John 20:19-31; 1 John
5:4-10; Exodus 37:1-14
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Alleluia! Then, why are you so afraid? Jesus is risen! The tomb is empty! But,
the women were astonished and afraid. They told no one anything. The disciples
were gathered in fear behind locked doors because they were afraid. And, too
often you are silent and don’t tell anyone anything about the Good News of
Jesus’ resurrection and the forgiveness of sins. Why? Because you are afraid.
Because you are afraid of what people will think of you. Because you are afraid
of what people will do to you. Because you are afraid that you won’t know what
to say. Or, perhaps, because you are afraid that you don’t really believe as
much as you think you should? But, take comfort, and do not be afraid, O you of
little faith. For, you are not so different than Peter and the apostles, than
David, or Moses, or Abraham before them. And, you are not so different than
Thomas, who refused to believe that His Lord had risen until he could see and
touch His wounds with his own hands and fingers.
Still, Jesus comes to you, as He came to
them. Still your resurrected Lord Jesus Christ comes to you to absolve you of
your sins, to comfort you with His presence, to strengthen you in your faith,
and to bring you His peace which is beyond human understanding. Still your
living and ascended Lord Jesus comes to dissolve your fear and to replace it
with faith and contentment and peace, that you may, not avoid, but face all
those things you fear, and persevere and endure. Still your resurrected,
ascended, and glorified Lord comes to you and shows you His wounds, the living
proof of His death for you, and His resurrection for you. He is the Lamb
standing as though slain – standing, because He is clearly alive, victorious
over death and the grave – yet bearing still the marks of both spear and nail
forevermore, the living sign of our pardon for His sake. He invites you to Gaze
upon those glorious scars and to find confidence, comfort, and confirmation in
them. And, God the Father gazes upon those scars and He sees His suffering
servant who loved Him and His Word and His Law perfectly in holiness and
innocence for you and He is satisfied and at peace with you because of Him.
Still He comes to you, and still He invites you, not to put your fingers into
the marks in His hands and His feet, your hand into His side, but His flesh and
His blood into your mouth in Blessed Communion with Him now until He returns.
And, lo, He is with you always, even to the end of the age.
He came to them in the evening of the
day of His resurrection. He came to bring them peace – peace with God, which is
the only source of peace with man. They were gathered in fear. They were afraid
of the Jews who murdered Jesus, that they might do the same to them. And, they
were afraid of their own guilt and sin, that they fled and abandoned their Lord
in the hour of His greatest need, choosing to save their own skins and let Him
perish. Satan had them right where he wanted them – locked away, isolated from
the community and the world, hiding in fear and guilt, not telling anyone
anything. That’s what Satan wants for you as well. He spoke to them His peace –
His performative and creative Word, at once proclaiming and actually producing
the peace that He spoke. And, then, He gave them a sign, “He breathed on them
and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld’.”
Not only the Word does Jesus give, but the Word and the Sign. Though the Word
is sufficient, indeed all that is necessary, He who created you body and soul
graciously ministers to you according to both natures. The Sign is a gift to
you that your faith may be strengthened, that you may be confident in
forgiveness, and that you may not be afraid.
But, Thomas wasn’t there. He was late to
Church that first Easter Sunday and He missed out on the gifts. The others were
now overjoyed to tell Him they had seen the Lord, risen from the dead just as
He had said. No longer were they reticent in the silence of their guilt and
fear. But, Thomas didn’t believe them. In fact, the Scriptures say that Thomas
refused to believe unless he saw for himself in Jesus’ hands the mark of the
nails, and placed his fingers into the mark of the nails, and placed his hand
into Jesus’ side. For Thomas, the Word of the Lord was not enough, but He
demanded a sign. Now, throughout His ministry, Jesus often refused to grant a
sign to those who opposed Him in hardhearted unbelief, such as the Pharisees
and the religious leaders of the Jews. However, to those “bruised reeds” and
“smoldering wicks” who struggled to believe, even His disciples, Jesus would often
grant a sign, along with a mild rebuke, to those of “little faith.”
And, so He did the following Sunday.
Once again, Jesus appeared to His gathered disciples, showed Himself, breathed
upon them, and proclaimed to them His peace. Indeed, a pattern was established,
recounted in Acts 2:42, that the disciples would gather together on the Lord’s
Day for the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the
prayers, in the belief that the Lord would be with them as He had promised in
His Word. The Lord appeared to His disciples once again, as He does to you now,
and He invited Thomas, and you, to behold and to touch and to handle His
wounds, the proof and sign of His resurrection from the dead and of the
absolution of your sins. He comes to you with His Spirit-Word-Breath, which is
sufficient and true, but also with His flesh and blood body, with water, and
blessing, and touch that you may believe and be confident and trust and have
comfort and peace. He comes to you to absolve you of your sins, to remove your
guilt and your fear, to strengthen your faith, to equip you for good works, and
to send you to tell everyone everything about the Good News, the Gospel, of
Jesus’ resurrection victory on behalf of all the world.
To all you Doubting Thomases, Jesus
mercifully and graciously gives you these signs, these Sacraments – the
preaching of the Gospel, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Supper – that
“you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by
believing you may have life in His Name.” Whereas Thomas was blessed to see, to
hear, and to touch Jesus in the flesh, nevertheless, Jesus said to him, “Have
you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have believed.” My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you are they. You
are the ones who have not seen and yet have believed, thanks be to God. To you
Jesus has given the sacramental signs of water, blood, and spirit that, by
their witness, you may believe and overcome the world. The victory over sin,
death, and Satan is yours in Christ. Jesus Christ has died for your sins and
has been raised for your justification. Now He shares His victory with you. Of
what is there for you to be afraid? Are you afraid of what others will think of
you or do to you? “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell,” and that One
is God. Or, are you afraid that you will not know what to say, or that you do
not believe strong enough? Well, you don’t. But, do not despair, but rather
cling all the more to Christ and His Word of Promise. Receive His gifts and be
forgiven and strengthened and equipped through them.
Confess that you are a fearful sinner. You
stand in good company, for so were the Apostles, the Patriarchs, and the
Prophets before you. For, the Church of Jesus Christ is not a memorial for
saints who need no forgiveness, but it is a hospital for sinners just like you.
The Church is a mouth house for the forgiveness of sins. Do not be afraid! Christ
is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! And, that has changed everything! After
beholding His Lord and His Wounds, doubting Thomas no longer needed to see and
to touch, but he believed and he confessed, “My Lord, and my God!” a confession
even greater than that of Peter. Yet, still, your Lord Jesus is present for you
with His Words and His Wounds that you may hear and see and touch and taste and
believe and confess, with Thomas, and with all the saints in heaven and on
earth, “My Lord, and my God!” “Do not disbelieve, but believe,” and by
believing, you have life in His Name.
In
the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment