WEBVTT 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:08.000 Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:09.199 Amen. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:14.000 Seeing is believing. 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:24.160 This aphorism comes to mind when we look at our reading for today of John's Gospel, especially in regard to the Apostle Thomas. 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:28.719 There's so much in these few verses that deserve our attention. 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:31.839 And I encourage you to contemplate every word. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:42.079 But we'll look at a few portions here to bring out the wonder and mystery in these two encounters between the risen Lord and his followers. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:48.000 The events of our gospel reading begins on the evening of the resurrection. 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:50.240 Let me repeat that. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:52.880 This is the evening of the resurrection. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:01:11.599 Now, there had been a stunning triumphal entry, just seven days previous, when the crowds in Jerusalem proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the promised son of David who was to restore the kingdom. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:16.560 Then the apostles were riding high. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:31.680 But only one week later, they were stricken and bewildered, huddling in secret, hoping to evade the scrutiny of the Jewish authorities. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:40.159 We see much confusion among the remaining disciples, stunned by the events of the previous few days. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:02:03.519 One of their own group of followers was dead by his own hand, while the leader had been arrested, tried, convicted by an angry mob, despite the lack of evidence, after which our Savior was abused, mocked, and finally crucified. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:30.319 In the minds of the disciples, Jesus had appeared to be the Son of God, the one who spilled a raging seal with a word, who stopped murderous crowds with a steamy gaze, who turned nature on its head by turning water into wine, loaves, and fishes into a feast, death into life. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:37.599 With sudden violence, that vision had seemingly been crushed. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.479 They didn't understand what it happened. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:48.960 But then, after three days, the tomb suddenly lay empty. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:52.000 Peter and John had witnessed that fact. 00:02:52.639 --> 00:03:03.919 And even after the disciples had heard a report from Mary Magdalene that Jesus had been seen alive, they still weren't convinced. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:12.319 They were still in hiding, fearing possible arrest by the Jewish leaders, locked into an upper room. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:15.199 They sought safety there. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:27.439 Jesus suddenly appears in their midst despite those locked doors, and he's burying the marks of his sacrificial death. 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:31.840 He greets them with calming words. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:34.319 Peace be with you. 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:42.639 Now that's a tacit declaration of forgiveness for those who had abandoned him in his time of need. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:49.840 It was an extension of his words from the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:55.360 Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.080 As the Father has sent me, even so I am sent you. 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:05.919 And when he had said this, he grieved on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:09.680 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:15.039 If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:21.600 Now this is a commission to them to spread the gospel. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:26.639 It's not giving them any sort of divinely issued authority here. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:33.519 See, the results listed here by Jesus, they are forgiven and it is withheld. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:36.879 They're both passive in nature. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:43.120 We, humanity, has nothing to do with either outcome. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:51.519 Just like in baptism, it is entirely God who acts to forgive or retain any sin. 00:04:53.120 --> 00:05:12.720 See, we must temper these words in the light of what Jesus had to say about the perfect prayer that he gave us in Matthew 6, where he says this for if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:21.680 But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:35.040 See, our calling as Christians is to be a blessing, to be salt and life by bearing the message of God's grace and reconciliation. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:41.519 First to one another, and also to a lost world. 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:54.879 And so we come to Thomas, forever known as doubting Thomas, who was confronted by the fact of the resurrection in a powerful way. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:06:02.480 John writes, now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.879 So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:19.120 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. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:23.680 You know, I think Thomas gets a bit of a bad rap. 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:29.199 We don't learn too much about Thomas in the New Testament. 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:35.519 He only shows up in the first three Gospels on lists of the twelve apostles. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:41.600 But here in John's Gospel, we get a glimpse or two of his character. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:07:06.079 In John 11, when Jesus tells the apostles that their friend Lazarus has died, and that Jesus wanted to go back with him to the region of Jerusalem, it says, then Thomas, called Didymus, said to the rest of the disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:18.000 Here we see a realist, one who remembered that Jesus was in danger at Jerusalem, and that it might be dangerous for his companions as well. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:25.040 But even so, he's ready to accompany Jesus whatever the command. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:36.639 In John 14, after the Passover meal, it reads, Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:39.279 So how can we know the way? 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:46.319 Jesus responds by saying, I am the way and the truth and the life. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:50.319 No one comes to the Father except through me. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:08:03.600 This indicates that Thomas and the others were engaging in a frank dialogue with Jesus on this last evening together before the events of the passion. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:11.519 These discussions showed that the disciples didn't grasp, didn't understand what was about to happen. 