Second
Sunday of Easter
April
23, 2017
Matthew
28:17 & John 20:29
Thomas,
You, and They Who Have Seen and Yet Do Not Believe
In
the name of the Father and of the ☩
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Thomas
was skeptical when he heard that Jesus was alive. And today we in
turn can be skeptical of Thomas’
devotion to Jesus: “This Thomas guy is a bit of wobbler.” But
Thomas did get at the heart of the most important turning point in
history: Is Jesus alive?
Thomas
knew that Jesus had power over life and death. He had seen Jesus
raise Lazarus from the dead just days before. Indeed as they were
finally headed to Bethany to go to the tomb of Lazarus, Thomas was
the one who said:
“Let
us also go, that we may die with Him.”
JOHN
11:16 NIV
There’s
no reason to doubt Thomas’
devotion to Jesus at that point. He’s all in, ready to die. And
then days later when Jesus dies and comes back to life, Jesus comes
back and visits with the disciples when Thomas isn’t around. And
without trying to climb into God’s brain (which is always dangerous
to do), Jesus purposely
comes back and visits the disciples when Thomas isn’t around. Jesus
made a lot of home visits and road visits during Easter (using His
divine power helped), but He could have appeared to Thomas much
earlier. It wasn’t like He showed up behind the locked doors and
went: “Oh no, Thomas isn’t here?” He knew. He’s God. So
what’s He up to?
Again,
this is God being God and God’s way of doing things is to create
and preserve trust in Him through His word. The Marys heard the word
(“Died and risen!”)
from the angels. The disciples heard the word (“Died
and risen!”) from
the Marys. Thomas heard the word (“Died
and risen!”) from
the disciples. And on and on for centuries and centuries until there
was you. And Jesus disciples’
told you the word and
through this word (“Died
and risen!”) you
also believe.
What
has always struck me
much more than Thomas’
doubt is the doubt of some disciples 40 days later.
When
they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
MATTHEW
28:17 NIV
These
doubters had the evidence standing in front of them. He was talking
to them! But they doubted. And that’s
all that Matthew tells us. Thomas doubted that the impossible had
taken place—that Jesus was alive—and yet when confronted with the
evidence, He believed. But
these others were confronted with Jesus, and they doubted. What they
doubted is unclear, but it is presented in contrast to the disciples
who worshiped Jesus.
So
for anyone who wants something other than the Word of God before they
believe, Jesus instead
gives us His presence through His body and blood, which we know are
present in the Lord’s
Supper through His Word.
At
the end of this chapter of John (20), John mentions in passing that
Jesus did a whole bunch of other miracles. That’s
the stuff we want, the glory and the power, but instead Jesus gives
us words. And that’s
the point to take to heart. God’s
Word creates trust in Him and
drives doubt away from our hearts.
And
we will wobble like Thomas and those other doubters. When we sin and
make terrible choices, we blame God. Then we come to our senses, but
the devil tells us that God is angry and will not forgive us for
blaming God. And we wobble because we aren’t
listening to Jesus’
word.
When
we presume to treat the Lord’s
Supper
as a chore that we are doing for God and doubt that His body and
blood are there or that they are doing anything, we doubt like Thomas
because we aren’t
listening to Jesus.
Our
wobbling is bad, but it shouldn’t
surprise us. Even people who saw and heard Jesus doubted. But our
comfort is to run back to His Word and listen to Jesus, who
died and is risen:
Because
you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not
seen and yet have believed.
JOHN
20:29 NIV
And
through His Word we can join Thomas in saying, “My Lord and my
God!”
For
even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give His life as a ransom for many, for you. Alleluia! Amen.
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