“Again Jesus said to them “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me so I send you. Then Jesus breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Jhn: 20:21-22.
The First Sunday after Easter is called by
many Christians Thomas Sunday, for on that Easter day when Jesus showed himself
alive to his astonished Disciples, St. Thomas was not present. This is not a
condemnation of St. Thomas, rather is symbolic showing us the great Commission
which the Lord Jesus has placed upon all Christians in every and in all
ages.
After that glorious Resurrection of our Lord
Jesus and the showing of himself alive to his Disciples on that first Easter
evening. After our Lord, through the showing of his hands, feet and wounded
side, demonstrated unquestionably to be that very same Jesus who they had known
for so long, who taught them and showed them the glories of the Kingdom of God,
after he was witnessed by the Disciples to be his very self and declared peace
upon and to them. Jesus came again, to the assembled Disciples , this time, to
reveal the very mission of theirs lives and the lives of all the followers of
our Lord individually and collectively.
St. John records the words of our Lord at his
first post-Resurrection manifestation on that First Easter to the assembled
Disciples there in that Upper Room.
“and Jesus came and stood among them and
said “Peace be to you” Jhn: 20:19c
Our Lord Jesus then makes an important and highly
symbolic gesture toward those amazed Disciples, and accompanies it with his
intent and reassurance to them, and all his followers, the
Church, throughout the ages, and then reveals his purpose for coming and
giving them the conformation of his Resurrection, which confirms his words, and
verifies Jesus’ divine identity.
So I Send You
St. John’s narrative tells us of this
moment, a moment which in truth transcends itself and speaks to us all in
whatever every age in which we live. This moment is for us all who come to see
and to believe in Jesus. That is, Jesus has revealed himself to us as having
come from the grip of death and now lives in glory. That, very same Jesus has through the Holy scriptures stood before us and declared his peace to us and showed us his wounds of the
Crucifixion and death.
We have come to believe and to have
experienced the reality of his risen life, we have seen that Jesus who was dead
is alive now for evermore.
After our Lord conclusively proved that it was,
he, himself. Jesus then again spoke his peace to Disciples and reveals his
purpose for them and his gives sure affirmation of his divine assistance and
presence in the fulfillment of their heavenly appoint commission.
“Again Jesus said to them “Peace be with
you. As the Father has sent me so I send you. Then Jesus breathed on them and
said “Receive the Holy Spirit”. (21-22)
Jesus gives the Disciples his purpose in the
revealing of himself alive from the grip of death.
“as the Father has sent me so I send you”
(21b)
Jesus has revealed himself so that they,
and disciples throughout the ages, the Church, might have the godly confidence
that Jesus is alive, as they, and we, enter into his divine undertaking of
continuing his ministry upon the Earth.
“Peace be with you” (21a)
Through the agency of the Holy Spirit
Jesus was with them, and he is with us, and will empower his disciples to accomplish his
work which is entrusted to them, in the very same manner as he was in his time
upon the Earth, that they might deeply know that words, the Gospel message
about Jesus, which they proclaim to the yet unbelieving world is true.
“receive you the Holy Spirit” (22b)
Jesus’ peace abides with them, and we all when
we face opposition, and that the disciples of the Lord can know that the
ultimate outcome will be for their good, and that the yet unbelieving world can
experience the salvation wrought by Jesus for us all and that our Lord and God
will be glorified.
We, like they, who have touched the wounds in
his hands feet and side and have seen Jesus alive from the dead so-to-speak,
are to go forth without fear and witness the truth that we have seen Jesus
alive from the dead even as those Disciples did so long ago.
St. Thomas Not There
Now, it had been, when our Lord Jesus came and
stood among them there in the Upper Room, even as they hid in fear behind
closed doors on that first Easter evening. One of their company, St. Thomas,
was not present and did not witness that glorious revealing of our Lord Jesus’
Holy self to his beloved followers.
