Another Look

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
Manassas Presbyterian Church
Manassas, Virginia
April 15, 2007

Another Look
John 20:19-31
Acts 2:29-36

I think Thomas has spent the past 2000 years
stuck with a bad reputation,
a reputation he does not deserve.
Think about it: “Doubting Thomas”.
That’s how we have thought of this man,
this disciple,
this man who followed our Lord,
both before and after the crucifixion.
This man, who according to legend,
took the gospel as far as India.
I think Thomas needs some help,
some reputation rehabilitation.

Let’s have a look at the text from John:
On that first Easter evening
the disciples were huddled behind locked doors,
hiding from the authorities whom they were sure
were hot on their trail,
eager to arrest them and kill them.
I cannot imagine they were quiet, though:
there had to have been a buzz in that room
as they talked about what Mary Magdalene had told them:
How she had seen Jesus,
seen Jesus as alive as he had been just three days earlier,
how she at first mistook him for the gardener,
but then heard that voice that was peace itself
and knew immediately that it was Jesus.

They didn’t believe Mary;
the whole story sounded too fantastic.
They had all seen him take his last breath
from the cross.
They all knew his lifeless body
had been put in that tomb,
a stone rolled against it
and later sealed by Pilate’s Roman legion.
Those were all facts.
How could there be any credibility in Mary’s story?

When Mary first went to the tomb and found it empty
she immediately told Peter and John.
They had been intrigued enough to have gone to the tomb.
They’d seen that the stone had been rolled aside;
they’d seen the linen burial cloths lying
where Joseph of Arimathea
had set the body on Friday night.

Peter, the one Jesus had looked to for leadership
walked away from the tomb confused,
uncertain as to what to believe.
John’s gospel tells us,
“for as yet they did not understand the scripture,
that [Jesus] must rise from the dead.” (John 20:9)

It was after Peter and John had walked away
that Mary saw her Lord, Jesus in the flesh.
She then told all the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.”

But who believed her?
Why would they believe such a story?
How could they believe that Jesus was alive?

And then, there he was,
their Teacher, their Master, their Lord:
Jesus, standing in that room with them.

The men stood there in stunned silence,
eyes riveted on Jesus.
Jesus spoke to them,
“Peace be with you.”
And with that, what did he do to the awestruck group?
He held out his hands
and he showed them to the group gathered there.
He showed them the scars on his hands,
the scar on his side where the soldier
had so coldly, so ruthlessly,
pierced his flesh as he hung dying on the cross.

They all looked at his body,
the flesh, the bone: this was no ghost.
It was real;
he was real.
But no one said what they were all thinking:
how could this be?

Jesus broke the silence with his words,
“Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.
Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them,
but if you retain the sins of any,
they are retained.”

And with that he was gone.
Gone.
Silently, as quickly as he had come.
Gone.
Was it real?
Or in their state of utter emotional exhaustion,
had they imagined the whole thing?

Thomas wasn’t there to witness what the others had seen.
None of the other gospels, nor any of the apocryphal sources
explain why Thomas was not there.
Perhaps he had been sent out to buy some bread
and some fish for supper.
Perhaps he had been sent out to scout around
to learn whether the Roman soldiers were looking for them.
Whatever the reason, he was not there.
So when he returned, the other disciples told him
“We have seen the Lord.”

And Thomas then offered that response that has made him famous:
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands,
and put my fingers in the mark of the nails
and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

But was he asking for anything the others had not had?
Mary Magdalene had seen Jesus in the flesh
in the garden, and she believed.
The rest of the apostles had seen Jesus in the flesh
and they believed.

Luke doesn’t mention Thomas,
but his account is quite similar to John’s:
When Jesus appeared to the disciples
he stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
The disciples were “startled and terrified
and thought they were seeing a ghost.”
Jesus saw their fear and responded,
“Why are you frightened,
and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
Look at my hand and my feet;
see that it is I myself.
Touch me and see….” (Luke 24:36ff)
“Why do doubts arise in your hearts?
Look at me; touch me, and see…”

What Thomas wanted was the same opportunity
the others had had.
Yes, blessed is the one who believes without seeing,
but was Thomas really any more of a doubter than the others?

The more important words where those he spoke
when he did have the chance to see Jesus,
to see the scars,
to touch him,
to know that Jesus was risen from the dead:
“My Lord and my God!”
There was no doubt,
no hesitancy,
nothing but faith,
powerful faith.

Now this begs the question for us:
Why can’t we have the same opportunity?
It almost seems unfair, doesn’t it?
We are asked to believe, when we have not seen.
We hear Jesus’ words, and agree, yes,
blessed is the one who has not seen,
and yet has come to believe,
who takes things on faith.
But we are human, afterall,
rational men and women,
often skeptical,
wanting evidence, proof,
anything that would help make believing
help make having faith just a bit easier.

Think of the conviction each of us would have
if we could only just see Christ the way the apostles did
in that dark room that first Easter evening,
see the scars,
touch the body,
feel the flesh and the bone:
to know for certain.
Have the same experience Mary Magdalene had;
have the same experience all the disciples had.

But, of course, we can see the living Jesus,
the risen Christ,
just as clearly as those exhausted men and women did
in that room so long ago.
You heard me say that to our children last week.

We can see Jesus in the face of one another;
in the face of all God’s children.
We see Jesus in this community that gathers here each Sunday
to worship God in the name of Jesus.
We see Jesus in the way we embrace the children who
fill our Sanctuary with wonderful chaos and laughter.
We see Jesus in each group that gathers together
to do God’s work:
each Ministry Team,
our Deacons, our Elders,
the Prayer Shawl Group
the Youth Groups.
Take a walk down the hallway on a weekday morning
and you will see Jesus in the face of every child
who comes here to participate in the ministry
we offer through our Early Learning Center.

Jesus is present every time we reach out in love.
Jesus is present each time we put aside
anger, resentment,
pettiness, jealousy,
envy, or fear.
Jesus is present each time we offer forgiveness,
each time we offer mercy to one another.
He is as present and visible as he was
to Thomas and the other Disciples.

The scars on Jesus’ body are also right there before us, too.
We see the scars in violence in homes,
in communities, in war not just in the Middle East
but in too many nations throughout the world.
We see the scars in contention and anger;
In selfishness, bitterness, acrimony.

We see the scars when an elderly person dies alone;
We see the scars in the face of a hungry child,
a frightened mother,
a father who has given up hope for himself and his family.
We see the scars in 35 million men, women, and children
who live in poverty in this, the wealthiest nation on earth.

We see the scars when we look a person
whose skin color is different
or whose accent is different, or
who simply behaves or thinks differently,
and think contemptuously of that person,
or make racist or sexist,
or any kind of derogatory comment.

Churches are filled with the presence of Jesus,
but it is also easy to see the scars of Jesus in churches
in petty gossip, in complaints,
in an unwillingness to work with others,
in insisting on one’s own way.

I think it is time to give Thomas a break.
I think it is time to see in Thomas
what was in all the disciples,
what is in each of us:
a dose of skepticism as we struggle each day
to grow in faith.

Let’s learn from Thomas,
from his words, “My Lord and My God”,
from his faithful obedience
as he lived the rest of his days in faith,
serving God through Jesus Christ,
working each day to heal Christ’s scars,
as he sought to give life to Christ,
to help all the world to see what he had seen:
the risen Christ,
the living Christ.
For Christ is risen;
Christ is alive, always before us.

And anytime we don’t see Christ,
all we need to do is take another look.
AMEN