Text: John 20:19-31 (RSV)
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” 22 And 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; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Jesus and Thomas
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, 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 in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but 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; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.” 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 believe.”
The Purpose of This Book
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
It might strike you as odd, but this passage is one of my favorites. It’s a favorite because it, first of all, shows the fearful disciples and “doubting” Thomas for what they were – common, everyday people, just like us, people who sometimes don’t know where to turn, people who occasionally have feet of clay that reach up to their knees, people who sometimes lose heart; but they were people who nevertheless in the end rose to the occasion and wound up doing great things. Secondly, it shows us that God – in the person of Jesus – never forgets or forsakes us, but is always there to lift us up and empower us to do what he calls us to do. Thirdly, this passage once again drives home the point of the reality of the Resurrected Jesus, who lives with us and dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, and who, to paraphrase slightly the words of our Communion liturgy, “now reigns with [God the Father] in glory and ever lives to pray for us.”[1]
First, “doubting” Thomas. Thomas is one the best-known of the disciples, right up there with Peter, and James, and John. But his reputation has never been exactly one that people want to emulate. He has been the poster boy of doubt for the last 2000 years.
But let’s take a moment to look at the context of this passage.
Outside of his supposed doubt, the main thing we know about Thomas is that he just happened to not be home when Jesus visited. Why might that have been? Maybe he was out doing something as simple as getting food for the group – but given that they were all marked men, and that the authorities were out looking for them, this was not just a typical shopping trip; it was a dangerous and potentially deadly undertaking. At any time, he could have been identified in the marketplace, caught, and the show would have been over for all of them. So, whether it was a trip to the market, or some other vital errand, it could be that the disciples had drawn lots, he lost, and had to go.
So then, when he finally gets back safely, he’s confronted by the other disciples who are delirious with joy and excitement, not to mention renewed faith and enthusiasm. They tell him that Jesus had been there – but Thomas had just missed him!
Imagine how he must have felt. Not only had he been out there, risking life and limb, but now he discovers he’s missed one of the greatest visits of all time! It may be, then, that his immediate reaction wasn’t so much one of doubt as of the most human of emotions – disappointment, maybe tinged with a little jealousy. “How come these other guys got to see Jesus, and I didn’t?”
Something else might have been at work here, too. Back when Jesus said that they were going to see Lazarus in Bethany, which was guaranteed to be dangerous, of all the disciples it was Thomas who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16). From this, it’s clear that Thomas did not lack for courage; so it’s hard for me to reconcile a statement like that with the notion that Thomas was somehow less than convinced about Jesus’ promise: “the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:14-16, NIV) “[Thomas] loved [Jesus] enough to be willing to go to Jerusalem and die with him when the other disciples were hesitant and afraid. What he had expected had happened, and when it came, for all that he had expected it, he was broken-hearted, so broken-hearted that he could not meet the eyes of others, but must be alone with his grief.”[2]
So, it may be that Thomas was just out taking a walk – a very dangerous walk, but a necessary one, just the same – and just needed some time alone to grieve and be with his thoughts about what was going to happen next.
And when he says to the other disciples that he wouldn’t believe unless he saw in Jesus’ hands the print of the nails, and was able to place his finger in the mark of the nails, and place his hand in Jesus’ side, it seems to me that Thomas was not saying “unless all that happens, I won’t believe in Jesus,” but rather, “unless I see all that for myself, I won’t believe what you say.” He was not so much expressing doubt as he was responding with some specific criteria for believing. It’s kind of like the people of Missouri who are proud to live in the “Show Me State.” Finally, another point that needs to be made is that the Greek word for “doubt,” distazo (διστάζω) does not appear anywhere in this particular text, and, in fact, does not appear anywhere in this chapter of John’s Gospel. So, instead of calling him “Doubting Thomas,” we might just as easily call him “Conditional Thomas,” or “Show-Me Thomas,” or “Missouri Tom,” or something like that.
The point here is that Thomas is more than a one-dimensional cardboard cutout of a character. He was a human being who doesn’t really deserve the reputation he’s been saddled with. After all, the other disciples are not exactly shown in this text to be towers of strength or paragons of faith, either – they had been huddling behind barred windows and a locked door since Jesus had been arrested. So, in short, singling Thomas out is not quite fair.
