Ashby Folville 30-03-08
Story Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. John Watson went on a camping trip.
They set up their tent and fell asleep.
Some hours later, Holmes woke his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Watson replied, "I see millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?" asks Holmes
Watson pondered for a minute.
"Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo.
Horologically, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three.
Theologically, it’s evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. “
Then - after a pause, Watson said:
“Well, Holmes, What does it tell you?"
Holmes was silent for a moment and then he said.
"Watson, you imbecile, someone has stolen our tent."
In the same way as Dr Watson missed the blindingly obvious, - so (in the words of the late Professor Charlie Moule)
"the birth and rapid rise of the Christian
Church ... remains an unsolved enigma for any historian who refuses to take seriously the only explanation offered by the church itself - the Resurrection."
Story: A few years ago Maddy and I went to Pfarrwangen in Switzerland to visit a good friend who is the Swiss Reform pastor there - Philipp Nanz and his wife Suzy.
And while Maddy and Suzy went horse riding, Philip and I went for a walk.
And we started discussing Islam, and then got onto the subject of what makes Christianity distinctive?
How does Christianity differ from other religions?
And we came to the conclusion that the answer lies in the Easter story.
No other religion has ever claimed that its leader rose from the dead
St. Paul - who was nobody’s fool - had this to say about the centrality of the Resurrection:
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance :
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Cor. 15:3-8).
When you add that up you get at least 514 men.
And that doesn’t include the women like Mary Magdalene who also saw the risen Jesus.
So if the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a CENTRAL PILLAR of our faith
- after all it is central to our three main CREEDS-
have you ever wondered WHY St John ONLY mentions FOUR post Resurrection appearances of the Risen Jesus.?
In this Chapter, John 20 we read of three of these. Here John records how Jesus appeared to
i) to Mary Magdalene
ii) to all the disciples except Thomas and finally
iii) to Thomas
And in the following Chapter, John 21 we read of Jesus appearing to seven disciples including Peter, James and John, Thomas, Nathanael and two unnamed disciples.
And he had breakfast with them.
Surely - one might argue - if the resurrection is such a big deal, why didn’t John add many more of the stories of these encounters?
At the very least – why didn’t he simply catalogue when, where and who had seen the risen Christ. Surely that would make interesting reading.
For example
1. Have you ever wondered what the reaction of James -Jesus’ brother - was when Jesus appeared to him.
2. Have you ever wondered if Jesus appeared to Nicodemus - the Jewish rabbi who had sought him out at night in Jn 3 and who had helped Joseph of Ari-math-ea to bury Jesus.
The reason St John doesn’t record more post Resurrection encounters with the Risen Lord - can be found in the last verse of our Gospel reading today:
Here St John wrote:
"Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name."
In other words, these three stories of John 20 have been recorded to awake faith in us.
If that is the case - what is so special about these three stories?
I would like to suggest to you this morning that each story is special because it shows a barrier to faith – a barrier which can be overcome by the presence of Jesus.
And they are all barriers that we as Christians will experience at some time in our lives.
1. The first of these barriers to faith was GRIEF
And this was overcome by hearing the voice of Jesus
Mary Magdalene, in last week’s Gospel reading, couldn’t see Jesus for her grief.
It was only when she heard him call her name that she realised that He was risen.
Jesus spoke to her – and by speaking released her from her grief.
There are going to be times when we suffer from grief.
We may grieve for the loss of loved ones.
And it is at times like this that we need to listen for Jesus’ voice calling us.
2. The second of these barriers to faith was FEAR
And this was overcome by experiencing the presence of Jesus
The disciples in today’s Gospel reading were gathered behind closed doors in fear.
Fear of the Jews who crucified Jesus – were they coming for the disciples next?
It was a real fear
Jesus had been crucified – and were they next on the list?
And so Jesus comes to them and speaks words of peace. He showed them his crucified hands and St. John records:
“The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord” (Jn 20:20)
Fear can cripple us at times. It can make us irrational.
And at those times, we need to seek Jesus’ presence in our lives – and it is His Presence that will bring us peace.
When I get stressed out with worry and fear – I find wonderful comfort in the words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel
"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls
For my yoke is easy and my burden light." Mt 11:28-30)
3. The third barrier to faith was DOUBT
And this was overcome by the touch of Jesus.
Thomas seems rather unfairly to have had a bad press for the last 2000 years.
His name has even entered into the English language as “Doubting Thomas”.
But you have to remember that Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples when they saw Jesus.
He didn’t have the benefit of what they had seen.
He couldn’t believe that Jesus was risen – because it was something outside his experience.
Our faith is not an unreasonable faith. It is based on evidence.
St Peter tells us for example
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Pet 3:15)
God has given us minds and wants us to use them.
Thomas, when told by the other disciples that Jesus had risen SAID in rather flowery language says:
“I’m not going to believe until I can stuff my hand actually into his side.”
That’s the force of what he is saying.
Our faith has to be based on a firm foundation – and Jesus realised that Thomas needed that confirmation.
Once Thomas got the evidence he needed he simply said: “My Lord and my God”
Story: Interestingly, juts this last week in an article in the Church of England Newspaper (20-03-08), there was a report of a recent survey by the Think Tank Theos.
In this report, it was claimed that more than 30 million Britons believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead - and the conclusion of the article was that
“what the survey does show is that the great majority of people still cleraly care about Jesus and regard him highly”
But regarding Jesus highly is not enough
We are called to be his disciples – to live as he taught – and to have a relationship 24/7.
A simple intellectual belief in the Resurrection is not enough.
When the Bible uses the term belief, it means more than our modern day meaning.
It would be better translated BELIEF that results in action.
When Thomas believed it drove him to his knees to confess “My Lord and my God”
But Thomas’ wasn’t simply - an intellectual assent - to the proposition that Jesus rose from the dead.
Church history tells us that Thomas died for his faith – as a missionary to India.
In our Gospel reading today - what Thomas asked for was very reasonable and so Jesus gave him what he needed for his faith.
There are times when we need a special touch from God.
It is not a sin to be sceptical.
What is sin is to go on disbelieving when you are given the evidence.
Conclusion
In conclusion - Jesus deals with each person’s needs differently. He treats us as individuals
Mary simply needed to hear Jesus’ voice and her grief was healed.
The disciples needed to experience the presence of Jesus – and receive His peace to release them from their fear.
Thomas needed to touch the Risen Christ. He felt he needed to put his hand in Jesus’ side before he would believe. Actually there is no evidence that he actually did so.
Each of us has different needs – we all ask different questions - but there is only one solution – a touch from the risen Lord.
Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus death of the Cross for our sins.
We thank you that WHEN he rose from the dead – he showed himself to the disciples and so strengthened their and our faith
Father this morning –
if we are grieving may we hear your voice speaking to us
if we are in fear may we seek the presence and peace of Jesus in our lives
if we have doubt, may we experience a touch from you
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen
