Doubting Disciples

John 20:19-31

Easter 2

April 19, 2020

J. J.

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in Thy sight,

O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Alleluia. He is risen.

He is risen, indeed. Alleluia.

“Doubting Disciples”

They were in the Upper Room. The same room where they had eaten the Passover Meal on Thursday evening. Now they had the doors locked. They were afraid of the religious leaders. Why? The religious leaders had turned against their leader, Jesus. They had done the doubly unthinkable: they had turned to Pilate, their oppressor, enemy, and a pagan, to carry out their plan, and they had schemed and accomplished the death of Jesus. Not only His death – which under the Jewish law for the offense of blasphemy of which they accused him, should have been by stoning – but death by crucifixion. Torture and execution combined, horrific and shameful.

If these leaders would go to these lengths, and they had, what would they do to them, His disciples? They had every rational reason to be afraid. They were inside and out of sight. The doors were locked and they were staying locked. They were in lockdown.

He appeared. What?! Who?! How?! Just like that. Jesus was standing there. “Peace be with you.” The word of His resurrection was true! He is alive! Thomas, however, was not there. He refused to believe that they had seen Jesus or that He was alive.

The next Sunday, they were still there in that room. Afraid, locked-up. This time Thomas was there. Jesus appeared. Again. “Peace be with you.” “Thomas, see Me. Touch Me. Believe Me.” “My Lord and My God,” Thomas replied.

It was the Sunday after Easter, just like today, when Jesus appeared and Thomas saw Him. That is why this Sunday is always Doubting Thomas Sunday. But it wasn’t just Thomas who had his doubts. The disciples, all of them, were doubters. They were afraid, worried, scared. Why do we worry? We worry when we don’t know what will happen. We worry when we fear that what will happen will be bad, or at least less than desirable. We have our doubts. We roll them around in our minds. We think about them. We believe them. And when we believe our doubts, worry is hatched. Thomas doubted. The disciples doubted. It would be more accurate to call this Doubting Disciples Sunday.

The Doubting Disciples are not just those locked up in that room that day. Who else do you know who is in lockdown? Who else do you know who doesn’t know what will happen? Who else do you know who has their doubts? Or rather, whose doubts have them? We don’t have to look very far to find Doubting Disciples do we?

What changed things for those disciples? What changed things for Thomas? Did they have doubts? Yes. But they stopped believing their doubts. They heard the words of Jesus, “Peace be with you.” Instead of believing their doubts, they doubted their doubts. They believed Jesus. Were the religious leaders still there? Yes. Were they still out to get them. Yes. But Jesus had spoken His peace to them. And in speaking that word, “peace,” He gave them peace. God spoke the word, “let light be,” and there was light. God is almighty and His word is powerful. His word is not just words. His word always accomplishes what it says.

Jesus says to us, “peace be with you.” We hear these words, and we have peace. Not just generic peace, mere rest and quiet. But true peace, His peace. We have Jesus Himself. He appears us just as He appeared to those disciples on Easter Sunday, and the next Sunday, and every Sunday after that. Do we know what shall happen tomorrow or tomorrow next? No. Do we still have doubts? Yes. But we need not believe our doubts. We believe Jesus. We do not know what tomorrow will bring, but we know what the Last Day will bring. We know that Christ was crucified, that He rose, and that He is reigning from the throne of heaven. And we know that He will come in glory to bring us into the fullness of His kingdom forever. We have Christ. We have His peace.

As Christians we have our doubts and we have Jesus. We doubt our doubts and we believe Him.

For Christ has died. Christ is risen. And Christ shall come again. Amen.

Alleluia. He is risen.

He is risen, indeed. Alleluia.

S. D. G.