Today is the third Sunday of Easter. There are actually 7 Sundays of Easter. The resurrection is so powerful, it cannot be fully expressed in just one Sunday. Eastertide is the 50 days from Easter to Pentecost, which is June 5th this year. Eastertide is a time of expectant prayer where we wait for the Holy Spirit to empower us to serve God. We recall how the resurrected Jesus told the Disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to empower them to tell people about Him everywhere. During Eastertide this year, I challenge you to read through the Book of Acts by June 5th.
Today, we pick up the second half of the story of doubting Thomas from last Sunday. First, let's read the full story. Then we will go back and look at each verse.
John 20:24-29
24
One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the
others when Jesus came. 25 They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied,
“I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers
into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
26 Eight days
later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them.
The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them.
“Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here,
and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be
faithless any longer. Believe!”
28 “My Lord and
my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
29 Then Jesus
told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe
without seeing me.”
Now, let's look at each verse.
First of all we see that Thomas was nicknamed Didymus (which means Twin). Fascinating! The disciples were real people, just like you and me. Apparently one of them had a twin. We don’t know anything about His twin. Was the twin male or female? Did his twin die or was he still alive? Was he a follower of Christ? Unfortunately, the Bible doesn't tell us anything about Thomas' twin. Sometimes we have to live with unanswered questions.
A more relevant unanswered question I have from this story is: why Thomas absent the first time Jesus came? Was he off on some important errand? Was he off by himself because that was the best way for him to cope with his grief at losing Jesus? We don’t know.
How many times have you missed the powerful presence and working of Jesus because you weren’t there? We have so many things vying for our attention these days. It's easy to get distracted and miss out. That's why we should make sure you make time for God. We can make time through weekly sabbath rest and worship in church. We make time through daily prayer and devotion. We can make time to see God's power and work through occasional spiritual retreats (like the Walk to Emmaus) or a simple walk on the beach. God is not confined to a set schedule, so always been on the look out.
John 20:25 They told him, “We have seen the
Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe
it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and
place my hand into the wound in his side.”
It is from this one verse that we get Thomas’ most famous nickname. The disciples nick named him “The Twin”, but we call know him today as “Doubting Thomas”. It's unfortunate that Thomas walked with the Lord for at least three years and saw and did so many amazing things, but the one thing people remember about him is defined by this one verse where Thomas doubted.
Has “One” moment in your life ever come to dominate your identity? Maybe you were diagnosed with cancer and you were forever after known by your cancer. Maybe you spouse died and you became a widow or widower. Maybe you went through a divorce and that came to define your life experience. Sometimes someone hurts us deeply and then forever after the wound shadows us whether we like it or not. Even though we are so much more, our identities can become defined by that one thing that happened. People see us through that one; we may even see ourselves through the lens of that one identity shaping thing.
However, Jesu came back to set us free. We don't have to miss out on the future because of something that happened in the past. Jesus came to redeem our identity.
Even though the disciples were meeting behind locked doors, Jesus was miraculously there. Nothing can keep Jesus from finding you. No wound, no trauma, not even doubt can stop Jesus from coming for you. No one get left behind in Jesus’ Kingdom. Jesus keeps coming back to find the sheep who doubt, or a little slower, or who just missed out on the chance to be with Him for one reason or another. Isn’t it good to know that Jesus doesn't give up on us? He keeps coming back to invite us to come follow Him and find peace.
Even so, don’t put off answer Jesus' invitation, because no one knows how many more breaths or heartbeats you have. Life is short and you don't want to leave this life with any regrets. And you certainly don't want to leave this life without ever choosing to follow Jesus as your Lord and Savior. That would be an eternal regret. You would find yourself in hell, separated from God forever, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
John 20:27 Then he said to
Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the
wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
Jesus had beautiful scars. He didn't try to hide them. He came to Thomas and said "Look! It really is me!" Jesus' scars were the most beautiful things ever trace upon human skin because they proved His true identity and the depth of His love. They proved he died on a cross to pay for our sins, but that he also rose from the grave to defeat sin and death.
Jesus wasn't ashamed of His scars and we don’t need to be ashamed of our scars either. Remember, everyone has scars, even if you can’t see them. But Jesus can redeem our scars so the wounds that caused them no longer define us. Rather, our scars, if we are brave enough to share them with one another, tell the story of how Jesus has redeemed us or is redeeming us. Our scars ceased to be a record of our brokenness and become a witness to Jesus' transforming power when we have faith and follow Him.
John 20:28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
This is the simplest profession of faith. Jesus is the Christian's Lord and God. Thomas proclaimed Jesus was his Lord. This means two things for Thomas. First, it meant the man standing there with scars was indeed Jesus, not someone else. He was the man who walked with Thomas for three hears teaching and loving and healing and performing miracles. He is also the man who hung and died on the cross. He was the man Thomas loved.
However, "Lord" also means Jesus is Lord. He has absolute authority. He is to be followed. He is to be obeyed. Jesus is Lord of all!
And Jesus is "God". Jesus is more than “just a man”. He is more than a good man, more than a prophet, religious leader, revolutionary, miracle worker, healer… How many times have you tried to limit Jesus to what you wanted Him to be – the person who could get you out of a bind, save you from hell, heal your friend, teach your kids to be kind… Jesus may be all of the above, but He is not just those things. Jesus is God. Let that sink in. Let that define your relationship with Him.
John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you
have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
We can “see” Jesus in a thousand ways today. We still see miracles. healing, answered prayers. We see Him through the way He works out His plans, bringing people together in a million different ways. We can even see Christ's power in a sunset or the beauty of nature.
I see Jesus in the workings of my church all the time. He makes things happen in ways that no man could do by himself. Jesus is still alive and full of power and working miracles every day.
When we are immature, we may need to see the signs and wonders of Christ to believe. However, our goal is to grow up so we can walk by faith and not by sight. That means we don't have to depend upon frequent sighs and wanders in order to trust Jesus. No, even if we see nothing, we know Jesus is alive. We have faith. That is enough.
Even so, Jesus knows our weakness. That's why He gave a us such a gracious gift in Holy Communion. This is the sign sacrament Jesus instructed us to practice again and again to remember Him. It reminds us of His nail scarred body given freely for us. It reminds us of His blood shed for our sins because of His love that has no end. It also reminds us He died for us, but he is not dead. He is here among us. Just as Jesus came back so Thomas could believe, Jesus comes back so we can believe every time we celebrate Holy Communion.
Have you missed Jesus before. We’re you off somewhere else or distracted when everyone saw the risen Christ? Did you miss the miracle? Or have you been like Thomas and you’ve doubted because of something terrible that happened in your life. Maybe you wondered how Jesus could really be alive and love you because that happened.
In this bread and this wine of Holy Communion, you can see a miracle. Don’t miss it. Come touch Jesus’ nail scarred hands as you hold the bread in your hands. Come place your hand in the spear wound in Jesus’ side as you partake of the cup of wine. These are the glorious, beautiful scars Jesus reveals to you to show His love for you. And keep your eyes opened for the millions of other ways he shows you His life and love.
Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!
