Acts 5:27-32; Psalm 118:14-19; Rev. 1:4-8 John 20:19-31
“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”
Seeing is believing.Were you there when they crucified my Lord?I wasn’t there.Were you?How do we believe what we have not seen?Those who were there and witnessed Jesus death, I am sure they trembled at the sight of the horrible death of their loved one, Jesus.I have only heard.
I will be honest.Had I been there when they crucified Jesus, I would have been one of those who hid in their homes. I might have heard the passers by, the commotion of the crowd, as they walked following Jesus. I might have had the nerve to take a glance outside at Jesus carrying his cross to his death. Just to know that, in fact, all that they said was to happen was happening.But, no, I would not have been able to tolerate witnessing Jesus give up his life.Not on the cross, not being tortured like that.
But seeing is believing.I don’t know if Thomas was one of those who saw Jesus being crucified; but Thomas was a follower of Jesus that was loyal at all costs.
Earlier in the Gospel of John, back in Chapter 11 Jesus hears that Lazarus has died and decides to turn back toward Jerusalem. This is immediately following Jesus almost being stoned to death in that very city. It is Thomas who says to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Thomas was one of the faithful followers who insisted on being at Jesus’ side when he headed toward Jerusalem to Bethany where Jesus raises his good friend, Lazarus, from the dead.The witnessing of this incredible action by Jesus causes many of the Jewish people to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.Thomas, as one of the apostles, was surely also an eye witness to this miracle.
This gives us an insight into who Thomas is.He is a brave and loyal disciple of Jesus, ready to follow him wherever Jesus goes.My guess is that Thomas was also a witness when Jesus was crucified.He most likely wasn’t one of those who denied him, but accompanied Jesus to his death.
Where was Thomas when Jesus rose from the dead?He probably was going about his life.He certainly was not hiding in fear behind the locked doors in the upper room with the other disciples.If he was, he would have seen Jesus when Jesus appeared to them and told them “Peace be with you.”Jesus then showed them the wounds in his hands and his side.They rejoiced because they saw and they believed that Jesus truly has risen from the dead!Then Jesus again tells them “Peace be with you.As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”Jesus breaths on them the Holy Spirit and tells them they are to forgive sins.
But Thomas was not there when Jesus came.When the other disciples told him, as with most of us, the news was hard to believe.Thomas must be one of those who has to touch and see before he can believe.So this is exactly what Jesus provides; one week later.
This time when the disciples are gathered in the house, Thomas is with them. Even with the doors shut, Jesus comes and stands among them.Jesus greets those gathered with “Peace be with you”. Then Jesus addresses Thomas.Jesus shows Thomas his wounds from his death.He shows him the places of his deepest pain.This is when Thomas believes that the man before him is truly Jesus.This is the moment of Thomas’ believing.Thomas proclaims “My Lord and my God!” Thomas is the only disciple to do so.
Thomas is also the only disciple who is said to have been invited to touch the wounds of the Risen Body of Christ.
Just like I would not have wanted to be there when they crucified my Lord;I will admit, I am like many. I would not have wanted to put my hand into the wounds of the risen Christ.Wounds are messy.Wounds are evidence of great pain.They are hard to look at, even turn the stomachs of some.
We would rather think of the risen Body of Christ as being Jesus dressed in dazzling robes floating on a cloud.Isn’t that the resurrected Christ we imagine?But that isn’t how Jesus comes to us.The Body of Christ is a wounded body.Jesus shows his disciples a body that gives evidence that he has descended into the valley of the shadow of death.
Many of us would rather not think about the wounds in this risen Body of Christ. It is only in dealing with the wounds that we come to know the real Body of Christ, the Body of Christ who has died for our sins and risen again. This is one of the reasons I appreciate this ruff hewn cross beside me and the one outside so much.They are ruff, not smooth and perfect.They show the ruggedness of our Savior.
When I sit at the bedside of a person wracked in pain barely hanging onto life, we talk about our Savior, Our Lord and Our God, who has faced the darkness.We talk about having Jesus who was not a superhuman who avoided the pain and suffering of humanity, but a God who has shared fully in our experience.Jesus is our God who walks with us and carries us through our darkest hour.
Our God is not like some of us, who wince at the sight of open wounds.As disciples of Christ we are invited, as Thomas, to touch those wounds of the Body of Christ.This is how we know the Risen Christ, the Christ who meets us at our point of deepest need.
We are called to not only touch the wounds of others who are the Body of Christ.We are called to touch our own wounds that we would rather avoid. It’s hard to walk alone into the valley of the shadow of death.But we do not go there alone.Jesus, who has been there himself walks with us, carrying us through to the Resurrection of the Body of Christ.
Like Thomas, it is by touching the wounds of the Body of Christ that we are able to see and believe.It is there that we have a personal encounter.We can’t give another faith, just like the disciples couldn’t convince Thomas they had seen the risen Jesus.Believing in Jesus comes from seeing and meeting Jesus first hand.And sometimes that means touching the wounds of the Body of Christ.