Finally, by many accounts, Thomas lived an amazing life. There is an ancient sect of Christians in India called, not surprisingly, “Saint Thomas Christians,” who trace their history back to the evangelistic work Thomas did there.[3] The story goes that when the Portuguese first came to India, bringing their missionaries with them, they got quite a shock – the natives told them that they knew all about Jesus and had been Christians for centuries, thanks to Thomas! There’s even a tradition in Paraguay, of all places, that Thomas made it there, too!
Not at all bad for a guy who’s gone down in history as being a doubter!
What are the takeaways for us? First, doubt, it should be noted, is not the lack of faith, as so many people think; fear is. By giving in to fear, “[the disciples] are letting the world, rather than the risen Jesus, control their actions and attitudes.”[4] So, this passage is about Jesus overcoming the fear of his disciples. One blogger, Steve Pankey, writes on his “Draughting Theology” blog: “Fear equals a lack of trust and a lack of trust equals a lack of faith. While doubt is a matter of the head, fear is a matter of the heart. Fear holds us back from the full relationship that God calls us into. Fear…causes us to act in all sorts of unhealthy ways. God’s modus operandi (MO) is to invite us to ‘not be afraid.’ His angels start their appearances by calming fears. Jesus, when he enters the upper room on Easter Day, attempts to quell the fear in the room.”[5]
Second, we see here a wonderful example of the overwhelming grace of God – Jesus comes to his friends, gives them his peace, and takes away their fear.
Third, we see what great things can happen when fear is put aside and replaced with the strength of faith. That small group of common, ordinary men truly did change the world. The other Apostles also went on from that upper room into the world and did unbelievable things, endured incredible hardships, and some of them died willingly for their faith.
We testify to that ourselves here today. If not for their work, as well as the efforts of the Apostle Paul, and the labors of countless others through the centuries whose names we will never know, we would not be here this morning. Sir Isaac Newton (no relation), who was perhaps the greatest scientist the world has yet produced, once modestly said, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”[6] In much the same way, we also owe a debt we cannot ever repay to these early giants of the faith that we share with them. And their example can help us in our own efforts to faithfully live out Jesus’ commands to “do unto others,” to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” to “feed [his] sheep,” to in short walk in his ways to his glory and the ushering in of the Reign of God. We can do all that. We have been given the Holy Spirit, the power and the authority to act in his name, just as the Apostles did.
Finally, this text, as well as the one from last week, is not about Thomas or the other disciples. It’s really about the various initial responses to the Resurrection on the parts of the people involved. Mary’s initial reaction to the empty tomb is one of confusion and consternation, but Jesus moves her to a response of obedient faith. Peter, the man who was to be the rock on which the church is built, sees for himself the empty tomb but walks away without coming to any definite conclusion. The disciple whom Jesus loved, on the other hand, sees and believes instantly without even knowing the Scriptural prophecy regarding Jesus’ Resurrection. And we have the responses of Thomas and the other disciples in today’s passage.
In each case, Jesus transforms confusion, fear, and conditional acceptance with his overwhelming and powerful grace, and turns them into that perfect peace only God can give, into awe, into joy, and into wonder.
Believing is not a matter of physical proofs. Believing is not a matter of having conditions met. Believing is not a matter of seeing; believing transcends seeing.
Ultimately, the appropriate response to the reality of Easter involves accepting the transformation Jesus offers, the transformation that drives away fear, that drives away doubt, that transformation from the inside out which makes us, with Thomas, proclaim “My Lord and my God!”
That is my Easter wish for all of us!
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
[1] Book of Worship United Church of Christ, Cleveland, OH, United Church of Christ, Local Church Ministries, Worship and Education Ministry Team, p. 46
[2] Barclay, William, The Gospel of John, Volume Two, The New Daily Study Bible, Louisville, KY, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001, p. 321
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Thomas_Christians
[4] Carlson, Richard Prof., “Commentary on John 20:19-31,” “Working Preacher,” April 19th, 2009, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=295
[5] https://draughtingtheology.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/fear-not-doubt-is-the-opposite-for-faith/
[6] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton