Not too long ago I had some serious computer problems. I took my printer in to be repaired only to be told that it was a software problem. So I downloaded new installation software off of the Internet only to find that in doing so I had messed up my operating system. I tried to reinstall the operating system but only made things worse. In desperation, I took both the printer and the central processing unit off to Best Buy. The next week they let me know that it was fixed, and I could come pick it up.
Only the seriously computer addicted can understand the relief I felt. Do you know, I have never, ever, even tried to write a sermon in longhand? I’m not sure my brain works unless it’s attached to a keyboard and a monitor.
So I went to the shop to pick it up and was about to pull out my credit card and take off with my prize when the technician suggested that they hook it up and demonstrate to me that everything was working properly. So we did. And guess what?
The printer still didn’t work. It had worked only an hour before, when they had called me. They showed me the test printout, I saw it. So, I sat there and watched them for the next two hours re-checking absolutely everything.
Well, I know you’re all dying to know what happened, because obviously if they hadn’t fixed my computer and printer, I wouldn’t be here about to preach a sermon, would I....
The problem was a defective printer cable. It cost $17.99.
Which it just goes to show you that sometimes it pays to check things out before you accept someone else’s word for something. Sometimes it’s a good idea to insist on seeing things for yourself, to stick to your guns and demand proof. Not always, of course; the hard part is figuring out which is which.
Imagine what it must have been like for Thomas. He was as loyal a follower as Jesus had, willing to go to Jerusalem with Jesus even if it meant his death, too. It took him a while to make up his mind about things, but once he did, there was no moving him. But Thomas didn’t understand half of what Jesus said, and he wasn’t about to pretend he did. When they had eaten together that last night before Jesus was killed, and Jesus said all those really confusing things like “My father’s house has many mansions,” and “I go to prepare a place for you,“ and “you know the place where I am going," Thomas didn’t have a clue what Jesus meant. But he knew Jesus wouldn’t laugh at him for not understanding. So, he asked him straight out, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” He didn’t understand the answer, either. Jesus has said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” Well, that had been 10 days ago, and Thomas still didn’t know what Jesus meant, and considering the other disciples’ record he didn’t have any reason to believe that they knew any better than he did.
Philip had been asking questions, too, that night. And since then, well, they all knew that John had run away when Jesus was arrested, and that Peter had claimed not to know Jesus when the high priest’s servants asked him. And now there were all these wild stories running around, Mary and the other women said they’d seen him, too, and the brothers who had come back from Emmaus going on about the man they’d talked to on the road and had even eaten with whom they claimed was Jesus. And of course that didn’t make any sense, Jesus in Emmaus and in Jerusalem at the same time? And besides, it had been a whole week since they had seen him, and nothing had changed, except that everybody seemed awfully cheerful, considering. But they were all still huddled in the upper room in Jerusalem with the door locked for fear of being arrested. So why should Thomas believe a word they said?
Of course, it would be wonderful if it were true, if Jesus really were alive, but of course that made it even more important not to get taken in. Thomas might be a bit slow, but he wasn’t gullible. He’d learned not to bite at every fish that swam by.
No, the stories about having seen Jesus didn’t make any sense. But then, nothing that had happened made any sense. But Thomas knew one thing for sure. If it was true, Jesus wouldn’t laugh at him or call him stupid for asking for proof. Jesus was always patient. Well, almost always. But he never stayed mad or held it against you for not getting it the first time. So Thomas would just wait, wait and see what happened.
And then all of a sudden there he was.
There had been no footsteps on the stairs, the door was locked, but there was Jesus, standing right beside him. And Jesus greeted them all, as the other disciples reported he had done the week before, "Shalom. Peace be with you." And then he turned to Thomas, who hadn’t said a word but was sitting there dumbfounded, halfway between astonishment and joy, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side.”
Part of Thomas was asking, “How did Jesus know? How did Jesus know what I had said?” And part of him was just repeating in wonder, “It’s true, it’s him, it’s the Master, it really is!” And then Jesus holds out his hands so that Thomas can see and turns so that his side catches the light from the oil lamp. “Don’t doubt any more, Thomas, but believe." And Thomas falls on his knees on the floor before Jesus and says with absolute simplicity, “My Lord, and my God.”
And then Jesus said, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
Our translation renders Jesus’ words as a question, implying that Jesus is gently chiding Thomas for needing to see before he can believe. But other translators see it differently. The NIV translates Jesus words as a simple statement of fact. “Because you have seen, you believe.” This statement prepares the way for the beatitude that follows: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
And these words are for us. Blessed are we, who believe even though we have not seen what Thomas saw. It is neither more nor less, to believe after seeing, or to believe before seeing. Because if it had not been for the fact that Thomas and the others saw with their own eyes that Jesus had been raised from the dead, we would not have grounds for our belief. Jesus does not ask us to believe without evidence. The ground for our faith is their sworn, eyewitness testimony.
