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April 15, 2007

Proof

Preacher: Pastor Braun Campbell Category: Biblical Scripture: John 20:19–20:31

Second Sunday of Easter
John 20:19-31
"Proof"

"Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!" This is the refrain of the Easter season, which dawned gloriously upon us last weekend, with flowers and bells and brass instruments and song. We celebrated this "crown jewel" of the church year here in church and in our homes: some of you confirmed that you'd be dining on sugar-glazed ham and mashed potatoes, while others were planning on just spending the day with family and friends. After the more somber time of Lent, "Alleluia" has returned to our life together.

But that doesn't seem to be the refrain that people - the people who'd been closest to Jesus - were shouting out on that first Easter Sunday, does it? The disciples are in hiding, shut away in a room with locked doors. Fear, not festivity, is the mood of the day for them. The leaders of the people has just arranged for their Teacher to be executed. Jesus was a public figure of some renown, so why couldn't those who had him killed could just as easily do the same to his unremarkable group of disciples? So things are already pretty grim from their perspective - but then come the reports that Jesus' body has vanished. Mary Magdalene's even saying that Jesus has risen from the dead!

It's a bit ironic that we now find the disciples effectively "entombed" in the locked room, while Jesus is out and about, walking the road to Emmaus. So when he comes to the disciples, this is his greeting: "Peace be with you." This was a common greeting for the day, but if we take a look at Luke's account of this event in his recording of the gospel (Luke 24:36-43). When the disciples see Jesus, they are startled and frightened, thinking they're seeing a ghost. Didn't they remember what Jesus had taught them about the Messiah rising again to life on the third day? They didn't understand, didn't believe. So Jesus shows them the wounds in his hands and in his side. He is real. He is who he says he is. And as if that wasn't proof enough, he asks, "Hey, you got any food to eat?" This is no ghost.

Unfortunately, for some reason Thomas is absent when Jesus comes. Perhaps he had to go out and run an errand, though it's highly unlikely that he was out picking up the Easter ham. So Jesus comes and, apparently, Jesus goes. Thomas misses out, and subsequently goes down through history as what? "Doubting" Thomas. Does Thomas deserve this bad rap, just because he wasn't there? It doesn't seem like he was any different from the rest of the Eleven. Generally, the first reaction to the risen Jesus is one of disbelief. For Thomas, though, the real problem stems from what happens when he returns from his absence and is confronted with the testimony of the other disciples: "We have seen the Lord!" Thomas refuses to believe the apostolic witness - the good news from those sent by God. And he demands proof, physical evidence that he can see with his own eyes, something more than just rumor or testimony. We might say that Thomas takes this to the point of unreasonable stubbornness. He wants to be sure that this is the Jesus that he knew, his Teacher, who'd been nailed to the cross and whose side had been pierced by a spear. He wants to touch the proof of the resurrection.

One week passes. And where do we find the disciples? Again, shut up in a locked room! Jesus returns, saying, "Peace be with you." Peace: this is what the risen Lord brings. Then Jesus addresses Thomas, who is now present, directly. Even though Jesus was not present when Thomas demanded his terms for proof of the resurrection, Jesus knew what he'd said and offers the evidence. "Put your finger to the marks in my hands, your hand, to my side." The proof is right there.

Thomas' response might lead us to reconsider the title that he's carried: should he be "Doubting" Thomas, or "Confessing" Thomas? Here he offers one of the clearest expressions of who Jesus truly is: "My Lord and my God!" The disciples' calling Jesus, "Lord," is nothing new. But "God?" This was not a shocked expression of "My God!" but a direct address: "My God." The God of the Scriptures, who delivered the people from Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land. The God who delivers His people from their sin. Thomas now recognizes Jesus as God, crucified and risen. The One who brings peace which the world cannot give. You may not know it, but Thomas reportedly went on to proclaim the Gospel to the far away land of India, planting the Christian Church there. "Confessing" Thomas.

In our lives, we don't always demand proof. Watching the news on the television or reading it in the paper, we not too critical of the source, even here in DC. We hear stories of scandal or reports of far-off conflict and take it for granted. In these days of celebrity paternity tests and controversy over broadcast personalities, few things seem too far-fetched. "It's on NBC - it must be true!" But when events strike closer to home and things start to affect us more directly, we start to get a little more discerning of the source of information. We start to want the proof: medical tests (second and third opinions), relationships ("Do you love me back?") We want something more tangible than words, something that we can grab hold of. We want proof.

Sadly, like Thomas, we often stubbornly want the same thing from God. We want God, but on our own terms. We like to specify how He should treat us, what He should do for us - that our will be done, rather than the other way around. We want the "easy" thing, having things go according to the way we'd see fit. We want proof of God's love for us in a way that attempts to put God "in a box."

But do we have to see to believe? Unlike the disciples, faith today does not come by seeing the risen Jesus, but through the proclaimed Word and the gifts of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. "Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe." You are blessed. Jesus has declared it to be so: all those who have not seen, and yet believe. Today, believing is seeing. We see the proof of God's love for us on the cross.

This, John writes, is the point of it all: that you may have life in Jesus' name. This is why all this has been written down, why we gather together here around the cross, being discipled and managing the gifts God has given. This is why we invite others to the cross and empty tomb. Like Thomas and the disciples, you are sent by the risen Savior. And the Holy Spirit goes with you, so that you and those to whom you proclaim the Good News may believe, and have life: eternal life, which begins in the here and now. Life which has that peace which only Jesus brings, peace which is stronger than the trials and circumstances we face in our time on earth. Life in the risen Christ is proof of the resurrection: we live as the people of the empty tomb, and we are blessed to do so.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

May this refrain echo in our hearts and minds and voices as we go as those who have been sent.


Amen.