The following sermon I preached at my internship church in Bedford, PA, on the Second Sunday in Easter, 2023. In it, I try to give a nuanced reading of the account of Thomas’ doubting, so that the congregants might see the goodness of God and not dwell self-righteously on Thomas’ foibles.
9 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.’ 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘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.’
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ 27 Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ 28 Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ 29 Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these 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.
John 20:19-31
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Poor, Poor Apostle Thomas! Everyone knows his story. Everyone knows that Thomas doubted that Christ was risen, that he said so strongly “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!” We remember sermons where we are told “don’t be a doubting Thomas!” and “learn from Thomas’ example!” He is painted as a pitfall for us to avoid, a moral warning for us to heed. Maybe even a club by which to beat those with weak faith among us, or our family members that are slowly leaving the Church and disengaging from the faith.
I want to encourage us this morning to think a little differently about this episode in the Gospel. Let’s really pay attention to the text, even though we know the story so well. Let’s suspend our judgment and our head shaking for a minute—because the Scriptures want to communicate something to us beyond simply that faith is good and doubt is bad, or beyond a warning against becoming ‘Doubting Thomases.’
Let’s look carefully at the text. It is evening. The first day of the week. Sunday. The day after the sabbath. The doors of the house are locked. The disciples are afraid, because Jesus has been seized, beaten, crucified, and buried. There is some irony in the text. John and Peter have already gone to the tomb, but they have come away with different states of the heart from one another: one of faith, one of doubt. Mary Magdalene has already encountered the Divine Gardener, the one who planted Eden—who disclosed to her that he is the Lord. She has already been commissioned to preach the first Gospel to the rest of the disciples: and yet, they do not listen to her message. They are afraid. They haven’t seen Jesus. They have locked the doors of their hearts and their senses from fear of those that would do them harm, those that killed their Lord. In a sense, then, perhaps there is more than one "doubting Thomas" in this reading, don't you think?
Jesus appears to the disciples in their midst and says: “Shalom, Eireinei, peace.” That is, “hello”—but also, something much more profound, something with deep spiritual depths. Just as from the cross Jesus said “it is complete, it is perfect, it is finished”—now he appears to the disciples and says “Wholeness. Wellness. Completeness. Peace.” And as if as evidence for this claim, to show them where this wholeness and wellness resides, he shows them his hands and his side. In his body, in his wounds, he has reconciled all things, bringing them into one. Peace, he says, and he shows them the lasting marks of his great struggle, the very event which Jesus underwent to bring real and lasting peace.
It is only then, our text says, that the disciples rejoiced. They hear his declaration. They see his wounds, the trophies of his struggle. And they know, as one hymn puts it, “the strife is o’er, the battle won.” That Christ has accomplished all things, even the conquering of death in his own body. And realizing this, they are filled with joy. Joy, because they saw the Lord.
Jesus says it again: “Peace be with you.” How he wants them to wrap their minds and hearts around it. Wholeness. Wellness. Everything completed, even in them. “Peace be with you.” And then he turns them into Apostles, he makes them the Church. He breathes into them, as God breathed into Adam in the beginning. And by his very breath he transfers to them the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who resides on Jesus by ownership is here dispensed from his human body to the bodies of the Apostles. They become Spirit-bearers, they become little Christs. And the Spirit is active, it energizes, it gives life and fulness, it unites and brings all things into unity with God—this is the Spirit that Christ breathes onto the Disciples. And he says: “I send you in the same way as my Father sent me: I am placing the Holy Spirit on you to accomplish this task, to live your life like my life, in love for the world, to bring me to the world, for the purpose of reconciliation, of the forgiveness of sins, of the erasing of death and all its pain, suffering, and corruption.” “Only God can forgive sins” the Pharisees grumbled against Jesus—now, Jesus places God on the disciples, and says that their ministry shares in the ministry of God Himself, to forgive the sins of the world.
How marvelous! How beautiful! But do you remember what we said long ago, way before Easter, about the way that John writes? John loves misunderstandings! Divine Doctrine is disclosed from heaven—when it is heard by mortal ears, it is simply misunderstood, it is veiled, it is the letter which kills. And this is what happens in the case of the Apostle Thomas.
Thomas was one of the twelve who was not with the disciples when Jesus came to them. When those on whom the Holy Spirit rested came and told him the good news—their first evangelism project—he doubts. The disciples have no power in and of themselves to bring about faith in Thomas. They have been given the authority to forgive sins—that is, they are brought into the ministry of God himself—but they are not God, they are only instruments. It seems impossible, but Thomas is not brought to faith. Instead, he doubts.
After a week—that is, again on the first day of the week, the day after the Sabbath, the disciples are together in the house once more, and this time Thomas is present. It’s interesting that now they are in the habit of meeting together on Sundays, isn’t it? Possibly for a meal?
Thomas is with them, and Jesus shows up once more. And just as we do before we enter into the liturgy of the sacrament, Jesus says “peace be with you.” And then, Thomas puts his hands in Jesus’ side, he sees and beholds Jesus’ wounds. And Thomas recognizes that Jesus is indeed the one who he says he is, the Risen Lord, who is God incarnate, the one who has done away with death forever.
Thomas’ doubting provokes Jesus to proclaim a blessing, not a curse. This is key! Jesus has come to give peace: and when he sees that Thomas doubted, he gives a special blessing for all of us who are in a similar situation. He says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” And then John closes the chapter by saying that it is his book, the Gospel of John, his testimony about Jesus, which was written so that we may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. So blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe—those who have listened to the testimony of John and the other Apostles, to those who have seen and beheld the risen Jesus in their words. Because by listening to the Apostolic witness, listening to the teaching and preaching of the Apostles and all those whom they have ordained and sent out for the sake of peace on earth—that is, those on whom the Holy Spirit resides in a special way—we encounter life, we are baptized into his life-giving name.
You are those who are being blessed here in the text. You have listened to the passion story last week; you have followed Jesus from the garden to the cross to the grave. You have seen the sanctuary stripped and reclothed, just as Christ’s body was taken from him and then restored. Even though you do not see the Risen Savior in your midst right now, bodily, you still believe this testimony, which the Apostolic Witness, the Scriptures, and the Apostolic Person, your Pastor, have delivered over to you. And because of this, John here says you are blessed. When you are connected with Jesus, when you hear his word gladly, when you eat his flesh and drink his blood, you participate in the source and font of life itself; you eat God’s Body, you drink God’s blood. And all of the benefits trail after you—the divine name, the Holy Spirit, abundant life, all blessing, all peace, and the forgiveness of all of your sins.
So there is more going on in this text than we at first suspected. More than a moral lesson, this story contains the substance of our Christian life, the foundation of the life of the church, the nature of the apostolic and pastoral ministry, and a blessing for you and for me as we continue to read, learn, mark, and inwardly digest God’s Word. This blessing is something that you can count on, something that you can put your faith in. May we continue to do so from now to the end of our lives. Amen.