‘But Thomas (called the twin) one of the
twelve, was not with them when Jesus came” (24)
When St. Thomas rejoins the group in the Upper
Room, the other Disciples were unable to contain their joy at now knowing that
their Lord and friend Jesus was now come again from the cold darkness of the
grave and death and that he has come among them.
“the other Disciples told Thomas, “we have
seen the Lord” (25a)
Unless I See the Wounds
When the joyful Disciples relay to St. Thomas
the message that they have “seen the Lord”, that is, they have
first had witnessed the truth of his glorious Resurrection, that Jesus is risen
from the dead, that Jesus lives.
When St. Thomas first hears this glorious
report of Jesus’ Resurrection, he is, at first, hesitant to believe it on face
value of the Disciples word alone. St. Thomas has not yet experienced Jesus’
Resurrected life for himself, St. Thomas wants his own experience with the
living Jesus.
“But Thomas said to them “Unless I see the
wounds left by the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the wounds of the
nails , and put my hand into the wound of his side, I will not believe”(25)
Jesus Among Them
The week passed until once again as they
gather together in that Upper Room, and all are now present, including St.
Thomas and is still set on his hesitation to embrace the truth that his fellow
Disciples have experienced.
Then upon first day of the week, one week
after that first Easter, in the midst of the gathering of the Disciples, our
Lord manifest himself to them even as they were behind a closed door and stands
among them. Again, joyfully startled by the sudden appearance of Jesus. Jesus
then declares again his peace upon his Disciples to calm their fears and uncertainties.
“a week later his Disciples were again in
the house and Thomas was with them. And although the doors were locked, Jesus
came and stood among them and said to them “Peace be with you” (26)
Put Your Finger Here
Jesus then gently and graciously deals with
his hesitant friend and Disciple St. Thomas who stood among them seeing now the
divine truth of the Resurrected Jesus. Jesus does this by giving St. Thomas
what he himself stated that he would require to believe the others Disciples
report about Jesus.
St. Thomas wanted to see that the one whom the
Disciples spoke about as alive was the very same one who had been crucified.
The evidence would be the wounds inflicted by the cruel and bitter death by
which St. Thomas knew Jesus had experienced. As St. Thomas had said “Unless
I see the wounds left by the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the
wounds of the nails, and put my hand into the wound of his side, I will not
believe”.
Jesus accommodates his hesitant Disciple, not,
to in any way, to shame, berate or humiliate St. Thomas or to dismiss him in
anyway, but rather, Jesus is motivated only by the divine Holy love of God
which he demonstrated, there upon the cross of Calvary for all humanity.
Jesus himself provides the evidence of which
turns St. Thomas’ hesitation into glorious certainty and worship and confession
of the Holy truth that Jesus is Resurrected and now lives glorified.
Jesus approaches St. Thomas and extends his
wounded hands and offers his wounded side to show his Disciple that the ones
who now lives is the very some who died there upon the bloody Cross that Good
Friday.
“Then Jesus said to Thomas “Put your finger
here and see my hands. Reach out and put it in my side. Believe and do not
doubt.” (27)
When presented with the truth shown to him by
Jesus himself, St. Thomas filled with the secure knowledge that his Lord and
friend lives and is now found among them, he responds with his confession which
echoes in all of time and eternity.
“And Thomas answered Jesus “My Lord and my
God” (28)
We Have Seen the Lord
Recall, at the very onset of St. John’s
account the risen Lord Jesus comes and stands among them and tells the
assembled Disciples that he is come to them showing himself to be Resurrected
and that he is placing upon them a Holy calling sending his empowered Disciples
forth, and in so doing , he is calling them into participation into the calling
which his Holy Father placed upon his divine Son, “as the Father has sent me
so I send you”.
What is the very heart of message that we,
like the Disciples, are sent forth to proclaim to all the world around us, for
which our Lord has given to us? The answer is found in the report given to St.
Thomas by the other Disciples.
