The Matter of Thomas
John 20:19 - 29 (NKJV) 19Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 24Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
This morning’s message brings us behind closed doors with the disciples in those bewildering first days after Resurrection – and tells two stories of how the disciples encounter the Risen Christ – first, with all the disciples gathered (except Thomas), and then with Thomas coming the second time they gathered.
Have you noticed what I am NOT calling Thomas? I’m not calling Thomas, “Doubting Thomas.” Because I don’t agree with that. Over the years, the church has labeled this story: the story of “Doubting Thomas.” And that’s what we’ve ended up calling him, “Doubting Thomas,” as if the only thing Thomas ever did was doubt.
The traditional version is this story: When Jesus was resurrected, Thomas is the one who didn’t believe. Thomas is the one who didn’t get it. Thus the phrase “Doubting Thomas” has even slipped into our everyday speech – that’s what we call someone who stubbornly and obstinately insists on more proof – “Well, they’re just a ‘Doubting Thomas.”
History has not been fair to Thomas – there is much more to this story – there is much more to Thomas. And for that matter, that there is much more to doubt and to faith, particularly in bewildering times.
I would like to make the case for Thomas this morning.
But first: The case against Thomas. The case against Thomas is straightforward: The disciples are gathered together after the crucifixion – they’re scared, trying to make sense of the tumultuous events of their world, reeling from their trauma, and they’re staying safe behind closed doors. And the resurrected Christ appears in their midst, and says: “Peace be with you.” Then Jesus breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
But Thomas wasn’t there. And when the disciples tell Thomas about it. He doesn’t believe them. He doubts. And Thomas tells them as much – “I’m not going to believe you until I see Jesus for myself, until I put my fingers in the nail-marks in his hand, until I put my hand in his side.”
So Jesus comes back and offers himself to Thomas, “Thomas, place your finger here. Thomas, place your hand here.” And then, and only then, does this “doubting Thomas” believe. Thomas doubts. Doubting Thomas. Blessed are those who believe without seeing.
But there’s more to this story.(The Case For Thomas.) First of all, there’s so much more to Thomas. We are always so much more than any one moment or event in our lives. Thomas has been with Jesus for the whole journey. He’s a bold disciple, not afraid to speak up at important moments.
In John 11 the story of Lazarus reveals the character of Thomas. Jesus doesn’t go to Lazarus at first, but when Jesus decides to go in verse 8, the disciples try to stop him. They tell Jesus that it would be dangerous to go to the town where Lazarus has died. The authorities there are trying to kill Jesus. But when Jesus says, “No, I’m going,” only Thomas speaks up and says in verse 16, “Let us go with Jesus, so that we may die with him.” But we don’t call him Thomas the Courageous.
Then at the Last Supper, Thomas asks Jesus in John 14:5, “How can we know the way?” prompting Jesus to answer, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” But we don’t call him Thomas who-asks-the-right-questions.
In this story, is Thomas’ reaction really all that unusual? Thomas certainly isn’t the only one who is perplexed and confused at the Resurrection. In fact, almost everyone in the story has to experience the Risen Christ for themselves before the reality of Resurrection starts to sink in. They have to see to believe. When Mary tells Peter and the Beloved Disciple (John) that the tomb is empty, they have to run and see for themselves. And only then do they believe, and then, only that the tomb is empty.
Then, when Mary encounters the Risen Christ, she doesn’t recognize Jesus. She thinks Jesus is the gardener. She only recognizes Jesus when he calls her by name, and then she says, “Rabboni! Teacher!”
When Jesus appears to the other disciples at the beginning of this morning’s text, Jesus shows them his hands and his side, and then -- but only then – do they recognize him.
Truthfully, I’d be perplexed too. These are stories about Resurrection. This is a world where someone who was dead is now alive. Someone whom they loved – Jesus – has been crucified, and now he has appeared again in their midst. And everyone in the story is struggling to come to terms with this remarkable event – to make sense of their world, and to make sense of Resurrection.
I just think that’s the way we are wired. That’s how we process new information – how we learn – how we cope – how we become – how we grow. We try so hard to figure out our way through life:
· We learn basic survival skills.
· We learn how to take care of each other, how to become a family, a community. We do that again and again as circumstances of life change.
