April 19, 2020 – John 20:19-31
John 20:19-31
Growing in Faith with Thomas
Second Sunday of Easter – April 19, 2020
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
I love the resurrection stories about the risen Jesus.
And one of many fascinating things about them is that
none of them are repeated in any of the Gospels.
They are all different and strikingly individual.
There is this one in John about the first Easter Sunday evening.
But Luke’s account of the first Easter evening is very different,
as recounted in the story of the Road to Emmaus.
Matthew does not tell a story of the first Easter Sunday evening;
rather, the risen Jesus meets the disciples on a mountain in Galilee.
And in Mark, we do not ever even see the risen Jesus –
but that is a completely different thing to unravel at another time!
This is strange because in broad outlines,
the Gospels share quite a bit when it comes to Jesus’ life before the resurrection,
and many of the same stories can be found in all four Gospels.
But after Jesus is raised something changes.
It’s as if the story of the pre-resurrection Jesus could follow a conventional, linear story-line,
a story-line in which Jesus moves from ministry in and around Galilee
to death in Jerusalem . . .
but as if after that it seems the resurrected Jesus can no longer be confined to a single story.
Suddenly Jesus’ story becomes non-linear.
Apparently, the different communities of believers
each experienced Jesus among them in unique ways.
After the resurrection, Jesus can’t be confined to a single place or a single story-line any longer.
The risen Christ is on the loose. The risen Christ comes to where we need him.
In this story, he comes to the disciples who are afraid for their lives,
locked in a room on Easter Sunday evening.
Likely they are afraid that the political and religious authorities will now come looking for
the “known associates” of the criminal Jesus!
And that is where Jesus comes to them,
in order to give them his spirit and give them the gift of peace.
Now Thomas, as we all know, is not among the disciples on that first evening.
Evidently, Thomas is not afraid to go out!
Even though Thomas gets a bad rap for being “doubting” Thomas, I don’t think this is fair.
For one thing, the story does not actually use the word “doubt” anywhere (more on this in a bit).
For another, Thomas is not filled with fear as are the other disciples.
Finally, when Thomas asks to see the risen Jesus he is, after all,
only asking for what the other disciples have already received.
Unfortunately, our translation obscures what is going on.
In the translation, Jesus says to Thomas, “Do not doubt, but believe.”
This implies that Thomas has no faith but is a person of doubt.
But what the text literally says in Greek is, “Do not become without faith.”
Now that is a very different thing to say. It implies Thomas has faith –
and that Jesus is now encouraging him to go to a deeper, more intense level of faith.
He has faith, but Jesus wants him to experience a fuller faith.
Perhaps the level of faith of those – like us – who have not seen and yet have come to faith,
that is, have come to know Jesus.
At this point it is very important to understand what John, specifically, means by “faith.”
Faith in John’s Gospel is all about coming to know who Jesus is and
what he is about more and more fully.
Over and over in the Gospel people move from
one level of faith or knowledge of who Jesus is and what he is about into
deeper levels of faith or knowledge of Jesus.
The Good News is that we are not alone in having to nurture this faith:
the resurrected Jesus will come to where we are in order to lead us deeper into faith.
In the Gospel of John we don’t get to see much more of Thomas – so we don’t really know
how his story plays out or whether or not he in fact gets to a new level of faith.
But it is widely believed that Thomas in later life journeyed to South India where
he founded one of the most ancient churches in the world, the St. Thomas Church.
He worked there for 40 years spreading the love of Jesus.
Finally, in about 72 A.D., he was martyred on what is now known as St. Thomas Mount.
Today you can visit a church and shrine dedicated to his memory there,
near Chennai in South India, as I did many years ago.
It was very moving to think that Thomas, all those years ago, had travelled all this way,
far from home and had become a stranger in stranger land –
simply to share the love of God he’d come to know in Jesus.
All because years earlier, Jesus had come to him and Thomas had grown deeper in faith.
Like the disciples on that Easter evening long ago we too are behind closed doors,
perhaps afraid, certainly anxious about many things.
It is here that the risen Jesus comes to us – he is very close,
as Carolyn reminded us in her devotion on Wednesday.
How does he continue to come to us?
Perhaps in this time of isolation and waiting
he comes through these devotions and sermons to you,
to give you the gift of peace and nurture the faith that you already have and
make it deeper.
Perhaps this time is one in which you can grow in knowledge of who Jesus is and
what he is about.
Perhaps you will come to know him better.
As it was for Thomas long ago, the question that remains is this:
Once this time of isolation is over, where will this faith take you?
My prayer is that it may take us as a community to ever further places where
we can spread the love of Jesus, from isolated rooms into streets of love,
into neighbourhoods of mercy, and into the city of peace.
And so with Thomas and Mary Magdalene and all the sent ones of every time and every place,
let us say together a virtual, “Amen.”
Let us pray. Thank you, risen Jesus, for coming to us where we are. We are fearful and anxious and behind closed doors yet you come with your peace and nurture us in faith. Help us in this time to grow in knowledge of who you are and what you are about in the world. Help us trust that you are still on the loose and at work in the world, calling us to love you and those whom you love – both behind closed doors and, when the time is right, outside of them. Amen.
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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