Ready 1, 2, 3, DOUBT!
John 20:19-31; Revelation 1:4-8; Psalm 150; Acts 5:27-32
I love the readings just after Easter, for a lot of reasons. On one level they’re all very happy and uplifting. I mean what’s not to be excited about when Jesus is risen. And yes folks, it’s still the Eastern season. He is still risen, and we’re still celebrating it!
Our reading from Acts for today has Peter and the other apostles proclaiming Jesus in front of the Jewish council – the same council you put Jesus to death. Let me give you a little bit of the lead-up to this. The high priest and Sadducees weren’t very pleased that the twelve were converting all kinds of people to believe in Jesus Christ. And so, because they were jealous of what they were doing, they arrested the apostles only to have an angel break them out during the night. So when the council got to the Temple in the morning, they saw the apostles out of jail proclaiming Jesus in the middle of everyone.
They had the apostles brought before them again, and they have the nerve to say, “We told all y’all not to tell everybody about Jesus anymore. And you’re not listening to us! Everyone is starting to think we killed him!” Just as an aside here. If you recall the events of Good Friday, who was it that brought Jesus before Pilate specifically because they said they needed him killed because he broke their law and the punishment was death only they didn’t have the authority under Roman rule to kill someone so they needed to have Pilate do it? Oh yea, the Jewish ruling council. Apparently in the few months between Jesus’ death and resurrection and the events of this reading they forgot about that.
Anyways, Peter essentially says back, “The same God that you claim to worship, even though you killed his Son, raised Jesus from the dead to forgive your sins even though you want nothing to do with him.” This of course made the council mad, until someone named Gamaliel stepped up and said, “Leave them alone. If they’re just doing this for human reasons, they’ll go away. If they’re acting with God’s help, then we’ll just be fighting against God and that never goes well.
Curiously enough, Gamaliel is the Pharisee who was Paul’s (then Saul) teacher. We’ll hear a little more about Paul next week, but just keep that in mind.
Then we have our reading from John’s gospel, and it’s one of my favorites. It’s the evening of resurrection day. Mary Magdalene just ran and told the disciples what Jesus said to her in the garden outside the tomb. But they’re still worried that since the council had gone after Jesus they’ll go after his disciples next. It’s a fairly valid fear, so they’re locked up in a room somewhere hiding, and Jesus shows up and says “Hi”. At this point, only Mary has actually seen Jesus, and when everyone else saw Jesus they were overjoyed. Jesus lets them know that they’re going to be sent out to proclaim forgiveness of sins, and that section of the story is over.
But then comes the part I love. I think Thomas gets a little bit of a bad rap for doubting, but I’d be doubting too if someone told me that a guy I saw executed was alive and roaming around. But next week, this time with Thomas locked in the room with the rest of the disciples, Jesus shows up again and says to Thomas: “You wanted to see my wounds, put your finger in the nail holes and your hand in my side? Go ahead!” Then Thomas says, “My Lord and my God”, which also happens to be one of the first times someone other than the narrator calls Jesus God.
The reason I love this passage of Scripture so much is all based on how Jesus reacts to Thomas. Jesus didn’t get mad at him for thinking he didn’t really rise from the dead. He never rebuked Thomas for not believing something that sounded a little preposterous. Instead Jesus just met Thomas where he was and offered him the very thing Thomas said it would take to make him believe. It seems like the only people who chastise Thomas for his doubt are pastors preaching sermons hundreds of years later. But that’s neither here nor there.
Then Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. It’s kind of like saying, “Thomas I’m glad you realize I’m really alive now, but there’s going to be a whole bunch of folk who won’t see me and still will believe.” Jesus realizes that it’s hard to accept someone coming back from the dead. And by the way he deals with Thomas, it helps me to know that if I ever have doubts, that God isn’t going to be mad at me for it, instead He will patiently wait for me, and love me where I am.
As Lutherans we’re used to this. If we’re not sure about something, we’re encouraged to look into it – either by asking a pastor, searching in Scripture, rummaging through the confessions, or whatever. When Luther was put on trial nearly 500 years ago for questioning the church, essentially doubting what he had been told, all he wanted was for someone to prove him wrong. In fact, he spent a good portion of his life searching for answers, and during his trial encouraged them to use Scripture to answer him.
So I want to tell you, it’s ok to doubt. It’s ok to wonder what it all means, especially when it comes to extraordinary things like the resurrection. God will be patient with us, like he was with Thomas, and help us through those times when we doubt.