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April 19, 2009
“The Man Who Missed Easter”
John 20: 19-30
Sunday, April 19th, 2009
On the Sunday after Easter last year I was preaching in Crawfordsville IN before the congregation there and your Pastor Nominating Committee. On that occasion I preached on the largest part of this passage and the title of the sermon was same as the sermon title today. But this will not be that sermon. This is a slightly different sermon because the situation in which I am preaching is different than the situation in which I found myself a little over a year ago. (And I lost that sermon from last year).
I have chosen a slightly larger passage this morning, one that includes more of the details of the visit to the apostles on the evening of the first Easter. On that evening we find 10 of the Apostles gathered in a locked room in Jerusalem. Jesus had appeared to a few people that day, evidently including Peter and the two disciples who had met Jesus on the way to Emmaus. Those two had returned to Jerusalem and were now with the 10 Apostles in the locked room. While they were gathered in that locked room, Jesus visited them. We don’t know how he arrived. He seems to have simply appeared in the locked room.
When he arrived, he said “Peace be with you”. That of course was and still is the common greeting in Israel and Palestine. But, being uttered on the day of his resurrection to people who were still afraid of the enemies of Jesus who had succeeded in having Jesus killed it had a special significance. Jesus rose from the dead to bring us peace. Peace in the assurance of our having been forgiven. Peace in the knowledge of eternal life. And especially peace in the knowledge that Jesus was no longer dead.
Then Jesus reminded them of their commission and their title. They were Apostles, which means the-sent-out-ones. He said “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”. The Apostles had been sent out while Jesus was alive into the villages and towns where he would be preaching. Now, after his resurrection they would be sent out into the world.
He breathed on them and told them to “receive the Holy Spirit”. Now the Holy Spirit would come officially and ceremoniously at Pentecost in 50 days, but Jesus was now preparing them for its coming and helping them to understand that the Spirit who was coming would be His Spirit or his breath.
The next thing he said has been rather troubling to some Christians. He said to those gathered, which included 10 of the Apostles and others “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Some churches have taken this to mean that only the Church, and more particularly the Clergy of the Church can properly declare that particular sins have been forgiven by God. But in order to understand what Jesus meant, you have to remember that there were others in the room who were not Apostles. I think he was addressing them as a group of believers. If that is true, then Jesus may have been saying that Christians, those who believe in Jesus, have the message of forgiveness and the God-given standards of forgiveness. In other words, we are to, and we know how to, properly instruct people to receive the forgiveness of Christ.
And I think the immediately following story of Thomas is intended to be an illustration of the power of believers to bring people to the forgiveness of Christ.
Thomas was not present on that Easter Sunday Evening when Jesus appeared and said these things. When the others told him that Jesus had appeared to them, he could not believe it. He had to see it for himself before he could believe. He said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
Now that might seem a little harsh or stubborn, but you have to remember what Thomas had been through. All of his plans for the future had been tied up in Jesus. He had believed that the future of Israel, which included he rest of his earthly life, was dependant on the Messiahship of Jesus. He also believed that his future beyond death was connected to Jesus. Then Jesus died and all of Thomas’s hopes for the future of his people and himself died with him. Sometimes a death can affect people that way.
When Theodore Roosevelt’s first wife died he was plunged into despair. His friends were afraid that he was suicidal. There he was, with more resources and abilities than anyone in his time, and he totally despaired of his future. It has happened to others.
Thomas may have wanted to believe that all was not lost, but despite the testimonies of 10 of his fellow apostles, Thomas could not believe that Jesus was alive.
Because of this statement, Thomas has been known ever since as Doubting Thomas, which I don’t think is entirely fair. Three other statements of Thomas are recorded in the Gospel of John and they show him in a better light.
When Jesus was resolved to Go to Judea and raise Lazarus from the dead, the Apostles did not want him to go. There were people in Judea who had recently tried to kill him, that was why they had returned to Galilee. As far as the Apostles were concerned, to return to Judea meant risking Jesus’ life. But when Jesus could not be dissuaded, Thomas spoke up saying, “well then lets go and die with him.” That was a rather brave remark, but Thomas was not called “Brave Thomas”.
On the evening before the death of Jesus, in the upper room, Jesus had told the Apostles that they knew the way to where he was going. Thomas stated clearly that they did not know where he was going so how could they know the Way? But Thomas was not called “Good Question Thomas” or “Bright Student Thomas”.
Instead he was called “Doubting Thomas”, which in this context wasn’t really true. Thomas did not express doubt. He expressed resolute unbelief. He was determined not to believe unless he saw and touched the risen body of Jesus. What do you do with one who is determined not to believe?
The answer based on this passage may surprise you. A week after the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus appeared to the Apostles again in that same room. This time, Thomas was there. Don’t you think that is strange? Thomas is no longer of the same faith as the other apostles. Their faith has moved to a new level and to all appearances, Thomas had lost his faith. A seemingly insurmountable chasm had opened between them. But he was still with them and they were still with him. He was willing to be with them and they would not let him go.
You might remember that on Easter morning the angels told the women to tell the apostles that they were to go to Galilee to meet the risen Jesus. Here they are a week later, and they are still in Jerusalem. How Come? Maybe they would not go without Thomas. They had lost Judas, they would not lose Thomas, so they stayed in Jerusalem and kept Thomas close to them even though his unbelief was painful to them.
So a week later when Jesus reappeared to them, Thomas was there. And Thomas discovered that his unbelief was not as resolute as he thought. He did not need to touch the wounds of Jesus as he thought he would, even though Jesus invited him to.
I said a while ago that we have 4 recorded sayings of Thomas and I only gave you three. The 4th was uttered by Thomas when he saw Jesus. He said “My Lord and My God!” Thomas was the first of the Apostles to identify Jesus as God. The others had called him the Messiah, the Son of God and other messianic and sort-of-divine titles but Thomas is the first to clearly and without reservation state that Jesus was God.
So there you have what I think is an illustration as to how the church is to administer the forgiveness of Christ to unbelievers. We are to become attached to them and not let them go. Every church has people who used to be there but are now not in any church. We sometimes let them go too easily. We need to hang on to them and continue to pray for them and meet with them until Jesus comes to them.
And Jesus said that those we would bring to Jesus would be more blessed than Thomas. We and those we bring to Jesus are among those who believe in Jesus without having seen him.
Thomas missed Easter. He almost missed the resurrection and eternal life, but the other 10 Apostles would not let him go. There are many people in our lives who have so far missed Easter. Oh, they probably gather Easter eggs and they might dress up for Easter, but they have not yet confronted the risen Jesus. They have not yet proclaimed him to be their Lord and God. We need to attach ourselves to them and love them and pray for them until Jesus comes to them through us.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at April 19, 2009 06:01 PM