Ezekiel 37:1-14; 1 John 5:4-10; St John 20:19-31
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
They were gathered together out of fear, not in hope. They were huddled together in anxiety, not joy. For the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, they presumed their hope was clean cut off. Jesus was dead. Brutally murdered at the hands of those with influence and power who use fear and intimidation to accomplished their twisted ideologies. Presumably they were next. The Shepherd had been struck, the sheep would soon be slaughtered.
The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” The first words of the risen Christ to His frightful Church: Peace to you. The result of His finished work. Peace to you. The attitude of the Father upon you. Peace to you. The quieting of your troubled conscience. Peace to you. A peace not as the world gives. A peace that surpasses all human understanding. It is an Absolution, this peace. It bestows forgiveness.
And then something remarkable: When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. He revealed to them the scars of His victory, the signs of His loves for them and the Father’s reconciliation. For though He is risen, He is and always shall be, the Crucified One, bearing the marks of His Sacrifice. For by these, St John says, they recognized Him. And more, in these wounds, the disciples rejoiced. They were glad when they saw the Lord, that is, when they saw His wounds, that is how they know Him.
Thomas was not there the first Easter; whatever his reason for being separated from the Lord’s brethren, from the gathering of this new family, he missed out on the peace which only Christ can give. He did not receive the life-giving Spirit of Jesus. He did not behold the wounds of Christ and therefore was not at peace, but unrest, with a disquieted mind.
His refusal to believe is sin. And in his sin he becomes defensive. Sin always does. He demands proof.
Now a word of caution here concerning St Thomas. He is not merely doubting. Many of the disciples doubted, even after seeing Jesus and worshipping Him after His resurrection. That’s not the problem. Thomas is unbelieving. He says it himself: Unless I see, unless I place my hand, I will never believe. Thomas is an empiricist. Unless I can test it myself, see it with my own two eyes, touch with my own hands, I will not believe it. This is the defensiveness of sin. “Show me where I’ve done wrong. I never did that. Unless you can offer sufficient proof to satisfy me, I’ll never believe you.” Which means, you’ll never repent. Forgiveness is withheld from the unrepentant. This is damnable.
Thomas remained in his doubt and fears, with his skeptical conscience, defensive against the contentment of the Eleven. He wasn’t there that first Easter Sunday when Jesus came and revealed Himself to them and granted them His Spirit and Peace and so he remained as dusty, lifeless bones that whole first week of Eastertide. But he was there the second time. Why? Because the other disciples did what Christians do: They witnessed to the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ by confessing what they had seen and heard and received from Him. They could not prove to Thomas; that is, they could not argue him into belief, but do as Philip had original done with Nathanael objections: Come and see.
That’s the best evangelism program we could ever have. Seek out those who are absent from our midst, who miss out on the peace of Christ Jesus, His spirit-filled Word and joyful wounds; seek them out and bring them. Invite them. Exhort them. Encourage them. You don’t have all the answers and can’t argue them into belief, but you can say, “Come and see.”
And so Thomas came, looking for sufficient proof; skeptical. And the Lord provided. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He invited Thomas to examine His hands and side, to behold the wounds of His crucifixion and know that it is He, the Prince of Life who has conquered death. And to confront the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ in sinful unbelief is surely a terrifying thing. Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas repents. He lets go of his sin, dies to it, rather than in it, and is absolved.
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me?” No! St Thomas believed because he heard the Word of Christ: Do not disbelieve, but believe. For faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. Seeing Jesus dispelled his skepticism, but hearing the Word of Jesus, created and sustained faith in Him.
Beloved in Christ, you are here, the doors are not locked, but open to all. Yet you are locked away, turned inward by sin and guilt, imprisoned in shame and anxiety, trapped by fear. Into your midst comes the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ to bestow upon you His peace, His absolution. He does not chastise and shame you, but speaks tenderly to you, breathing His life-giving Spirit upon you, bespeaking you righteous; brining comfort to your troubled conscience, dispelling your unbelief and creating saving faith in you.
The doubt and fear that belong to your sin, also turn you back upon your sinful self and multiply your sins. The very sin that puts you to death and damns and destroys you, also hinders you from Christ, and hinders you from believing His Word, and robs you of life, and robs you of peace and rest and joy and gladness.
You can choose to be in the right place, and you should do so, but you cannot choose to believe. You cannot pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. You cannot force your heart and mind to get it right. You cannot make yourself holy. You cannot justify or cleanse yourself. So, what can you do? What is your hope?
