John 20: 19-31
On Easter
Sunday, Alan helpfully presented the resurrection in a wider Biblical context.
He referenced Jesus’ resurrection as inaugurating New Creation as part of God’s
plans and purposes for the redemption of the cosmos and in which we have a part
to play.
Today we are in John’s Gospel and reflecting on the story of Thomas, doubting Thomas, Thomas the twin!
I know I am not alone in thinking it
rather sad that Thomas continues to carry the epithet ‘doubting Thomas,’ and
that most often with a pejorative tone.
What is overlooked is the tradition
that he took the Gospel to South India and suffered martyrdom. Today the
Thomasina Church reveres St Thomas as their founding father and Thomas
continues to be highly regarded in the area even by some Hindu’s.
In a recent series on Netflix, ‘AD
Kingdom and Empire,’ the development of the infant Church from the crucifixion
is explored.
In one scene, Thomas is still ranting
on about not believing until he sees Jesus and sees the wounds in his hands,
feet, and side. Jesus then quietly appears behind him.
Doubt is something we all live with in
matters of life and matters of faith.
However, doubt is not the same as
unbelief.
In some ways doubt is good, as it
pushes us on and stops us simply putting our brains into neutral and doggedly
whistling in the dark or putting our fingers in our ears because we do not want
to listen.
We need to develop a healthier approach
to doubt because if it is simply pushed down or away this can lead to unbelief
and unbelief can then lead to disbelief.
Doubt is not necessarily destructive
and can become constructive.
We may find ourselves puzzling over the
details of the Gospel narratives recalling the resurrection for example.
That the Gospel accounts do not exactly
line up and tell a coherent story. Or there may be other aspects that we find
we are doubting.
Live with those doubts, chew them over,
do some work on them, but do not push them away.
You can be sure that if you find you
have doubts, and if you have lived and wrestled with those doubts, you will be
in a much better place to speak to those who also have their own doubts, doubts
which may be a barrier to them coming to Faith.
Thomas had his doubts and looked for
tangible proofs, which Jesus provided - along with a gentle reprimand and an
encouragement for all who would put their hope and trust in Jesus in the years
to come.
Then Jesus told him, “Because you
have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have believed.”
What is
interesting is where John has chosen to place this story about Thomas and his
confession of faith, ‘my Lord and my God.’
There are some
Biblical scholars who argue that chapter 20 concludes John’s Gospel, and that
chapter 21 is an epilogue. With Peter’s re-commissioning, and with the ‘beloved
disciple’ claiming authorship and authenticity.
Also, there is
a fishing story and the disciples ongoing task to be fishers of people is
outlined with their need to look to Jesus and not to the works of their own
hands. Chapter 21 then, becomes a call
to continue to spread the word about the New Creation inaugurated by Jesus.
If John’s Gospel does end at chapter 20 it presents us with a fitting culmination to this Gospel account set within the framework of New Creation.
John’s Gospel
opens with….
‘In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was
with God in the beginning.’
Echoing Genesis
1.1 ‘In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth.’
John gives us
seven signs (or miracles) in his Gospel to signify who Jesus is as well as
seven I Am sayings.
He tells us
that there are other things that he could have chosen to mention, but he chose
seven signs, and that number is not insignificant.
Jesus was
raised from death on the first day of the week, what we call Sunday, or as Alan
referred to it, Resurrection Sunday.
In the Genesis
creation narrative, we have six days of creation, then a seventh day of rest,
followed by the first day of the week.
Creation going
forward, God and humans cooperating in the ongoing work of caring and
cultivating the garden. Even taking an evening stroll together.
And this is
where all these seven signs in John’s Gospel have been pointing.
‘On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
‘The first day
of the week.’
Jesus rested in
the tomb on the seventh day and then rose on the first day of the new week. The
first day of New Creation.
New creation
going forward…
But now going forward
with Jesus as the new Adam.
Going forward
with Jesus as the new Israel.
Going forward with
Jesus as the new temple.
Going forward
with Jesus as the new Moses.
Going forward
with Jesus as the ultimate Prophet, Priest, and King.
Going forward with
Jesus as the new human.
Going forward
with the possibility of humans and God once more being able to have a
meaningful relationship.
Going forward
with the same call to the first human couple. To work in partnership with God
to care and cultivate, to be fruitful and to multiply.
Going forward
as God’s image bearers.
Going forward in the hope of bodily resurrection and of redemption.
Going forward in anticipation that one day earth will welcome and receive
her true Lord, King and Creator.
The time spoken of in Revelation 21, when heaven descends to earth…
‘the dwelling place of God is now
with His people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God
Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their
eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the
former things have passed away.’
What are we told that Thomas
encountered along with the other disciples?
A tangible physical body that was so
much like a human body and yet so much unlike a human body in their current
frame of reference.
A body that ate and drank.
A body that carried the marks of the
crucifixion.
(Why did they remain and why only these
particular wounds)
A body to which doors, walls and
geography provided no limitations or constraints.
What Thomas saw in Jesus, and what we see with the eyes of
faith, is Jesus as the first of God’s New Creation of immortal human beings.
Colossians 1:18 ‘And he (Jesus) is the head of the body, the
church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in
everything he might have the supremacy.’
God has not rejected his original plans
and purposes outlined in the opening chapters of Genesis.
Jesus is part of the overarching
narrative of how God would bring about in the fullness of time his perfect
plans and purposes. Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension are
integral to those plans.
And cooperation and partnership with
humans are also an integral part of God’s plans and purposes.
The story we read in our Scriptures is of
God seeking to work out his plans and purposes through the human medium. Albeit
they keep messing up big time and failing.
It has been said, ‘that without God we
cannot, and without us God will not?’
Thomas wanted physical proof of Jesus
resurrection.
What would it take for us to believe
and to seek to work within God’s plans and purposes? To embrace the New Creation inaugurated by
Jesus, working towards the redemption of the whole of the cosmos – but
beginning right here and right now in Rugby.
Then Jesus told
him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those
who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus performed many
other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in
this book. But these are written that you may
believe that the Messiah, the Son of God, is Jesus, and that by
believing you may have life in his name.
O Christ in the synagogue at Nazareth,
O Christ in the pulpit of our Churches,
O Risen and Cosmic Christ,
O Voice of the Compassionate
and Righteous God,
give us no peace until we become workers
for your Gospel.
Amen
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