4/10/24

It’s nice not having to worry about things. Saturday night I think I was angrier than I was sick, angry that out of all nights in the week I had to get sick, it had to happen on a Saturday!  I hate missing Sunday and will avoid it any way possible. But I also knew that I could leave things in competent hands and all would be well – which it was! I especially appreciate Jamie stepping in to deliver the message (THAT, by the way, was a miracle. 6 months ago we weren’t sure Jamie would still be alive). 

When I have to have someone step in at the last minute, I take my sermon, cut it in half, and try to make it still sound coherent (“Why don’t you do that all the time?” I can hear you asking) and give it to the person delivering it and encourage them to make it their own as much as they can. Which I thought Jamie did a terrific job doing. 

But what about the stuff I cut? Here’s the rest of the story: 

The entire story of “Doubting Thomas” takes place over two evenings, a week apart. On the evening of the resurrection, the disciples were cowering behind locked doors “for fear of the Jews,” and Thomas happened to be the one disciple who was away when Jesus suddenly appeared among them. Later, Thomas showed up and saw the others excited, bubbling over with the good news, but he was not taken in.

No, instead he says, I have to have evidence – hard, verifiable evidence. I won’t believe it unless I see the nail prints in Jesus’ hands, and put my hand in the wound in Jesus’ side.

And he kept this up for a week! Can you imagine what was going on behind those locked doors? Can you imagine the discussions they had? Can you imagine the arguments – the BATTLES? This is Thomas, in the face of the other 10, holding firm, saying, “unless I see, I won’t believe.” But . . . a week later, where is he? Has he abandoned them as being  crazy and given up on the whole thing? 

Look at it from his perspective: his master, on whom he placed all of his hopes, was brutally murdered by the Romans. He’s seen the brutality of a Roman crucifixion before and knows that no one returns from that! But now, the other 10 (along with the women, but they probably didn’t count in his mind) were saying Jesus is alive! That seemed impossible to him, yet, despite his skepticism, he was still there!

Doubts . . .  questions . . . there are times when we might well have them. One writer referred to them as the “dark night of the soul” – those painful and extremely difficult periods in life when we ask, “where is God?” For the other 10 disciples,  their “dark night” was only Friday and Saturday. For Thomas, it went on for a week. But, Thomas, even though he’s holding out on the resurrection, hasn’t chucked the whole thing.

I think about the Lament Psalms in the Old Testament. The Lament Psalms are the psalms that say “life is rotten!” The psalmist’s life might be threatened, he might be sick, he might be falsely accused – life might be as terrible as can be, but like Thomas, the psalmist never gives up on God. In Psalm 22, the psalm for Good Friday, the psalmist prays, “do not be far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help me.” Despite the circumstances – despite the way things look, he doesn’t give up on God.

John tells us: “A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 

“My Lord and my God.” 

In John 20, we have a chapter that begins with a woman witnessing the resurrection of Jesus, and ends with a follower of Jesus – a good Jewish skeptic – declaring, “my Lord and my God.”

No Jewish male in those days would have made up a story where the hero was a woman, while the men cowered behind closed doors, nor have they made up a story, where a human could also be God. Their belief in one God separated the Jews from everyone else, and they weren’t about to compromise that. Every Jewish male, including Thomas, would begin his morning by praying these words from Deuteronomy 6, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”  There is one God. There couldn’t possibly be another.

Yet, when confronted with the resurrected Jesus, Thomas could reach no other conclusion. “My Lord and my God.”

And with this confession of faith, Thomas became a new creation. Although he is unnamed in the New Testament after this chapter, according to the tradition of the Christians in India, Thomas brought the gospel to them and there are other traditions that he carried the gospel as far as China and possibly Sri Lanka.

It doesn’t seem fair for Thomas to be saddled with the title, “Doubting Thomas,” does it? One week of doubt doesn’t amount to much in light of a lifetime of faithful service. And if tradition can be trusted, Thomas died a martyr’s death many thousands of miles from his Jewish homeland.

How was it possible? Because of Thomas’ conviction that standing before him was more than a resuscitated Rabbi. No, Thomas was convinced that before him stood God in the flesh.

The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!