What was the focus of the report to the absent
St. Thomas when he rejoined the assembled Disciples at a later time? ....“We
have seen the Lord”.
This is the very heart of the message, the
good news, the Gospel which they shared with St. Thomas. This has been the
message throughout the ages which the Disciples of Jesus are called to give to
the hesitant world around us, that “we have seen the Lord”, maybe not
with eyes of our sight but surely with the eyes of the Spirit and our hearts.
This is the very same message which was given to St. Thomas and for which we
are sent into the broader community of the world.
Our risen Lord has “breathed on” us as
he did the Disciples gathered in that Upper Room, giving us the Holy Spirit and
Jesus then sends us forth into the ends of the Earth to tell others that Jesus
is risen from the dead, “that we have seen the Lord” even if they, like St.
Thomas initially is hesitant to believe it.
We, his Disciples, the followers of the Lord
are each time we gather together or in our private times of worship and prayer,
handling the risen Lord, touching his wounds. St. John was recalling the
moments when our Lord had shown himself alive to his followers, when the aged
Apostle wrote his fist General Epistle to Christians around 85 AD.
“What was from the beginning, what we have
heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with
our hands concerning the Word of Life” 1Jhn:1:4
St. John then proceeds to tell us why and the
other Apostles shared their experiences with the Resurrected Jesus through the
Gospel message which they proclaimed over Earth and down through the centuries.
“and the life was manifested, and we have seen
and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and
was manifested to us-what we have seen, and heard we also proclaim to you also,
so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with
the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ” (2-3)
What St. John is telling all believers
is, that he and the other Disciples “have seen the Lord” and they are
telling us about it so that we might share in the experiences. That we will
have fellowship, that is we like they, can look upon and handle the wounds and
know that Jesus lives and is come from the dead.
That one who eternally stands before us is the
one who laid within the tomb. That Jesus has “tasted death for all”, as
Hebrews tells us.
My Lord and My God
We, the Disciples of the Lord, the Church are
to continually come together where, our Lord is even now manifesting himself to
us in the midst of the assembled Church. Jesus does this to give us ongoing
confirmation that he is among us and that he lives.
This is so that when we assemble, we find our
Lord always there among us declaring “Peace be with you”. We can be
at peace because he lives, Jesus shows us his wounds which are the eternal
evidence that Jesus is, as St. Paul would write.
Jesus “Is our Peace”. Eph: 2:14
And Jesus’ wounds which he holds forth for our
inspection are that eternal evidences of this divine truth and reveal to us all
for time and eternity that one very one who stands before us alive is the very
same one who died and entered into death for us all.
It was his wounds offered to St. Thomas which proved to the hesitant Disciple that it was Jesus himself. St. Thomas wanted to believe, but he wanted his own experience with Jesus which our Lord graciously gave to him. This is an important lesson for all Disciples of the Lord, especially to those who are ordained to proclaim the Gospel to consider, that we, like the Disciples who encountered Jesus among them and told absent St. Thomas about the encounter could not make St. Thomas believe the report, it would require Jesus himself to graciously show the hesitant in the world around us that he lives.
We can only speak about as St. John wrote: “what
we have seen, and heard we also proclaim to you”, to the doubters in
the world around us, but only the Lord Jesus can through the Holy Spirit show
them his wounds and they believe and worship Jesus.
We are called and given the certainty that our
Lord Jesus has been risen from the dead and sent forth into the world to
proclaim to all the Holy truth that “we have seen the Lord” so that all
might join in fellowship of the risen Lord and share is the confession
of St. Thomas “My Lord and My God”.
This is a lesson of the Season of Easter that
we are sent forth by our Lord to declare that he lives.
Benediction: May we each and all ever look upon the
wounds of our Lord Jesus who shows himself alive risen from the dead, that we
might forever declare that “we have seen the Lord” so that all around us
might join in the confession of St. Thomas “My Lord and My God”, today,
tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.
Topinabee Community Church
Topinabee Michigan
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