2EasterC,
St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Moses Lake, WA by Annette Fricke
This is the Sunday
known by many as Doubting Thomas Sunday.
No doubt that it must be accurate since it has been several years that
this title has stuck. Not so. The New Testament was written in Greek, koine
Greek to be exact. It is our
translations that make an error when they use doubting to describe Thomas. In fact, there is no word in Greek for doubt
in the verse where this phrase is derived.
Therefore, Doubting Thomas should never be the title stuck to this
Sunday, the second Sunday in Easter. The Greek word here properly translated
means without faith or without trust, disbelieving or unbelieving. A similar word in English, agnostic means without
knowledge. Most people know that
agnostic means that when a person is described as agnostic, it means he or she
is uncertain as to whether or not God exists. Furthermore, Jesus does not
condemn Thomas for not trusting the word of the other disciples, but rather,
Jesus invites Thomas to touch him and look at him. It seems that calling Thomas
“Doubting Thomas” gives him a bad rap. Thomas is given a bad reputation and
yet, among all the other resurrection appearances, the other disciples also do
not have an immediate recognition of Jesus who was right in front of them until
a particular action of Jesus. Remember
that Mary did not recognize Jesus until he called her by name. Recall also that
when Mary told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, their response was
like that of Thomas: they did not believe her.
Think about it. This is how we verify the truth as human
beings. Remember Galileo who proposed
that the sun is the center of the universe? He was not
believed. Now that we have the evidence,
it is an accepted truth. We have been
given by our creator at least 5 senses and that is how we determine what is true
and what is not true. We also follow the
experimental method presented to us by scientific study. If the same results come from repeating an
experiment, the conclusion must be true.
Chemical reactions under the same conditions produce the same results. Eyewitnesses are usually trusted more than
second or third hand knowledge regarding a murder or crime scene.
This part of John’s
gospel tells us about eye witness accounts.
All of these stories are about people who saw Jesus after his resurrection. But we do not have the benefit of seeing Jesus
face to face as they did. How is it that
we come to know Jesus? The writer of
John hints that the stories of the signs of Jesus in the presence of his
disciples are to somehow produce faith that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s Son and
that through believing you may have life in Jesus’ name. The details are not there. We are left wondering and re-reading the Gospel
of John. What did we miss?
Perhaps it has
something to do with Jesus saying to the disciples, “Peace be with You”, not
once or twice, but three times in just eight verses. Many will automatically think that this word
peace means personal tranquility.
Nope! This is from a Greek word
that has to do with relationships. The
disciples must work together if they are to witness for Jesus. Jesus says “Peace be with you” in two specific
spots, when he first enters the room and just before commissioning the
disciples and breathing on them as a giving and receiving of the Holy Spirit. The
mission of the church does not happen if there are many arguments and
disagreements among its members. Bad
relationships are a hindrance to mission.
The Church is a living, breathing organism which gets its life from God. We always have the free will to go to the
right or to the left—to lethargy or to pride, but we have been given the Holy
Spirit to empower us to go out into the world and teach the world about the salvation
of Jesus.
Jesus is about the
business of forgiveness. It pops up
everywhere in the New Testament. It’s
not about morals, but relationships.
Relationships need forgiveness in order to be sustained and to grow. If we journey back to the Garden of Eden, we
are reminded that the relationship between Adam and Eve broke down as well as
their relationship with God. Humanity
chose to take a different path, not following God. God never gave up on us. We gave up on God and in little or big ways
we continue to do that. Here God is
reminding us that God is always there for us, like the prodigal son’s father—forever
waiting for our return, always supplying what we need, always lavishing us with
love no matter how undeserving we may feel we are, no matter how often or how
badly we stray. It is in the power of that love that we can carry on the work
of God in this church and out into the world. The love of the father of the
prodigal son is the same love that we are to show each other and to the
world. We are to do as Jesus has taught
us. We are to continue to proclaim with
Thomas, “My Lord and my God!”
Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give to you. I do not give to
you as the world gives. As the Father
has sent me, so I send you. Receive the
Holy Spirit.
