Debbie
Cato
John
20:19-31
Peace
Presbyterian ChurchApril
12, 2015 - 2nd
Sunday of Easter
Can
You Believe It?!
Just
a week ago, we celebrated Easter – the resurrection of our Lord.
We focused on Mary Magdalene’s response to the empty tomb. Mary
Magdalene went to the tomb early that Sunday morning to mourn the
death of Jesus. Her grief deepens and she becomes deeply disturbed
to find the stone removed from the opening of the tomb. Grave
robbing was common in those days and so her first thought is that
someone has taken her Lord. Mary followed Jesus all the way to the
cross. She witnessed His crucifixion. She saw him suffer and die on
the cross. And now his tomb was empty. What else could she think
but robbers had come during the night and taken his body?
The
disciples, John the Beloved and Peter dare to look inside the tomb
and find no proof of tomb robbing. Rather, they find everything calm
and orderly. Jesus' grave clothes are folded and left behind.
Puzzled and frightened, John and Peter run away. They go back to the
others. Behind locked doors.
But
Mary stays behind. And though she heard Jesus explain about his
suffering and his death and his resurrection, she did not believe
until the risen Christ appeared and spoke to her directly; until he
called her name. With the sound of her name, she recognizes her
Lord’s voice. Mary runs and filled with joy, she shares the good
news with the other disciples! “I have seen the Lord!” she tells
them. “I have seen the Lord!” But, they dismiss her words as
foolishness. After all, how can it be?! They have not seen for
themselves. They stay locked in a room, hiding.
It's
easy for us to question their faith. Three times Jesus’ told them
what was going to happen in Jerusalem. Yet, scared and confused they
lock themselves in a room.
It’s easy to criticize them for not getting it! But let's think
about it. The Roman government was powerful and the disciples saw
the harsh crudeness of the punishment they handed out. Their leader
had just suffered unimaginable pain and suffering. Their teacher had
been crucified. The man they believed was the Messiah, died on the
cross. They were recognized as his followers. Were soldiers looking
for them too? Would the soldiers torture and crucify them as well?
The
depth to which the disciples’ spirits must have fallen is easy to
understate. You bet they were scared. But I think they also felt
guilty. They knew that Judas was not the only one who had betrayed
Jesus. Peter denied 3 times that he knew Him. The rest of the
disciples had fled in Jesus’ hour of need. Only John stood near
the cross with the women. The others watched from a distance –
where no one would see them. None had shown up for Jesus’ burial.
They must have felt like cowards; like traitors.
In
the Lenten study we just finished on Wednesday, Adam Hamilton says,
“fear and guilt weren’t the only emotions weighing heavy on the
hearts of the disciples. They left everything to follow Jesus. They
believed that he was the Messiah. They believed that he would
restore Israel. They believed that God was with him in powerful
ways. They felt in their hearts that he had the “words of life.”
Their hopes and dreams, even their faith, was crucified with Jesus.
They must have sunk into utter despair.”1
We
know about utter despair, don't we? Those dark times that paralyzes
us. Those times when fear overtakes reality. Those times we feel
completely isolated and hopeless.
And
it is into through those closed doors that the risen Christ enters.
To his
frightened
disciples, deep in utter despair, Jesus says, “Peace
be with you.” Peace
be with you.
Do
you recognize those words? Jesus’ spoke these same words to his
disciples the night of His arrest; as they shared supper together.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you
as the
world
gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
He
told
them. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you
as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be
afraid.”
After
all the drama; after all the pain and suffering; after all the fear
and grief; after all the confusion and all the darkness; after all
the anger; Jesus offers his weary band of followers His perfect
peace. Jesus offers peace that comes from the knowledge that, in
spite of all the hurt and harm the world can and does inflict; in
spite of all the darkness we walk through, God’s compassion and
care is embodied in Jesus; that's His peace. It applies at every
point where we fear that God’s plan for the world’s well-being is
a pious dream, out of touch with the chaos and hatred of everyday
life.
The
One offering the words of peace to those locked behind closed doors
is the very One who endured the brunt of that chaos and hatred.
Jesus stands once again in their midst. He stands knowing what it
means to suffer; to be humiliated; to be falsely accused. Can it be?
Is the Lord really alive? Can I believe it? These disillusioned,
frightened disciples finally rejoice when Jesus’ shows them his
hands and his side. These followers of Jesus’ see for themselves,
and then they believe. It's true! I believe! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed!
So,
Thomas – who really has a bad rap as “doubting Thomas,” was not
the only
one
to have doubts when merely hearing about the resurrection
appearances. Just like the other characters in the story, he wanted to see for himself: "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," Thomas tells the others. You see, Thomas was not in that Upper Room
when Jesus first appeared. It was a week after His resurrection.
But even though a week had passed, Jesus is not impatient with
Thomas. Instead, He invites him to touch his wounds so that he that
he can believe.
We
are not told if Thomas actually takes Jesus up on his offer of
tangible proof of his existence. What we do know is that Thomas’s
response to Jesus’ offer is immediate. “My
Lord and my God!”
Perhaps it was enough for Thomas just to know that Jesus cared enough
to give him what he needed; that Jesus did not despise his doubt.
Thomas addresses Jesus with reverence and awe. “My
Lord and my God!”
This is one of the strongest declarations of faith recorded in all
of the New Testament.
For
me, it's awfully good news that Jesus blessed Thomas in his doubt.
He was, and is, in the business of meeting people where they are. He
is like a good doctor. He does not give the same prescription to
everyone. Instead, he approaches his followers in different ways
because, after all, our experiences are different and our approaches
to life are different. Our struggle to believe is different.
According to John, that is the way Jesus handles doubt. He gives us
what we need. Jesus does not express impatience with his disciples’
skepticism. He does not get angry. Instead, He says, “You
want to see for yourself? I do not condemn you. Touch. See.
Believe.”
John
concludes this passage by saying that Jesus said, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those
who have not seen and yet have believed." Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his
disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by
believing you may have life in his name.”
That
is the way most of us have come to believe. We did not see or touch.
We
were
not there. We heard. Someone told us the story in a way that
invited us to say yes. We heard someone say something, perhaps even
a small something that spoke to us, as if calling our name, from
somewhere deep inside. There was a sermon,
a passage, a prayer. A story. We heard. Perhaps you were a young
child. A young adult. A mature adult. It doesn’t matter when.
It doesn’t matter how.
With
this first encounter between Jesus and His followers, we have four
different faith reactions. Four! John demonstrates that there is
not just one way of experiencing the resurrection; but many. For
some, faith is as easy as it was for the Beloved Disciple, who merely
looked in the empty tomb and believed. Others, like Mary
Magdalene, hear their name called, whether it comes from great need
or great pain or great beauty. We hear our name called and we
respond. We recognize His voice. Others discover the risen Christ as
he intrudes on an anxious and fearful church that in spite of locking
the doors to the chaotic world, sees Christ come in and offer us His
peace. His perfect peace. Others, like Thomas, feel they have
missed something in all of the great to-do about Easter, but linger
with the community nevertheless, waiting for evidence or maybe
something even better. We want to believe but just can’t quite -
yet.
Regardless
of how we experience the resurrection, regardless of how we respond
in faith to the risen Christ, the resurrection enables His disciples
– and each of us today – to believe and to be brought into a
relationship with Him whom death could not destroy. And it is
through belief in the resurrection, that we have new life in His
name.2
Praise Be to God.
2
Last 2 paragraphs are from :Call to Worship, Volume 44.3. pg 6 by
Patrick J. Willson
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