question of faith, “Do you believe?” In the midst of our fears and unbelief, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:29).
My prayer is that all of us, with our many doubts and fears, can come to believe that Christ is Risen, He is Risen indeed!
Have a blessed week!
Shalom,
Pr. Dave