Evidence Enough? (John 20:19-31) -- A Lectionary Reflection for Easter 2A
John 20:19-31 (New Revised Standard Version)
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”26 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.” 27 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.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
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On this
the second Sunday of Easter, the story continues of the resurrection
continues. It’s evening now. Jesus has already appeared to Mary Magdalene,
whom he had told he must first ascend to the Father, from whom he had
come. Now it’s time to make an
appearance to the rest of the disciples, who we’re told are hiding out due to
their fear of the religious authorities (who work for the Roman overseers). Peter and the beloved disciple had seen the
empty tomb, but it’s not clear what they took from that moment. Perhaps, as Mary first thought, someone had
taken the body.
Can we
assume that Mary reported her encounter with Jesus? If so, that doesn’t seem to have been sufficient. After all, on that day, a woman could not
testify in court. Her testimony was not
considered reliable. I wish I could say
that we’ve gotten completely beyond such beliefs, but unfortunately in some
quarters, a woman’s voice remains suspect. They are, we’re told, overly emotional.
Perhaps that is the way that the group felt about her testimony.
Now
they can have evidence that will meet their needs. Jesus shows the disciples his hands and his
side – where the wounds of the cross still reside. When they see these wounds, they rejoice. They had thought that the cross ended things
for them. There is a certain finality in
death, but apparently not in this case.
They were back in business!
It’s at this moment that Jesus
gives commissions his disciples to continue the ministry that the Father had
committed to him. So, even as the Father
sent Jesus, so Jesus will send them. And
in order to prepare and empower them for this work, Jesus breathes on them the
Holy Spirit. He also empowers them to
forgive and retain sins – just as Jesus had been doing.
We will
return to this story on Pentecost Sunday when we will focus on this act of
empowerment and commissioning. But that needs to wait for a few weeks. The point is – they no longer needed to live
in fear, for they were filled with the Spirit of the one who had been
resurrected.
Mary
was the first person to encounter the risen Christ. Then the disciples as a whole received a visit. That is, everyone except for Thomas. For some reason, he had been absent when Jesus
appeared that first night of resurrection.
He heard their testimony, but he wasn’t sure he could accept it. Like many of us, he asked tough
questions. He was an empiricist at
heart. It’s not that he was a perennial
doubter. After all, he had committed his
life to following Jesus. He signed on to
the team, and even in the face of Jesus’ death, he remained connected to the
community. He was a believer, but he did
have his questions. He needed more
evidence. He needed to touch Jesus’
hands and his side – not just see with his eyes, but touch with his hands. Thomas gets a bad rap for his doubts, but we
should be glad to have a Thomas in the story.
It’s good to ask questions and simply believe because someone else tells
us a story.
While
Jesus told Mary that she couldn’t touch him because he hadn’t yet ascended to
the Father (John 20:17), Jesus invites Thomas to touch his wounds. Thus, it appears that Jesus has ascended to
the Father. He has completed his
resurrection (how very different from the ascension stories in Luke and in
Acts). John doesn’t have a final
ascension.
As for Thomas, who has arrived a
week late for the Easter service (the second Sunday of Easter?), when all the lilies
have been removed, he needs some reassurance.
And so Jesus offers him the opportunity to see and possibly even touch
his wounds. In response, Thomas
declares: “My Lord and My God.” Jesus
commends him for making this profession of faith. He has had enough evidence to overcome his
concerns. But, John has an audience that
may not have had the same kind of encounter.
And therefore, in John’s account, Jesus also commends those who believe
though they don’t see.
As a teen, I purchased a book with
the title Evidence that Demands a
Verdict. In that book, Josh McDowell
did his best to marshal all the evidence he could to prove that Jesus had risen
from the dead. He tried to answer all
the questions and turn aside every attempted challenge. But is that what we need to believe? Or, can we take Jesus at his word, and
receive the blessing of believing while not seeing. I’ve seen many attempts to prove that the
resurrection occurred, but rarely does one succeed in converting the true
skeptic.
So, on this Second Sunday of
Easter, do we have enough evidence to receive the gift of resurrection? Are we ready to be transformed by our
encounter with the risen Christ? As we contemplate these questions, perhaps we
might find helpful this observation by Bruce
Epperly.
Something dramatic happened that can’t be reduced to a tall tale, repetition of myths of death and rebirth, or a rotting corpse. Something mysterious and amazing occurred that can’t be confined by a literalist understanding of the biblical stories. As the gospel of John proclaims, there is always more to Jesus than our own fabrications or the written text: his life, death, and resurrection will always transcend and sometimes transform the rational mind, opening the mind to a deeper rationalism in which all is wonder and miracle. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may come to believe* that Jesus is the Messiah,* the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)
The experiences of Mary, of the ten, and of Thomas, offer
testimony to the transformative nature of Christ’s resurrection. Something happened that our attempts at
providing rationalist answers fall short of.
Many
other stories could be told, but for John, these are sufficient to encourage
our belief that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God, and therefore, as a result
– have life. Turning again to Bruce
Epperly:
This Easter, open to possibility, awaken to wonder, and look for hints of Jesus’ resurrection in your own cells, your spirit, and the world around. Look for miracles and, as Wendell Berry counsels, practice resurrection. You will discover that Christ is Risen in your life – today
That is the point of
Easter, even a week later! Life conquers
death – in all of its mystery.
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