“I can’t believe it!” Something extraordinary, something unusual, something unexpected happens and we exclaim, “I can’t believe it!” “I can’t believe its snowing…again!” “I can’t believe they actually won the game!” “I can’t believe I passed the test.” “I can’t believe I got the job!” “I can’t believe she said yes!” “I can’t believe it!” Many times, those words follow the evidence that something that we thought would not or even could not happen has in fact occurred.
That was the common reaction by the people closest to Jesus following his resurrection from the dead. “I just can’t believe it!” Think about the appearances of Jesus that we’ve look at over the last couple of weeks. You had the women who went to Jesus’ tomb on Easter Sunday morning. They heard the news of the angel, “He has risen” but still found it hard to believe. They reported the news to Jesus’ disciples and they found it hard to believe. You have the two disciples on Easter afternoon who left Jerusalem because they found the news that Jesus had risen from the dead hard to believe. Last weekend we heard how on Easter evening Jesus appeared before his disciples, and even though they saw Jesus they still found it hard to believe that Jesus really was alive. He had to show them his nail-pierced hands and feet, and sword-pierced side, and eat some fish to convince them that it was true And Thomas, the one disciple who was not there at the appearance of Jesus, was actually no different than any of his fellow disciples. He just couldn’t believe it. Thomas said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). In other words, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
You can only imagine what that next week was like for those disciples. You have all of them trying to convince Thomas that they really had seen Jesus, and Thomas repeating his demand, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Maybe they reminded Thomas of what he had said just a few weeks earlier. You see when Jesus had announced that he was going to Jerusalem, the disciples were worried. They felt that the hatred of Jesus was growing more intense and that Jesus’ life was likely in danger by going to Jerusalem. It was Thomas who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16). Thomas was willing to die for Jesus! But when it came to Jesus dying and coming back from the dead. That was different. People die all the time, but people don’t usually come back from the dead. He just couldn’t believe it!
You can only imagine that as that week went along Jesus disciples must have wondered when and where Jesus was going to make his next appearance. Hopefully it would be soon so that they could convince Thomas, and maybe even themselves, that they weren’t crazy or delusional, that Jesus really was alive. Did you notice where Jesus found his disciples a week after that first appearance? We’re told, “A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came among them and said, ’Peace be with you!’” (John 20:26). Even though they had seen Jesus the week before, the disciples were still hiding out in the same room where Jesus had found them last Sunday evening, huddled together in fear that the Jewish leaders might do to them what they had done to Jesus. Again Jesus greets his fear-gripped disciples with the same words as a week earlier, “Peace be with you!” Can you imagine the looks on their faces, the eyes that all shifted to Thomas recalling the demands that he had made? What would Jesus going to do Thomas?
But instead of Jesus doing something TO Thomas, Jesus does something FOR Thomas. Jesus shows Thomas his nail-pierced hands. Jesus kicks off his sandals and shows Thomas his nail-pierced feet. Jesus pulls back his cloak and shows Thomas his nail-pierced side. He invites Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:28). Thomas didn’t not need to touch Jesus. He had seen enough. Jesus had confronted Thomas’s sinful doubt. And now with repentant heart Thomas clings to Jesus in faith, looks to Jesus for forgiveness and says, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28).
Thomas is certainly not unusual in his demands and doubts. “I can’t believe it!” are still the words of many people to this day when it comes to Jesus’ rising from the dead or the message of Jesus in general. The denial of the historical account of Jesus’ resurrection is all too common even among so-called Christian and Lutheran churches and seminaries. This is a quote from one of the most popular books used by many seminaries across the United States and Europe to teach Christians doctrine. “Today it is impossible to assume the literal historicity of all things recorded [in the Bible]. What the biblical authors report is not accepted as a literal transcript of the factual course of events. Therefore, critical scholars inquire behind the text and attempt to reconstruct the real history that took place.” The historical resurrection of Jesus is not only doubted, but it is denied, discarded as mythological, nothing more than a fairytale. Why? Because people don’t usually come back to life. It’s something that WE haven’t seen, WE can’t do, and therefore it is something that GOD could not do.
Does that surprise you? Are you surprised by the blatant “I just can’t believe it!” when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus? We might be a bit surprised to hear it coming from those who claim to be Christians, but it’s not actually all that surprising. In fact, it is the natural reaction not only to the resurrection of Jesus, but also to the person of Jesus as true God and man in one person, the mission of Jesus to save sinners, and the message of Jesus of salvation by grace through faith. The Bible says, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived"-- the things God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). By nature, we just cannot see the truth! By nature, the whole story of Jesus seems like utter nonsense, foolishness as the Bible says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Therefore, it is no surprise to hear people say, “I can’t believe it!”
Instead, the miracle is when we hear people say, “I DO believe.” That is the miracle that God has worked in you! How? The Bible tells us in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). How ironic! God has brought us to believe that the message of Christ is true through the message of Christ! And because he wanted you and everyone to hear the message of Christ he wrote it down in human language by human beings like John. Did you hear those two verses that John sticks at the end of this account just before going on to describe another appearance of Jesus which we’ll look at next week? It’s almost as if he knows that we would just like to keep on hearing more and more of the amazing things that Jesus did, but then he pauses and says, “Don’t forgot why I’m tell you these things.” “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). We don’t have to wait for Jesus to make an appearance or show us his hands, feet and side. Instead, God has chosen to have the entire story written down for us, from the very beginning to the very end and into eternity.
Do you remember how John’s gospel begins? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:1-3,14). We are told who Jesus, the eternal God who also became fully human. We are told why Jesus did that, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus came to rescue a world of people who were going to perish and be lost forever. So God in his love came to take the place of those perishing. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Just before his death, Jesus announced that the price for life eternal with him had been fully paid for all with the words, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Jesus rises from the dead and 40 days later ascends into heaven to assure us of what he promised, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am”( John 14:3).
That is the message that brings skeptics and doubters, people like Thomas, like the disciples, like us to say to Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” That is the message that Jesus’ disciples and countless others throughout history and to this day in countries around the world are willing to die for. This is the message that causes people to freely give of their money and their time for the spread of the message of Christ our Savior, that leads people to suffer inconvenience and loss, that brings us to struggle daily against those things that our Savior says are not good for us. This is the message that brings comfort amid tragedy, peace at the time of death, and strength throughout the difficult times of this life.
All of this is ours because “Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God” the name of the one who has come to bring us life. Why do we believe that is true? It’s NOT because we have SEEN Jesus, but because we have HEARD Jesus and by the work of the Holy Spirit we know that he is our Lord and God, our risen and living Savior. Amen.
