Thomas Was Framed!

April 28, 2019

John 20:19-31

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

As we enter this second Sunday of Easter, we are confronted with the same gospel story that we hear every year on this day. The story of Jesus first appearing to the disciples and then again to Thomas in John’s gospel which continues the resurrection appearances of Jesus. Many of our sisters and brothers also celebrate this Sunday as Holy Humor Sunday or Laughter Sunday. This celebration actually goes all the way back to our early Greek Christian sisters and brothers in the faith that used the days after Easter Sunday to have parties and rejoice with joy and laughter. Why? It is an ongoing celebration of the resurrection and “the custom was rooted in the musings of early church theologians (like Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom) that God played a practical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. “Risus paschalis – the Easter laugh,” the early theologians called it.”

Now, there seems to be one person that is not laughing. That is Thomas.

Thomas is skeptical of what has happened. Really, can we blame him? All the other disciples were present when Jesus came into where they were hiding, and Thomas did not see Jesus for himself. He had to be upset with himself. What was he doing in the first place? Maybe he was going to pick up supplies. Maybe he was gauging the tension that hung in the air after Jesus crucifixion. That is totally left up to our imaginations.

Because of his questions, Thomas gets framed with the title “Doubting!” Imagine having to travel around with that moniker attached to your name. However, while Thomas does appear to doubt, the question could be raised, who is he doubting? Is he doubting that Jesus actually returned and appeared to the disciples? Or is he more in question of the disciples themselves?

So, let’s get this straight. The disciples were just hiding out in the house and Jesus appears to them. John tells us in his gospel that when Jesus spoke to the disciples, he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Now, a more accurate translation would be that he breathed into them. He gave them the Holy Spirit to reside within their very being. This could be what Thomas has an issue with! If Jesus has done what they say, then why are they still hiding out? Should they not be going out and proclaiming the good news as Jesus as told them to do. Thomas wants the same experience as those that were present. Thomas does not see anything different in the way they are acting to lead him to assume that Jesus was actually present. He does not doubt Jesus; he is in doubt of the actions of the disciples.

We can relate with the Thomas that wants to experience everything the way the disciples supposedly said they did. We want to be present when important things happen. We get jealous when we miss out and sometimes even question the authenticity of an event if we were not present to witness it. Events cannot be repeated just because we missed out on them the first time. Just because we were not present, does not mean that a particular event did not happen.

Fortunately for Thomas, Jesus does return a week later. He already senses what Thomas is about to say and offers the wound in his side for Thomas to touch. We assume that he touched the wound. All of the paintings show us that he touched the wound. Honestly, I do not think Thomas would have had to follow through. He is now experiencing Jesus as the disciples did a week earlier. In the peace that Jesus gave him may also be the breath of the Holy Spirit that he breathed into the disciples.

And how does Thomas respond? “My Lord and my God!” It is a proclamation of his faith. A proclamation that Jesus Christ is Lord, and also God. Human and divine. Thomas now knows and believes in Jesus as the Messiah and is empowered with the Holy Spirit to move forward. The doubt that had arisen in the lack of action of the disciples has now vanished. Perhaps this is even enough now to get them to move out of the space they are hiding and begin to spread the good news that Jesus has instructed them to do.

The same Jesus that appears to his disciples and a week later to Thomas, with scars and all, is the same Jesus that comes to be with us. Jesus is with us in hunger, brokenness, hopelessness, disappointment, anger, despair, and much much more. Jesus is present when we least expect it and even in times when we would like to see him get lost. When we think that we know better, Jesus is present to remind us that there is something much greater. It is this same Jesus that comes to our side to be with us in darkness so that we can encounter the light. And what should our response be? “My Lord and my God!” God is visible all around us. For in the story of the resurrection we are reminded that all things are made new! During Easter you are encouraged to write on the back door where you have seen God this Easter season and where you can be God’s hands and feet in the world. For, we too are being sent to proclaim the risen Lord!

Let us pray. God of wonder, you appear before us at times we do not even recognize. May our laughter remind us of your saving grace and may our eyes be open by your light as it spreads to the darkness in our own lives. Amen.