· We may learn special skills, a vocation.
· We try to create something new in the world.
And, as we go along, we try to make sense of it all.
We try to make meaning out of the world as we live in it.
But every once in a while we encounter something that is just beyond our comprehension, something bigger than us. Something bigger than all that we have experienced up to this point in life: What I have come to know so far just isn’t enough to fully grasp the news I’m hearing now. The Psalmist says it like this in Psalms 139:6 (NKJV) 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.
The world we live in today is utterly bewildering; our times can be overwhelming, for each of us. Everything that we once knew right is now wrong. Settled truths are now being questioned.
The world for Thomas (and, quite honestly, for everyone else in this story) changed. The world that Thomas knew up to this point has culminated in the crucifixion. Thomas had been with Jesus for the whole journey – and Thomas alone among the disciples has been acutely aware that what Jesus was doing was dangerous, and could end in Jesus’ death. And so it was. But now Thomas is being asked to come to terms with the news that the one who was crucified, dead, and buried, is now alive.
So when the disciples tell Thomas that they have seen Jesus alive. Thomas says, quite simply, I need to see Jesus, too. I need to see to believe. Just like you. It’s as if Thomas says to his friends, “Nothing you are telling me makes any sense. In fact, nothing in the past few weeks makes much sense. We heard the Hosannas. We gathered in that Upper Room, and Jesus washed our feet. We heard what he said: “I am the way the truth and the life. A new commandment I give you: Love one another.” We were there when he was arrested. We watched as they crucified him. We laid him in that tomb."
It’s as if Thomas says to his friends: After all this, you’re telling me that he’s alive? None of this makes any sense to me. I need to see Jesus for myself. In need to touch Jesus. I don’t understand any of this.” I need Jesus. Thomas is being asked to come to terms with something that – right now – is beyond his comprehension – beyond the way the world makes sense to him. And his response isn’t so much “doubt” as it is a cry for help – a reaching out. “I need to see Jesus.”
And so perhaps Thomas’ defining characteristic isn’t so much that he is “doubting.” Maybe it is just that he is thoroughly human. What is so remarkable about Thomas isn’t his doubting, but his open and honest humanity.
Perhaps the case for Thomas is really the case for us all.
And in this scripture text, no one makes that case more powerfully than Jesus himself. Just look how Jesus responds to Thomas:
The disciples are gathered together again. This time Thomas is with them. And Jesus appears in their midst: “Peace be with you!” And Jesus walks over to Thomas, and he says, “Thomas, here I am. See me. Touch me. I’m still here.” Jesus doesn’t rebuke Thomas for doubting. In fact, Jesus doesn’t even use the word “doubt.” Here’s the kicker: The word “doubt” doesn’t appear anywhere in the Greek text. In the Greek, what Jesus says here really translates, “Become not unbelieving, but believing.” Jesus invites Thomas to become believing.
Behind these closed doors, with the world swirling around outside, Jesus invites Thomas to become believing. Jesus has heard Thomas’ questions. And in response, Jesus offers himself to Thomas. Thomas, I’m still here.
And that’s all Thomas needs. “My lord and my God!” And it turns out that Thomas doesn’t actually need to touch Jesus, after all. Jesus offers himself to Thomas, and that is enough. As one writer noted, it’s as if Thomas asks for proof, and what Jesus offers is His presence. And that presence transformed Thomas into something new. He sees something new: “My lord and my God!”
When Thomas’ world just doesn’t make sense to him anymore, it’s as if Jesus reaches out and takes Thomas by the hand and says, “I’m still here.” And Thomas gets it. This is Resurrection. Thomas, I’m still here with you. Thomas, there is nothing that can separate you from me.
Conclusion
So it is with us.
This is Resurrection.
Life – where we least expected to find it.
Love – when we thought the world had run out.
When life defies all comprehension, when the world is a confusing, even scary place, when we run like the disciples and gather from behind closed doors, bewildered, God comes to us in Jesus Christ, again and again, and says:
Peace be with you.
Receive the warm breath of Christ.
Let the Spirit of God breathe, in you.
Ask your questions. Be kind to each other. Love the world.
In Resurrection, God says to us, “I’m still here.”
