SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
24 APRIL 2022
We
do not know why Thomas was not with the rest of the Apostles on that first day
of the week. However, if we read the
Gospel according to Saint John, we can make an educated guess. When Jesus told his disciples that he was
going to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead, his disciples warned him that
the authorities were trying to stone him.
But Jesus stated that he would return to Judea. Thomas bragged, “let us also go to die with
him.”
At the Last
Supper, Jesus made one last mention of what would happen to him very soon. During his three years of public ministry, he
had told them that he would be condemned to die on a cross, be buried, and
raised on the third day. However, they
could not accept that the long awaited Messiah would be executed like a common
criminal. So, when he assured them at
the Last Supper that they know the way he was going, Thomas was the only one
courageous enough to say what the rest of them were thinking. He said, “Lord, we do not know the way you
are going.” All too soon at the Garden
of Gethsemane, they all realized the harsh truth that the way to the Father was
through his death. In his devastation,
Thomas isolated himself from the rest of the community. He was not present on the third day because
his heart was troubled – by grief, by guilt, and probably by despair.
In his
isolation, he refuses to believe what the others had told him. Isolated from the community, he cannot
believe that his dead mentor has been raised from the dead. Dead people remain dead! In the absence of having encountered the
risen Lord in person, he demands proof.
He wants to see those wounds on the body of the one whom he had come to
love and trust.
We are
tempted to judge Thomas the Apostle harshly.
He is often dubbed “Thomas the Doubter.”
However, we can identify with his doubts more than we are willing to
acknowledge. Like Thomas, we have not
encountered the risen Lord in the ways that the other disciples did. We too want to see signs that the Lord has
been raised. As we look around, our
world is as messed up today as it was three weeks ago. Innocent people continue to be murdered in
Ukraine, Sudan, and other places of war and terror. We still suffer incredible divisions in our
culture and in our church. Misuse of power
continues to infect us, along with greed and jealousy. The lack of respect for the dignity of human
life has not abated. Our families are
dealing with the same difficulties and problems. We want to see the proof the resurrection
around us.
Thomas
makes the greatest profession of faith when he encounters the risen Lord and
sees the proof in his wounds that the Incarnation has not ended in death. He says, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus responds, “Blessed are those who have
not seen and have believed.” He refers
to us. We are blessed when we accept the
witness of those first disciples and believe that they were telling the
truth. We are blessed when we hear the
Lord speak to us in his word to reveal the vision in the Book of Revelation that
the one who was dead lives forever. We
are blessed when we encounter the risen Lord in the Eucharist and in those
gathered here in his name.
These fifty
days of Easter invite us to deepen our faith in the resurrection. We are blessed when we trust that death is
not the end for us, or for our loved ones who have died. We are blessed when we are resolved to die to
ourselves and trust that we can live for others. We are blessed when we do not isolate
ourselves and separate ourselves from this congregation after suffering
terrible losses. We are blessed when we
are willing to let go of bitterness and grudges and breathe forgiveness, as the
risen Lord breathed forgiveness when he broke through those locked doors. Easter makes an incredible difference in our
lives. We are blessed when we truly see
and believe.
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