Behold, He invites you to examine His wounds. For this is how you know Him. Firstly you have been placed into His side, entered into fellowship with Christ through Holy Baptism. For this is the testimony of the water that streamed from His side upon the Cross. It fills the font and is joined to His Spirit-filled Word to be a lavish washing away of your sin.
Also the blood, which poured forth from His own heart, fills the Cup of Salvation. Here is His riven side, opened to you that you may partake of His resurrected life. Put your hand out and see, He has flesh and blood, which He gives to you for the forgiveness of your sins, for the dispelling of your doubt and unbelief, and the strengthening of your faith.
Even His hands, wounded for you, are open for you here. As a communion hymn says, “When ministers lay on their hands, absolved by Christ the sinner stands; he who by grace the Word believe the purchase of His blood receives.” This, beloved, is a reference to the laudable and beneficial practice of individual Absolution; retained among our churches for the sake of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ of the full and free forgiveness of all your sins.
When the called and ordained servant of Christ forgives you sins, whether corporately or individually, you can be certain that his forgiveness is God’s forgiveness, just as valid in heaven as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with you Himself. Within the locked doors of your fear and guilt and sin, Christ bestows unto His Church and her Pastors the Keys of Heaven, by which they fling wide the gates and pour out His mercy and love. Absolution, the Spirit-filled Word of His sent ones, curves us away from ourselves, reorients us toward Christ, who reveals His wounds to us in joy and gladness. These are His holy wounds in which you find peace and life
It is true, you have not yet seen the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. But you hear Him. And by His Word do you believe. Already after two weeks it became tradition - the way they always did it - they gathered together in the Name of Jesus, who was in their midst, among them with His Word and Sacraments, forgiving sins and strengthening faith. And this, as St John says, is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.
The Lutheran Confessions have a short hand way of saying that one is justified by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. It is: faith justifies. Faith saves. Which is to say, faith in Jesus Christ justifies. Jesus saves. He is the One who has overcome the world. He is your Victory. The Paschal Victim is also the Victor. Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous, the Prince of Life who died, reigns immortal.
Do not fear the world, beloved. Neither fear your sin, or death, your flesh, nor hell itself. Fear not your own heart and conscience, even, which tries to condemn and mislead you. For you have one greater than your heart: even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in whom believing you have life in His Name.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
They were gathered together out of fear, not in hope. They were huddled together in anxiety, not joy. For the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, they presumed their hope was clean cut off. Jesus was dead. Brutally murdered at the hands of those with influence and power who use fear and intimidation to accomplished their twisted ideologies. Presumably they were next. The Shepherd had been struck, the sheep would soon be slaughtered.
The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” The first words of the risen Christ to His frightful Church: Peace to you. The result of His finished work. Peace to you. The attitude of the Father upon you. Peace to you. The quieting of your troubled conscience. Peace to you. A peace not as the world gives. A peace that surpasses all human understanding. It is an Absolution, this peace. It bestows forgiveness.
And then something remarkable: When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. He revealed to them the scars of His victory, the signs of His loves for them and the Father’s reconciliation. For though He is risen, He is and always shall be, the Crucified One, bearing the marks of His Sacrifice. For by these, St John says, they recognized Him. And more, in these wounds, the disciples rejoiced. They were glad when they saw the Lord, that is, when they saw His wounds, that is how they know Him.
Thomas was not there the first Easter; whatever his reason for being separated from the Lord’s brethren, from the gathering of this new family, he missed out on the peace which only Christ can give. He did not receive the life-giving Spirit of Jesus. He did not behold the wounds of Christ and therefore was not at peace, but unrest, with a disquieted mind.
His refusal to believe is sin. And in his sin he becomes defensive. Sin always does. He demands proof.
Now a word of caution here concerning St Thomas. He is not merely doubting. Many of the disciples doubted, even after seeing Jesus and worshipping Him after His resurrection. That’s not the problem. Thomas is unbelieving. He says it himself: Unless I see, unless I place my hand, I will never believe. Thomas is an empiricist. Unless I can test it myself, see it with my own two eyes, touch with my own hands, I will not believe it. This is the defensiveness of sin. “Show me where I’ve done wrong. I never did that. Unless you can offer sufficient proof to satisfy me, I’ll never believe you.” Which means, you’ll never repent. Forgiveness is withheld from the unrepentant. This is damnable.
Thomas remained in his doubt and fears, with his skeptical conscience, defensive against the contentment of the Eleven. He wasn’t there that first Easter Sunday when Jesus came and revealed Himself to them and granted them His Spirit and Peace and so he remained as dusty, lifeless bones that whole first week of Eastertide. But he was there the second time. Why? Because the other disciples did what Christians do: They witnessed to the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ by confessing what they had seen and heard and received from Him. They could not prove to Thomas; that is, they could not argue him into belief, but do as Philip had original done with Nathanael objections: Come and see.
That’s the best evangelism program we could ever have. Seek out those who are absent from our midst, who miss out on the peace of Christ Jesus, His spirit-filled Word and joyful wounds; seek them out and bring them. Invite them. Exhort them. Encourage them. You don’t have all the answers and can’t argue them into belief, but you can say, “Come and see.”
And so Thomas came, looking for sufficient proof; skeptical. And the Lord provided. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He invited Thomas to examine His hands and side, to behold the wounds of His crucifixion and know that it is He, the Prince of Life who has conquered death. And to confront the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ in sinful unbelief is surely a terrifying thing. Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas repents. He lets go of his sin, dies to it, rather than in it, and is absolved.
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me?” No! St Thomas believed because he heard the Word of Christ: Do not disbelieve, but believe. For faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. Seeing Jesus dispelled his skepticism, but hearing the Word of Jesus, created and sustained faith in Him.
Beloved in Christ, you are here, the doors are not locked, but open to all. Yet you are locked away, turned inward by sin and guilt, imprisoned in shame and anxiety, trapped by fear. Into your midst comes the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ to bestow upon you His peace, His absolution. He does not chastise and shame you, but speaks tenderly to you, breathing His life-giving Spirit upon you, bespeaking you righteous; brining comfort to your troubled conscience, dispelling your unbelief and creating saving faith in you.
The doubt and fear that belong to your sin, also turn you back upon your sinful self and multiply your sins. The very sin that puts you to death and damns and destroys you, also hinders you from Christ, and hinders you from believing His Word, and robs you of life, and robs you of peace and rest and joy and gladness.
You can choose to be in the right place, and you should do so, but you cannot choose to believe. You cannot pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. You cannot force your heart and mind to get it right. You cannot make yourself holy. You cannot justify or cleanse yourself. So, what can you do? What is your hope?
Behold, He invites you to examine His wounds. For this is how you know Him. Firstly you have been placed into His side, entered into fellowship with Christ through Holy Baptism. For this is the testimony of the water that streamed from His side upon the Cross. It fills the font and is joined to His Spirit-filled Word to be a lavish washing away of your sin.
Also the blood, which poured forth from His own heart, fills the Cup of Salvation. Here is His riven side, opened to you that you may partake of His resurrected life. Put your hand out and see, He has flesh and blood, which He gives to you for the forgiveness of your sins, for the dispelling of your doubt and unbelief, and the strengthening of your faith.
Even His hands, wounded for you, are open for you here. As a communion hymn says, “When ministers lay on their hands, absolved by Christ the sinner stands; he who by grace the Word believe the purchase of His blood receives.” This, beloved, is a reference to the laudable and beneficial practice of individual Absolution; retained among our churches for the sake of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ of the full and free forgiveness of all your sins.
When the called and ordained servant of Christ forgives you sins, whether corporately or individually, you can be certain that his forgiveness is God’s forgiveness, just as valid in heaven as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with you Himself. Within the locked doors of your fear and guilt and sin, Christ bestows unto His Church and her Pastors the Keys of Heaven, by which they fling wide the gates and pour out His mercy and love. Absolution, the Spirit-filled Word of His sent ones, curves us away from ourselves, reorients us toward Christ, who reveals His wounds to us in joy and gladness. These are His holy wounds in which you find peace and life
It is true, you have not yet seen the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. But you hear Him. And by His Word do you believe. Already after two weeks it became tradition - the way they always did it - they gathered together in the Name of Jesus, who was in their midst, among them with His Word and Sacraments, forgiving sins and strengthening faith. And this, as St John says, is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.
The Lutheran Confessions have a short hand way of saying that one is justified by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. It is: faith justifies. Faith saves. Which is to say, faith in Jesus Christ justifies. Jesus saves. He is the One who has overcome the world. He is your Victory. The Paschal Victim is also the Victor. Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous, the Prince of Life who died, reigns immortal.
Do not fear the world, beloved. Neither fear your sin, or death, your flesh, nor hell itself. Fear not your own heart and conscience, even, which tries to condemn and mislead you. For you have one greater than your heart: even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in whom believing you have life in His Name.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
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