Happy Easter! Resurrection Sunday has come and gone. Chocolate bunnies are history and so are the colored eggs. What about the feeling of new life and resurrection in your own life? It can be hard to hold onto the joy of Easter Day. And for some, there really isn’t personal joy to be found. Life seems just as hard on Easter as any other day. Real joy (not happiness or an ecstatic experience) is still found in recognizing Jesus in the everyday, the mundane, and in the routine. It was true at the very beginning. After the Resurrection, some of the disciples went back to fishing, some left Jerusalem, others staying locked away in fear. Like us, these men and women didn’t know how to maintain a high level of excitement, even after learning Jesus was raised. They slipped back into the familiar—and that’s exactly where the Lord finds them, and us.
During these seven weeks of Easter, also known as the Great
50 Days, I’ll be looking at the post-Resurrection experience for several of the
main characters in the drama 2000 years ago. For the first couple weeks, we get
a glimpse of the confusion and tension among even his closest followers from
the Sunday Gospel reading. This week, we hear about Thomas. Next Sunday, the
Gospel tells of Jesus appearing to the disciples who wonder if they are seeing
a ghost. On Easter 5, I’ll ponder the travelers on the Road to Emmaus. On May
5, I’ll look at Mary Magdalene’s experience and on the last Sunday of Easter
we’ll see how Peter is reconciled after his denial of Jesus.
This Sunday, the Gospel is from John 20: 19-31. It’s the familiar
story of Jesus coming to the disciples behind locked doors. Thomas isn’t
present and insists, “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 usually gets labeled as a ‘doubter’ because he wants
proof of Jesus return to life. Put yourself in his sandals for a minute. The
disciples heard from the women that the tomb was empty. The women insisted that
it’s true and that they have seen Jesus alive. Well, that’s a lot to take in. A
man crucified on Friday and alive on Sunday isn’t a normal occurrence. Perhaps
the women were delusional. I wonder how many of us, if we were honest, wouldn’t
like nice, concrete proof of the facts.
Think about how you might have felt to hear the women
announce, “Jesus is alive,” without providing evidence of anything except an
empty tomb. What emotions do you feel? What doubts do you secretly hold onto?
Then, as we hear in the Gospel, 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.” After he said this, he showed them
his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
How do you feel when Jesus is standing in the room with you?
How do you explain to yourself where he came from?
I think if I wasn’t there, I would be like Thomas—a little
skeptical and maybe a little hurt that the others had an experience of Jesus
that I couldn’t relate to. Jesus doesn’t leave Thomas hanging, though. Jesus
returns a week later, acknowledging his perfectly understandable confusion and
doubt and anger and hurt. Just as before, the doors are shut. However, 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. Reach out your hand and put it
in my side.” Jesus meets Thomas where he is in his faith journey. Thomas
needs a concrete assurance, and Jesus provides it.
Has there been a time when you have needed proof that God
IS? Has there been a time when God has showed up right where you are and with
what you needed?
Thomas, confronted with the proof of both Jesus’ death and
his Resurrection, can only proclaim, “My Lord and my God!” Even though
he had doubts about the reports of Jesus’ resurrection, and wanted proof,
Thomas is loved so much that Jesus comes specifically to answer his questions
and relieve his doubts. This image by Thomas Devian graphically encapsulates
that moment of love and acceptance and belief.
What is your response when God shows up in an irrefutable
way?
The Sunday Gospel concludes with the statement, these
[signs] 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.
Does hearing of Jesus interaction with Thomas give you hope that God will show up in whatever situation you find yourself in? Does knowing that Jesus loved Thomas so much that he showed up just for him help you know God’s love more?