John tells us that, quite explicitly, at the end of the chapter: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 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.”
Well, yes, I hear you say, that’s all very well, but why does Thomas get away with challenging the eyewitness accounts of his fellow disciples, when we are expected to believe those same eyewitness accounts? Why are we held to a higher, harder standard?
There are three reasons why it is not reasonable for us, like Thomas, to insist on seeing Jesus for ourselves, in the flesh, on and touching his wounds to make sure we’re not the victims of some cruel hoax and a clever make-up job.
The first reason is probably the weakest, but it can just as real an issue for some of us as it was for the disciples.
And that reason is shock. It’s really hard to think when you’re in shock.
And Thomas and the others had just gone through a serious trauma. It’s not as though they were unwilling to believe in Jesus; they had already believed in him, as far as their understanding took them, and had made major sacrifices to follow him. But the problem was that what they believed about Jesus wasn’t what he had been trying to teach them. And even with all Jesus’ teaching it took a major shock - namely, his death - to get them to realize that Jesus - to the extent that they were still able to believe he was the Messiah at all - wasn’t going to be the kind of Messiah they had always expected him to be. They were still staggering under the blow, in a kind of stunned incredulity that this should have happened. And when you’re reeling in stunned disbelief, it’s sort of hard to receive and process new data.
We experience that kind of reaction even nowadays, though to a lesser extent. I have an acquaintance whom I’ll call Jean who is struggling between belief and disbelief; she has always believed in God, and in Jesus. She considers herself to be a Christian, she prays regularly. But her life is falling apart. Financial woes, legal difficulties, family friction, health problems. You name it, she’s got it. And her question is, “Where is God while all this is happening to me? If God is doing this to me, perhaps he doesn’t exist after all.” You see, she expected God to insulate her from hard times, from troubles, from pain and disappointment. And God hasn’t turned out to be who she thought he was, and so she’s doubting. She hasn’t given up, but she’s waiting to see if God’s going to come through for her in a way that she can understand. But I don’t think he’s going to do for her what Jesus did for Thomas.
You see, her faith, like the disciples’, is in the infant stage. She’s still in the stage of asking, “When is God going to get me out of this?” rather than asking, “How is God going to use me in this?” The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way: “Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice.” [He 5:12]
Thomas’ faith was in the infant stage not because he was refusing to grow, but because the story wasn’t complete yet. The story itself was still in the infant stage. Jesus gave him the evidence he needed because his doubts made sense, under the circumstances.
But Jean knows the whole story. She isn’t surprised that Jesus died. She just didn’t expect to have to suffer herself. Jean doesn’t like the part about “Take up your cross, and follow me.” Do you?
The second reason why Thomas got a bigger break with his doubts than we can expect is that, so far, all he had heard was words. Remember, Peter and the others were still hidden away behind locked doors. They weren’t yet credible witnesses. And if all people ever hear is words, we probably won’t believe, either.
We do have more than words. We have the words of Scripture which are more than words, they are the lives and deeds of people whose lives were changed because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have the testimony of generations upon generations, living in love and freedom and victory and hope because of the gospel of Jesus, in an unbroken line from the first Pentecost to yesterday’s headlines. We have parents and grandparents, we have Sunday school teachers, we have libraries filled with the stories of heroes and martyrs of the faith. We have, as Hebrews says, clouds of witnesses, whose lives proclaim the truth of their words. What more do we need? What more do you need? What are you waiting to see? And why are you waiting for more than is already out there for you to see?
If you are not waiting to see, maybe you are waiting to be seen. A lot of people have heard the gospel who have never seen it. In order to be believed when we claim that Jesus is alive, we really need to act as if we believe it. Do you?
And the third reason why, unlike Thomas, we can believe without seeing is that we have the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that convinces us of the truth of these things. It is the Holy Spirit that witnesses to our hearts that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that he has truly risen from the dead.
It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to follow Jesus, whatever our cross may be. And it is the Holy Spirit that makes us witnesses for the gospel. Thomas didn’t receive the Holy Spirit until Pentecost, but each of us received the Holy Spirit on our baptism. We don’t need to see Jesus to believe.
We have the whole story. We have clouds of witnesses. And we have the Holy Spirit.
We have everything we need to believe in Jesus Christ.
And if we do, and if we trust, and if we follow, we will see.
Just wait.
