“Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” -John 20:19-25
Truth be told… Luke’s gospel in the New Testament is my favorite… but I really do love John’s account of the resurrection… as there is more than just detail here… there are hidden images to be discovered which help shape our lives and assist in our understanding of the world.
So… John tells his readers what happened…
The disciples were gathered on the evening of Easter… hiding out for fear of the Jewish Temple leaders and with the doors locked and with no announcement Jesus appeared to them…
This took place on the evening of the very first Easter… on the EVENING of THAT day… when Jesus was no longer dead… on the first day of the week… that being Sunday… in the EVENING… an imagery of darkness St. John provides… obviously attached to the disciples’ grief… where everyone seems to have dismissed the words of the women… and remained in the room for fear of the Jews… thinking… well… if the Romans and the temple leaders got Jesus… they certainly will come looking for us next… and did you remember that Jesus told them that after he was killed and be raised from the dead on the third he would go ahead of them and meet them in Galilee… and did you notice that Jesus didn’t even let a day go by … not one single day… before appearing to his disciples… to bring them comfort and hope… comfort for the ordeal they just experienced and hope for the work that was at hand for them to tend to? … It seems Jesus just keeps appearing to his disciples… and what is it about the words, “peace be with you” that does something to our hearts and personal spirit when we feel all is lost? And if that wasn’t enough Jesus presented his hands and the gaping hole in his side… offering the proof everyone was looking for to validate the words of Mary who told them “I’ve seen the Lord…’
O let’s just cut to the chase here… this is way more important than anything we might want to do on any Sunday morning… way more important than Easter egg hunts and a new bonnet for worship on Easter Sunday… THIS is the moment in time which becomes the center point of the history of all humankind with all events and stories prior leading up to THIS moment and all events since shaped, defined and understood by the cross and empty tomb of Jesus… and just for the sake of detail… we have to wonder where was Thomas when all his other friends were hiding out for fear of their own lives? St. John leaves that detail out… but makes the point loud and clear that any of us can get distracted by the ways of the world only to put us in a place where we miss out on the most important story of all time… faith matters… yes!
So, Jesus keeps coming to us… when we least expect it…as John said… “the doors were locked.” But Jesus appeared to them just the same… and Thomas… and to us even when we have closed our hearts for whatever reason… Thomas does get a bad rap… being called ‘the doubter’ and all… but in the end he believed… giving a skeptic like me something to mull over in my head and heart… and to hear… “peace be with you…” as gift!
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Send comments and/or questions to godworks247365@gmail.com.
