04182020 – John 20. 19-31 (Easter II)
Let’s talk about some of the “BAD BOYS of the BIBLE.” Only, let’s be a LITTLE BIT MORE specific.
Let’s just talk about “the twelve.” Those twelve-peachy-guys-hand-selected-by Jesus, himself!
Now obviously, he KNEW what he was doing! He KNEW what he was GETTING HIMSELF in TO! 12 guys! 12 Students! 12 Disciples-ripe-for-teaching, with on-going classes for three-continuous- years! (A thirty-six-month CRASH course!) 12 “CREAM-OF-THE-CROP-MEN-OF-GALILEE.” FOUR FISHERMAN, one TAX COLLECTOR and an assortment of others.
Being identified as “ONE OF THE TWELVE” is NOT necessarily a compliment in the fourth gospel.
Let’s start out with JAMES and JOHN, the sons of ZEBEDEE, also known as being “the SONS of THUNDER!”
Hot-headed, loud and boisterous were they! These were the two who started the argument about WHICH ONE OF THEM was the FAVORITE. Which one of them was the greatest! And they followed that up with asking for the SEATS to the RIGHT and to the LEFT of Jesus when HE came INTO his KINGDOM.
They were “quite the pair,” those two!
Remember how they WALKED AWAY and left their Father, ZEBEDEE sitting in the boat?
Then, of course, there was JUDAS. Who BETRAYED his BELOVED TEACHER for thirty pieces of silver. For thirty pieces of silver, he “SOLD OUT” his LORD.
Oh yeah, and WHAT ABOUT old PETER the ROCK! He who denied even knowing JESUS, not ONCE, not TWICE, but THREE TIMES without even wincing about it. Even when he was forewarned of the event looking JESUS SQUARELY IN THE EYES, he said, “G*D forbid, I would NEVER deny-knowing YOU!” Yeah, right!
And of course, Peter, the Apostolic leader was also known for saying something INAPPROPRIATE.
You do remember, when push came to shove, how they ALL RAN AWAY, fleeing for THEIR LIVES.
How they ALL hunkered down in “a self-enforced quarantine” following the crucifixion. Like SCARED LITTLE RABBITS hiding in their holes, they were.
The BEST of the BEST!
JUDAS, of course, took his own life and even tried to return the money, then, there were ELEVEN.
And what a group of eleven they were!
ALL suffering from some form of PTSD. ALL afraid of their SHADOWS. ALL fearing a knock at the door! All of them, giving up HOPE.
All of which brings us very nicely to the one known as Didymus-the-twin…AKA…THOMAS…aka DOUBTING Thomas… aka doubting DIDDY!
Can you IMAGINE, “the man” you followed for three years “tragically dies” and you find yourselves “lost and alone” and “completely unsure” of – “WHAT IS GOING ON?”
You thought he was the ONE!
You thought he was the MESSIAH, but maybe you were WRONG, mistaken, incorrect.
MAYBE, you were DECEIVED somehow!
Things did not just ADD UP!
They were ALL Questioning.
ALL of them were DOUBTING.
ALL of them were SECOND GUESSING themselves and EACH OTHER. They TRUSTED no on!
All of THEM doubted.
Remember when Mary Magdalene told THEM about her “encounter” with the Empty Tomb and with her RISEN LORD?
Why, they ALL laughed her to scorn. They disbelieved. Idle chatter, an idle tale, they called it!
And NOW it was THOMAS’ turn.
So why was it…that Jesus appeared to every disciple at once, EXCEPT FOR THOMAS?
The guy was just raised from the dead. He has power over the very forces of nature, over wind and waves and over demons. Power over life and over death. Couldn’t he HAVE WAITED until they were ALL together…or was there a purpose in USING THOMAS in this fashion?
THOMAS was NOT any different than any of the rest of them. They ALL had questions. THEY ALL had disbeliefs. THEY WERE ALL skeptical about something. They were all very human and very much like US.
Doubt and misgivings are normal for human beings. Every one of them was weak and faltering and very much capable of deserting and denying their master.
ABSOLUTE UNSWERVING CONFIDENCE was not a requirement for being one of the twelve.
That was just as true then as it is now.
When we say the church is open to EVERYONE, that is exactly WHO we mean.
WE are HERE for YOU!
Amen.