04132021 – John 20. 19-31
Easter – Week 2 – Series B – the year of Mark, but we find ourselves once again, in the Gospel of John.
A lot of people do not GET the timeline here.
The timeline IS extremely important.
The timeline IS THE CONTEXT.
When our Gospel text opens up, IT IS “Easter SUNDAY Evening.” The night of the Resurrection.
I think THAT explains a great deal…already!
It had been a crazy day, a crazy week, and a crazy weekend…but then, most days are crazy, right? I mean you never know quite what to expect. What happens…happens…you pray for the best!
But THIS day started out early in the morning, with all that confusion at the empty tomb, all that running back and forth. Mary Magdalene, the other women, Peter, and John…
The gardener…angelic beings…it was chaotic.
Lots of commotion. Lots of activity. Lots of rumors and private conversations. Lots of crying and lots of fear at the unknowns.
Now it was evening, and the disciples were huddled together again IN HIDING, just as they had been over the Sabbath.
They are IN hiding purposefully. They have been IN hiding…and the plan is to “stay in HIDING.” They will only venture out under the cloak of darkness as Thomas has just done.
The room is filled with fear, confusion as it has been all weekend long, plus lingering is an “air of sadness and despair.”
The disciples are at a loss as to what to do NEXT.
Somewhere in the midst of the chaos, “HOPE” tried to raise its weary head, but most of the disciples were giving in to the fear…on all sides of them.
Had he risen, as he promised?
Or was his body stolen, perhaps even by “the religious officials themselves.” Who else would have done it? Certainly not the Romans, they could have cared less. He was dead and buried – was all the Romans cared about.
That is why the door was locked. They were afraid. They assumed they might be next. Someone, anyone, might be coming for them. Afterall, they were his followers. Wherever Jesus was, they were not far behind.
If he were alive, as those “frightened-tear-filled-weepy-women” kept insisting, he probably would have had a thing or two to say about the way “they had all abandoned him.”
Each and everyone of them shared in some guilt. Peter, Judas, all of them. Only John stood nearby. He, and he alone, represented the 12. And no one has seen Judas now, for a few days…
Guilt and shame at their many failures might have given some of the disciples a reason to fear “rebuke from the Rabbi” that they had promised to follow, NO MATTER WHAT.
ALL OF THEM were AFRAID of the religious leaders, the high priest, and his many minions.
If Jesus’ body were gone, the high priest’s henchmen would be scrambling to find it…Rome itself, might even be a little interested and concerned.
The first place they would search would be among Jesus’ closest friends and followers.
Didn’t it make sense that the “religious leaders” would figure ONE OF THEM, if not ALL OF THEM had taken the body, to make it look like Jesus had arisen?
Suddenly, all the quiet whispering and the quiet talking came to an abrupt halt. Someone gasped.
Jesus was there. He just appeared. He showed us his hands and his side. He breathed on us, he sent us out to continue our mission. And as soon as he said this, he vanished out-of-sight.
Wait till Thomas hears about this! He is going to be “green with envy!” The disciples tell HIM just as Mary told THEM ALL this morning, “We have seen the Lord.”
Thomas was skeptical, unsure, uncertain.
So NOW, one week later, (the week after Easter, again on Sunday Night) Jesus appears again. The doors again being locked.
While the “other disciples” rejoice when they see the risen LORD, Thomas offers a confession that is profound and extremely personal: “MY Lord and MY God,” he cries out.
Jesus does not judge, criticize, or demean, instead, he understands, and he just keeps showing up until they ALL finally get it. He has risen, indeed!
He offers them shalom – not the familiar “fear not,” even though they are obviously afraid – but “peace be with you” three times, twice in the first visit and then again, one final time, for all of them, Thomas included.
Three times for repetitions sake. Three times so we do not forget. Three times so that we remember and understand.
He offers PEACE! His PEACE! GOD’S PEACE.
Jesus is alive. He has been resurrected…even as he promised. And the Season of Easter continues on…
Amen.