The Second Sunday after Easter - Quasimodogeniti - April 11, 2010

The Church Season of Easter,
Easter 2 - Quasimodogeniti
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (April 11, 2010)

“We Have Seen The Lord”

Readings:
Psalm 33
Ezekiel 37:1-14
1 John 5:4-10
John 20:19-31

Sermon Form: Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

John 20:19-31 (ESV)

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” 24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although 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 see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

Jesus has risen from the dead, and Mary, Mary, Salome, Joanna, and the other Mary knew that for a fact, they saw it with their own eyes. An angel had told the women to tell Jesus’ disciples and Peter(Mk 16:7) and so they all saw that the resurrection was true too. There were two on the road to Emmaus who saw and talked with Jesus. Jesus was seen on a mountain.(Mt. 28:16), Jesus was seen by the Sea of Tiberias.(John 21:1) St. Paul notes that Jesus appeared to 500 at one time.(1 Cor. 15:6) And Jesus also appeared to St. Paul.(Acts 9) So there were many who had seen the Lord after the resurrection.

But, as we heard in the Gospel text, the one disciple Thomas was not present when Jesus first appeared to the gathered apostles on the night of the Easter Resurrection. But Thomas was told by the other disciples, that they had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to them. But amazingly, hearing all about the risen Lord from his beloved brothers, Thomas refused to believe. In fact, upon hearing the news, Thomas said that “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” For this statement Thomas will always been remembered as the one who was labeled with doubt.

And it is quite easy for us to scoff and make fun of Thomas, saying, “How could he not believe?” His most important friends, the ones who he had traveled with for several years, his friends who he had sat with and listened to the teachings of Jesus, those same brothers had just told him that Jesus had risen from the dead and appeared to them, just as he said he would. How could someone be shown so much evidence and still not believe?

But, maybe we are too hard and too quick to condemn Thomas as the only disciple who overlooked the obvious signs, who refused to see, and who still had doubts? What about the other disciples? Had they perfectly believed and followed Jesus at every step in His ministry? We know that Judas, became greedy and betrayed Him, but what of the others? Even though all the disciples had heard Jesus prophesy of his immanent arrest and how they would scatter, when the Chief Priests and Elders came for Jesus, the disciples still fled, just as He had predicted. Peter who Jesus loved, and who recognized Jesus as the Christ, denied him three times in His final hours. Others, like Mary Magdalene doubted as she approached the tomb and only believed when Jesus revealed Himself.

Truthfully, we are not alone in our times of doubt, the disciples also denied Jesus, they deserted Him, and they quickly forgot everything that He had taught and promised them. But Thomas was not there that night and so his doubt remained, his belief seemed to be waiting on hold. Thomas wanted to see it for himself.

We too have times that we struggle with our faith and doubt that God is with us. Faith is tested and doubt wants to creep in when our jobs are not quite going the way we think they should, when we see that our family not getting along, when we see there is sickness attacking us or our friends, when we see tragedies, or when death touches our lives. We wonder “Where is God when I really need Him?”, and our doubt tends to override that evidence that Christ died and rose again for us.

But, for Thomas only eight days later he and the other disciples again gathered and Jesus again appeared to them and greeted them as before by saying “Peace be with you.” The next words from Jesus were spoken directly to Thomas as He said “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here with your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas was seeing what He needed to see, Christ’s words were what Thomas needed to hear. He could see Jesus was real in His flesh, real in His word, and in His spirit and so Thomas declared “My Lord and my God.”

And if all who heard the evidence from that moment in time onward would have left their sin and doubt behind, then in just a few minutes we would be standing to confess together one of the very first creeds of the church, “My Lord and my God.” Pretty simple really, but a true confession of Christ as Lord of the Church. Maybe we shouldn’t give Thomas such a hard time. Think of all the generations that Thomas has taught. Rather, think of all the generations whom Jesus has taught by offering to let Thomas touch His wounds.

Jesus said to Thomas, “because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.” It was a clear and undeniable truth that led Thomas to believe in Jesus’ triumph over death and sin on the cross. Jesus came to Thomas and the disciples in his flesh and blood, so that they, and we, may believe in Him. And even though we are instilled with the sins of a world both from our birth and from that which we have committed since, Jesus still comes to us as we see Him today and everyday. We see Jesus in our Baptism, in the joining of the water and of the Word, that gives us faith and washes away all our sins. We see Jesus as He comes to us in His Word proclaimed by the Holy Gospel. We see Jesus as He comes to us in the Lord’s Supper, as His body and blood is in with and under the bread and wine.

Let their be no doubt in your mind, Jesus has shown you His wounds, His promises were kept, His promises are kept. No matter how much this world would attack you by doubt and fear, by pain, by not knowing what the future holds, do not doubt for a moment that you will see Jesus, your Lord and God. But for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our lips would remain sealed with doubt...but the seal of the tomb did not hold Jesus there, and no longer will our lips be sealed together. Rather, Jesus says to you, “Peace be with you” and Christ’s work peals from you all doubt, and enables you to return thanks, speaking from this time forth and forevermore, “My Lord and my God.”

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

AMEN
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