Thomas and the Others for Today
19 When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “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 (called “Twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.” 28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:19-31
This Sunday has sometimes been called Apologetics Sunday, apologetics having to do with giving evidence for the truth of Christ. And it definitely is that, for there are the many appearances of a man resurrected after he had been killed by crucifixion and buried.
Martin Luther in one of his sermons on this text put it this way:
… the Lord Himself comes to the disciples through closed doors, stands in their midst, greets them kindly, and says, “Peace be with you,” as if He wanted to say, “Through Mary Magdalene, I had a proclamation brought to you that I am risen from the dead … yet in such a way that I am not ashamed to call you [My] brothers. And I receive you as My co-heirs in all that is Mine, so that My God is your God, and My Father is your Father, and the heaven I possess is your heaven. Now, so that you may be certain of this proclamation, I Myself have come here in My own person, and I offer you happiness and salvation as your glory and inheritance. And so that you may have no doubt about My resurrection, I am showing you My hands and My side. Here you see that I am the very one who was nailed to the cross by His hands and feet and whose side was opened by a spear.”
Luther goes on to say:
By showing them all this, Christ wanted, first of all, to strengthen their faith… For since He shows Himself to be alive and, moreover, offers them His hands and side for inspection, their eyes and reason are convinced that He is certainly risen from the dead. And so the Word and the work agree with each other. … Through this Word their hearts are inwardly enlightened, comforted, and strengthened … Next comes the work that Christ…appears alive and by His appearing moves the disciples’ eyes so that, since they are to be witnesses of His resurrection in all the world, they may not only hear of it but also see and experience it themselves. … Therefore, this appearance…should establish and strengthen our faith…through the certain evidence and testimony of the Word and work.
Luther, M., Luther’s works, vol. 69: Sermons on the Gospel of St. John, Christopher Boyd Brown, Ed. (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009) 351-352.
The word of Christ and his work – his physical appearances – agree with one another, they work together, not only for the benefit of the faith of the apostles, but also, as Luther says, for the benefit of our faith. Those appearances that they saw and experienced, are there to establish and strengthen our faith in Christ. And that benefit to us happens, Luther points out, by the disciples serving as witnesses of his resurrection (as the epistle lesson points out).
Let me clarify something that has been a confusion among Christians. Are you and I witnesses? No. Not in the sense they were witnesses. When the apostles and disciples in the New Testament are called witnesses, it is because they were there in person and heard Jesus and saw Jesus face to face before and after his resurrection. They were there – they heard, they saw, and they even touched. And because of that, Jesus said to them (not to us), “you [apostles] will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) And this is why when it came time to choose an apostle to replace Judas, there was this one criterion: “Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us — beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us—from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.” (Acts 1:21-22) They had two men who met that criterion placed before them: Joseph, called Barsabbas, and Matthias; and Matthias was chosen. And this is how the apostles proceeded in their preaching and teaching, always emphasizing their eyewitness testimony. For example, “We ourselves are witnesses of everything he did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, and yet they killed him by hanging him on a tree. God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen, not by all the people, but by us whom God appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” (Acts 10:39-41)
So, if we are not witnesses as they were, what are we? Consider the purpose of a witness, of an eyewitness, especially in a courtroom. In a courtroom, who hears witnesses? Most importantly, the jury. Why? so they can render a verdict of guilt or innocence, of false or true.
When the apostles and other disciples gave their testimony of what they heard, saw, and touched, they placed the hearers essentially in the role of juror. We, and everyone who reads or hears the testimony of the apostles, are being led to render the correct verdict – to confess – this is true. So we are not witnesses as they were, but based on their testimony we are led to be confessors.
This is why I like to get into the hands of unbelievers a copy of the Gospel of John, and say, “Read this.” For when I do so, I am giving them the testimony of those who were there, who heard, who saw, and who touched Jesus, AND, at the same time, I am giving them the word of God that explains what his life, death, and resurrection mean. I can say to them, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (20:30-31)
But there is another aspect to these appearances that is important for us to understand and take to heart. The Gospel of John has accounts that very personal, more so than the other gospels: Nicodemus, the blind man, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, Peter, and here, Thomas. Earlier in the Gospel of John, Thomas is shown to be one who is willing to go to Jerusalem and die with Jesus (John 11). He is also the one who sincerely asks Jesus to clarify himself by asking, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” Thomas has an authentic loyalty and desire to learn. And yet when it comes to believing Jesus has risen from the dead, he becomes very stubborn, despite the fact that there was testimony from Mary Magdalene, other women, Peter, the other nine apostles, and several other disciples – at least 16 others in five separate appearances. What’s your problem, Thomas?
Well, his problem is what all the others experienced to a lesser or greater degree. They had all heard Jesus predict his death and resurrection before it happened. And they had all refused to believe that he had come back to life after he died, even though he told them he would.
There is weakness, unbelief – sinful unbelief (even in the midst of belief) – and other sins that plague the Christian. Here is how Luther describes it in another sermon on this text:
This [example of Thomas], however, is written for our sake – that Christ deals with us in such a friendly, fatherly, gentle, and mild way; that He has such love for us; …and that He does not…cast off weak believers, but bears with their weakness, proceeds gently, and deals most considerately with them, and does not scold them frightfully. He demonstrates this in the case of Thomas, who, though he is still coarse and simple, yet is not wicked, but devoted and upright. Thomas thinks, “I would like to believe it, if only I could,” and he wishes it were so, but still cannot believe nonetheless… He still has the old faith in the crucified Jesus, but he cannot understand that He is to rise again, and yet from his heart he would like to see that it were true.
And thus we see here that we have an altogether good Lord, who does not deal with us harshly or frightfully. He does not say, “You have abandoned Me, left Me, took offense at Me, denied Me.” Rather, He bears with their weakness and does not make them atone for it, though in truth it is great, since they are thus in unbelief, which is wholly and entirely opposed to Him. Yet they do not sin out of contempt for Him, but through weakness. This example with Thomas took place and was written for our good.”
(LW, vol. 69, p. 404)
Christ does not let anyone off the hook; he still admonishes, as when he said to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” We see other admonishments, like with the two on the road to Emmaus: “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25) Or Mark 16:14: “He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen.”
But in the end, we find Jesus to be gentle and humble of heart, and patient. In the midst of fears and doubts, we read in Luke 24, he does not scold, but takes time to convince them: “‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ Having said this, he showed them his hands and feet. But while they still were amazed and in disbelief because of their joy, he asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ So they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.” (Luke 24:39-43) And in the two accounts in our text in John when he appears to the apostles, in each case he does not begin with “shame on you!” but with, “Peace be with you” – a warm and friendly greeting, and much more. It implies and contains the message of forgiveness, bought for them three days earlier.
And bought for you as well who may come here today with fear, trepidation, doubts, weaknesses, frustrations, bitterness, anxiety, worries, failures – past and present – and all sort of sins.
There is, of course, the goal, and a time, to be strong, steadfast, and courageous. The apostles demonstrated that in the weeks to come, but it took time and lessons to be learned. But most importantly, it took and always meant hearing about the events in the life of Christ and the meaning of those events. The events: his life, crucifixion, and resurrection. The meaning of his life, crucifixion, and resurrection: forgiveness. Forgiveness of all sins. All your sins. Forgiveness for the repentant sinner who knows his sin. Forgiveness for everyone who is baptized and has faith in Christ. Forgiveness for the strong, courageous, unwavering Christian. And forgiveness for weak, timid, struggling, and sometimes doubting Christian.
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