Pastor Cofer
John 20:19-31
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Have you ever thought about Jesus’ appearances after Easter? They are strikingly different than what it was like before he died. It’s as though many of the constraints that Jesus had previously no longer applied. Doors and locks and solid walls have no meaning to Him. He doesn’t seem to walk from place to place, unless he’s carrying on a conversation along the way. It’s like the laws of nature are merely a suggestion to him.
What’s more, He is undeniably Jesus – but still his friends don’t seem to recognize him right away. It’s Jesus, sure enough, but he’s changed somehow. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that.
Given all that, I find it interesting that Jesus’ appearance, in all its resurrection glory and mystery, still bears the wounds or his crucifixion. Why? I mean, is this Jesus’ final eternal guilt trip – insurance that whenever we look at Him, we’ll remember his suffering and feel sorry?
No, I don’t think it’s that at all.
In our reading today, the apostle Thomas comes off as a bit of a skeptic. Skepticism in our world has come to be regarded as something of a virtue. Skepticism is considered one of the hallmarks of clear, rational thought – a necessary step in the pursuit of wisdom.
Not only that but skepticism is a cornerstone of how people interrelate. It’s a tool, a shield against being made a fool of. There are plenty of crackpots and conmen who are all too eager to get a few gullible saps buy whatever load of nonsense they’re pushing. So we have to build a barrier, or install a filter to sort out truth from foolishness. And that tool is a healthy skepticism.
Still, though, there’s a time to doubt, and there’s a time to trust. Being a Christian doesn’t mean being gullible – even though faith, trust, and hope are at the core of Christianity. The difference is that we don’t just trust anyone or anything indiscriminately – we trust in the One who is always trustworthy. We put our faith in the One who is always faithful.
Thomas missed that point. But I get it; I really do. Here’s the thing: if Jesus’ really didn’t rise from the dead, what would that mean? The apostles gave up three years of their life – no vacations, not leaves of absence, no holidays. The devoted three years of their lives to following Jesus, and in the span of about a week he went from entering the city to a grass roots, impromptu parade to being executed in the cruelest fashion the Romans had devised.
What would happen if you left your job or family for three years with virtually no notice? Do you think there’d be a job waiting for you at home? Do you think your family would welcome you with open arms? Or would you be an outcast and a laughing stock?
All of Thomas’ hopes were tied up in Jesus, and Jesus had died. You know what I’d be doing at that moment? I’d be grieving. I’d be grieving over the loss of my mentor and friend. I’d be grieving over the life I had left behind, and probably lost forever. I’d be grieving that all of the wisdom and love that my teacher had made no difference in the end.
That would be hard to process. That would be hard to come to terms with, and on top of that, it appears that all of my friends are in deep denial. So if you have to call him “Doubting” Thomas, I guess that’s fair… but I don’t know if I’d have done any better than him.
What really gets me though, is that the proof that Thomas is looking for isn’t, “If I see his smiling face” or “If I hear him speak again,” but rather the true proof of Jesus’ identity is in his pierced hands and side. That’s pretty profound, because it cuts right to the core of what makes Jesus who he is.
Any charlatan could waltz in and claim to be the reincarnated Christ. There are, no doubt, some folks who would fall for that kind of thing. But how can you tell the Savior of the world from all of the would-be pretenders? He alone bore the punishment for our sins.
I asked earlier why Jesus would keep his wounds in his glorified body. I think the Thomas story sheds some light on that. All of the suffering that Jesus endured, even a brutal, violent, undeserved execution, He undertook it all willingly. Jesus wasn’t the victim of great injustice. He is the victor in the conflict between heaven and hell. He didn’t take the nails with regret. His side wasn’t pierced in defeat. The cross is the site of Jesus’ triumph.
That’s why his wounds don’t disappear. They are an enduring reminder, not of our sin, but of his great love. They are the proof that Jesus is exactly who He claims to be, and has completed the work He set out to do.
It’s a beautiful scene when Jesus and Thomas are reunited. We catch a glimpse at God’s faithfulness, even to stubborn cynics. But this vignette wraps up, in typical Jesus-style, with a difficult to understand tagline. Jesus says, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
On the one hand, it’s kind of neat to see Jesus looking through the pages of the Bible directly at us, and giving us a bit of a wink. Sure, he’s talking to Thomas, but he’s most certainly talking to us as well. But what does that actually mean?
I have to say, I’m pretty envious of the folks who got to see Jesus. I wish I could conjure up a memory of his face, or hear his voice or give him a hug or something. I feel like “blessed are those who have seen and believe.”
But Jesus says that we have it better than Thomas and the disciples. We have a blessing that He did not. I wonder a bit if it has something to do with living by faith rather than sight.
If you operate only on what you see, your world is incredibly small. I mean, anything before September 8, 1981 is strictly hypothetical to me. I’ve never been to Europe. I’ve never seen an electron. There’s a whole lot of world out there that I have to take on faith.
But, for those who are able to trust God, to believe His promises even when they can’t see the proof, the world is infinitely bigger and brighter and better. If we live strictly by sight, there is nothing outside of today, this moment in this place. But when there is trust, there is a tomorrow, and where there is a tomorrow there is hope.
This church is named Hope, and that means something. We are today people, and tomorrow people. We live in the now, but we also keep one eye on the horizon. There’s work to be done today, there’s a world to be lived in today, but there’s an even better one just around the corner. That’s the power of God’s promises.
God’s design for us to that we live in hope. Hope can be shared and spread. Hope can carry you through when you have nothing else. If “seeing is believing,” then how many of us would be without hope? But we believe without seeing, and are lives are better for it. We are certain of Christ’s victory, not because our own imperfect and unreliable eyes have witnessed it, but because God is faithful to His promises. And that gives us hope.
