Second Sunday of Easter

“Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve but believe.’ Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and my God.”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Today is unofficially known as Low Sunday, as it is the first Sunday after Easter Day, usually the Sunday when many Rectors let the curate preach, the Sunday when many of the church regulars are away for the weekend. But this Sunday is also known as Doubting Thomas Sunday, since it is this encounter between Jesus and Thomas the Doubting disciple that is featured on this day. Back in my Episcopal Church days, Doubting Thomas Sunday was held up as a special day, since the leadership of the Episcopal Church believed that Thomas’ “doubting” made him special, and even more spiritually virtuous than his fellow apostles who believed in Jesus’ resurrection already. It’s like that old expression, “I’m from Missouri, show me!” This expression refers to people from Missouri, who want to be shown the facts and make an informed decision. Missourians are not gullible and will not simply take your word for it.

The truth about Thomas’ original doubt that Jesus had truly arisen from the dead, and his insistence on specific evidence to be convinced of Jesus’ resurrection is not remarkable or special, even if it set him apart from the other disciples. On the contrary, Thomas’ doubt is commonplace. There are many examples of individuals demanding that God meet some specific proof so that they will believe that God is real. Who wouldn’t doubt something as incredible as the Resurrection? It’s not as if being resurrected from the dead is a commonplace event—it’s never happened before! Furthermore, it can be argued that doubt is simply a form of a defense mechanism—I don’t want to believe, because I’m not prepared to accept the consequences of belief. What is remarkable in this episode is the great love that Jesus has for Thomas and all of us, and that He desires for us to be believing, not disbelieving.
           
St. John’s account of Jesus’ encounter with Thomas and the rest of the disciples starts off with a bang: the disciples have locked themselves up in a house, fearing that the authorities will come and arrest them at any minute. Yet, despite the locked doors, Jesus comes and stands among them. Jesus didn’t kick down the doors. Nor was Jesus a ghost—John tells us that the first thing Jesus does is show the disciples His hands and His side. Ghosts don’t have flesh wounds! So if Jesus isn’t a ghost, and He didn’t kick open the door, then how did He get in the room? I think C.S. Lewis describes it best: Lewis says that Jesus was able to enter the room and not kick open the doors and not be a ghost was because the resurrected Jesus was the most real and substantial being in the entire room. Compared to Jesus, the disciples were ghosts, and the walls were like fog.
           
Having presented Himself in the room, and having demonstrated that He was not a ghost, but has risen from the dead, Jesus then blessed the disciples and gives them their Commission to go and continue His work in the world as His ambassadors: Jesus tells them that they will have His authority to go out into the world in His Name.
           
Surprisingly, Thomas is not with the rest of the disciples when this takes place. Does this mean that Thomas is not one of the Apostles? No. Thomas is still numbered among the Apostles-even though Thomas is not physically present, he still has the same commission and authority as the others. Why is Thomas not there? Gregory the Great says that the reason Thomas is absent when Jesus appears to the disciples is because Jesus wants to have the opportunity to address the doubt that Thomas already feels, and in so doing, address the doubt that so many throughout the centuries have had about Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
           
John then tells us that when Thomas rejoins the other disciples, they tell him all about Jesus’ visit and what happened. Thomas is skeptical, and tells them, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.”

Fast forward to the following week, Jesus comes and appears to the disciples again. And what does Jesus do? The first thing Jesus does is go to Thomas and invite him to do the very thing that will convince him to believe. Jesus invites Thomas to look at His hands and see the marks of the nail. Jesus invites Thomas to put his hand in Jesus’ side. Jesus says to Thomas, “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” This is such a beautiful example of Jesus’ heart for people. Jesus knew about Thomas’ doubts, and He wanted to dispel them. Jesus wanted Thomas to believe!

My friends, the same is true for you and me and for everyone who wants to believe, but doubts. Jesus wants to answer our doubts. He wants us to believe in Him! Nevertheless, I think that it is important to note that complete and perfect proof about Jesus and who He is not available to those who don’t or won’t believe. On the contrary, that’s why Jesus wants us to have faith. He wants us to believe despite our doubts and our fears. It was St. Augustine who said, “I believe, then I understand.” It is faith that unlocks belief, which then unlocks greater understanding.

When Thomas encounters Jesus, and sees His hands, and places his hand in Jesus’ side, he exclaims, “My Lord and My God!” This is the response that Jesus wants from all of us, that simple declaration of faith and belief. It is this confession that makes everything else possible. We know from church history that Thomas went on to become the first missionary to India. Thomas first proclaimed the Gospel to the people there. Did you know that when the first Western missionaries arrived in India, they encountered Indians who were already Christians! When they asked these Indian Christians who first brought them the Gospel, they said it was Thomas the Apostle! That is why there is a Church in India called the Bar Thoma Church, because it is descended from those first Indians converted by Thomas himself.

When Thomas makes his declaration of faith in the risen Lord, Jesus exclaims, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Here Jesus is not necessarily rebuking Thomas and praising the other disciples. Rather, Jesus is proclaiming that all of us who come to believe in Him later, after He is no longer present on earth in the flesh, are the ones who are truly blessed. If you’re like me, you wonder to yourself, “how great would have been to be there and see Jesus in the flesh, doing all those great and wonderful things!” Yes, it would have been great to be there! But one day we, like Thomas, will see Jesus face to face, and we will say to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!”

​+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.