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:16.079 But they were earnestly seeking out the truth. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:26.639 However, as we heard in the reading, Thomas had scoffed when his friends told him the good news about the listen Christ. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:30.399 We read that eight days later. 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:35.039 Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.799 Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here and see my hands. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:44.240 And put out your hand and place it in my side. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.600 Do not disbelieve me. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:56.159 Jesus shows up again in their midst and answers Thomas's challenge by showing his hand. 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:16.879 In response, this apostle, noted in history as the one to tell, gave the most succinct, most sincere declaration of faith we see in all of Scripture, saying, My Lord and my God, to his risen Savior. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:24.080 This is not some spontaneous, excited utterance of the type we so often hear, like, oh my gosh. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:32.480 This is the confession of a convinced Jew, one who would never take the name of God lightly. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:40.159 He was confronted by irrefutable evidence that Jesus was who he said he was. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:43.519 The I am, the Messiah. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:48.639 And after he beheld the risen Savior, he saw. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:55.679 Through the eyes of faith, he could no longer unsee the truth. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:58.480 He saw God's glory. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:09.600 Thomas is not found again in Scripture, but tradition holds that he took the gospel further than any other apostle. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:18.559 First into what is now Northeastern Iran, and then into India, where he died a martyr's death at Markus. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:24.799 As humans, we all have doubts. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:34.240 When Jesus was confronted by doubt during his attempting by Satan, his answer was found in Scripture. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:42.960 When Jesus' own cousin John was confused about Jesus, he sent his followers to ask, are you the one who's to come? 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.240 Or should we look for another? 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:57.519 Jesus reminded them of Scripture, paraphrasing what Isaiah had prophesied in the Old Testament. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:03.279 In Isaiah, go and tell John what you have seen and heard. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:11.039 The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:15.919 The dead are raised up, the poor have good news, preached. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:26.159 See, when we have doubts, we can be comforted by these same scriptures that Jesus trusted and upheld. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:31.679 For in them is found truth, the foundation of our faith. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.240 I began this message by saying that seeing is believing. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:42.960 But you know, in this passage, Jesus has a rebuttal to that idea. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:49.279 He says, Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. 00:11:51.440 --> 00:12:02.799 When he first came to Martha after Lazarus had been entombed, he had told her, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:07.600 Whoever believes in me, though he died yet, shall live. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:10.960 And everyone who believes in me shall never die. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:13.279 Do you believe this? 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:26.080 At the rising of Lazarus, Jesus told Martha, did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:33.279 See, a lot of people saw what happened, but not all of them believed. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:37.919 And so they didn't see that this was God at work. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:54.080 There's an idea that's widely attributed to the philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas, which goes, to one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:59.679 To one without faith, no explanation is possible. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:08.960 Many people saw Lazarus being raised from the dead, but not all of them saw it as a miraculous act of God. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:13.600 Despite seeing the power of God on this play, they saw anything but that. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:19.840 In fact, the enemies of Jesus saw this act as grounds for seeking his execution. 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:27.759 By the way, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have been. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:54.320 Some of them actually become convinced and are transformed by the weight of those irrefutable facts. 00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:06.720 And John attests to their sufficiency, writing, now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:14.000 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:18.720 And that by believing you may have life in his name. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.320 Jesus is alive. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:33.440 He has fulfilled the promises set forth by the Old Testament prophets and has satisfied the judgment God made against our sins. 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:42.639 He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the scapegoat who bore the weight of our sins in our place. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:52.799 His resurrection bears testimony to the power of God to raise us to newness of life in him. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:04.240 Historians have exhaustively analyzed the evidence, concluding that the resurrection accounts are based on eyewitness testimony. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:10.000 The apostles made these facts the central feature of their message. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:14.320 And most of them died defending this very set of facts. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:24.240 Peter in Acts 2 said, God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:45.679 Yet the people of God still joined together in worship and witness, echoing Thomas as he makes his pivotal confession, my Lord and my God. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:50.399 Thomas did not crumble under doubt and fear. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:54.320 He made a powerful confession based on what he saw. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:59.120 And then he witnessed to his faith in the risen Christ until the end. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:07.440 When it comes to God's word, believing is saved. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:19.120 May we all see the hope of our salvation in word and sacrament and shining through one another. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:23.200 He is risen.