The Second Sunday of Easter
April 3, 2016
John 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the LORD. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (called Didymus) one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the LORD!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My LORD and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (NIV1984)
Dear fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
I have three scars on my body. One scar is on my chin. It is what might be called my “child’s play” scar. When I was very young I was playing with my toy truck— pushing it as fast as I could down the sidewalk. Suddenly the wheels of my truck got stuck in a crack in the sidewalk. It stopped. I didn’t. Now I have a scar on my chin. I have another scar on my finger. It is what might be called my “foolishness scar.” When I was a child I found a bottle and wanted to see if I could get it to shatter against a huge boulder. When it didn’t shatter the way I wanted it to I picked it up to try again. That was foolish. Now I have a scar. The third scar is on my shoulder. It’s from a vaccine I received as a child. I don’t remember much about it.
Do any of you have a scar? If you have ever had surgery you probably have a scar. If you have ever been injured you may also have a scar. If you do have a scar then it will be easy for you to relate to how I would like us to study this very familiar portion of the Easter account. Whenever we see a scar that we may have we remember how we received that scar, don’t we? For example, even if I wanted to I would not be able to forget how foolish I was when I got this scar on my finger.
The portion of Scripture that we have before us today, my friends, is very often studied from the perspective of focusing on “Doubting Thomas.” This morning, however, I would like us to focus on the stigmata— the “scars of crucifixion” that are still present in Jesus’ resurrected body. With that perspective in mind let’s study our text under the theme: Wounds that Heal. There are two things we want to see today. First let’s see how the stigmata assure us that our relationship with our God has been healed. Then let’s see how the stigmata have the power to heal our relationships with others.
The setting of our text is quite familiar to us. It is the evening of that first Easter Sunday. The Lord’s disciples had locked themselves in a room “for fear of the Jews” as John says here in our text. After seeing how the religious leaders of Jerusalem convinced the people of Jerusalem to have Barabbas released and Jesus executed, the disciples were understandably afraid that they were next on “the list.” That fear was completely swept away when as John says in our text, “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.”
“Peace be with you!” Since those were the very first words that the risen Christ chose to speak to His fear-filled disciples on that first Easter evening we can anticipate that this was far more than just the typical Jewish greeting of Shalom. This anticipation is then confirmed when we see how Jesus substantiated the “peace” He proclaimed! “He showed them his hands and side.” The “peace” of Easter, the “peace” of the risen Christ is a “peace” that is based upon the stigmata— the scars left behind by Jesus’ crucifixion.
These scars, my friends, prove two tremendous truths beyond a shadow of a doubt. First, the stigmata proved to the disciples that the Jesus who was now physically standing among them was the very same Jesus who was nailed to the cross on Calvary’s hill. This was the very same Jesus who had His side pierced by the spear of the Roman soldier. This was not a hallucination! This was not a hoax! This was a miracle— the miracle we now call Easter!
Secondly, the stigmata prove to Jesus’ disciples— both then and now— exactly what Jesus meant when He victoriously proclaimed from the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Think about it. Sin had totally and completely ruined our relationship with God. Sin had totally and completely made us the enemies of the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. (Romans 8:7) Sin had made us totally and completely deserving of eternal punishment in hell. But the stigmata— the scars of crucifixion— now proclaim to us that our sins are totally and completely paid for! Our relationship with the God of heaven has been “healed” because of the wounds that Jesus willingly endured for us! This is precisely what Isaiah foresaw when he wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). This is also what the apostle Paul points us to when he says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
“Peace be with you!” That is the very same message that your risen Lord and Savior proclaims to you today, my dear friends. Whenever Satan tries to convince you that your sins are too numerous or too horrendous to be forgiven, whenever Satan tries to rob you of the “peace” of Easter by pointing out the sins of your past, whenever your own conscience clouds your heart with fear and doubt, your risen Lord and Savior sweeps all of that away with His glorious victorious proclamation of, “Peace be with you!” And while you and I may not have the privilege of seeing or touching the scars of crucifixion on Jesus’ resurrected body we do have the privilege of receiving His true body and His true blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion as visible tangible proof that our sins are forgiven, as visible tangible proof that we are at “peace” with the God of heaven, as visible tangible proof that we are the dearly beloved, saved and adopted children of our heavenly Father!
Wounds that Heal. Praise God that the scars on Jesus’ resurrected body assure us that He has indeed accomplished all that was necessary to heal our relationship with the Lord God of heaven and earth. Praise God that no matter what happens to us as we journey through this world, no matter what difficulties or disappointments, no matter what hardships or headaches or heartaches we encounter there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can rob us of the peace that Easter guarantees to us, the peace that is proven to us by the stigmata.
Once we understand that our personal relationship with God has been healed through the wounds that Jesus endured for us on the cross then we will also be able to see how His wounds also have the power to heal our relationships with others. Here is where we can use the example of Thomas. Thomas was not there in that locked room when Jesus came and brought the “peace” of Easter to His fearful disciples. And, of course, you all know how Thomas reacted when the other disciples came to him and said, “We have seen the Lord!” John tells us in our text, “But he (Thomas) said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.’”
Have you ever stopped to consider how Thomas’ doubts affected his relationship with the other disciples? For an entire week Thomas was an unbeliever! For an entire week Thomas considered his friends to either be foolish or at least naïve. For an entire week Thomas’ sin separated him not only from God but also from the other disciples. Then Jesus appeared to His disciples again. This time Thomas was present. Jesus once again pointed to the stigmata and said to Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe!” And once again Jesus’ wounds not only healed Thomas’ relationship with his God, but Jesus’ wounds also healed Thomas’ relationship his fellow believers.
Sadly, Satan is very adept at destroying our relationships with each other as Christians. Even more sadly, our own sins give Satan ample opportunity and ample ammunition to try and divide and conquer us. That is when our Savior’s scars can play a powerful role in healing us— His family of believers.
When one of God’s children falls into the trap of sin that sin not only hurts that individual’s relationship with the Lord but that sin also hurts that individual’s relationship with the members of the Lord’s church. At the very least sin puts a strain on our relationships with each other. At its worst sin separates us from the family of believers. That’s why the Lord so clearly tells us that when one of our brothers or sisters falls a trap that Satan has set for them we need to do everything we can to help them by calling them to repentance. We can not lose sight of the fact that the wounds of our Savior have the power to heal, my friends— whether it is healing that person’s relationship with their Lord by reminding them of what their God has done to save them from sin or healing that person’s relationship with the members of the Lord’s church by reminding us that what the Lord has freely done for us He has also done for them.
That very same truth can also be applied to our relationships with people outside the family of believers. There is so much bitterness and so much distrust and so much hatred in the world around us that sometimes we might feel like retreating to our own little corner of the world, throwing in the towel and simply isolating ourselves in our own little protective cocoon— and many people do just that. They don’t know their neighbors. They barely know their co-workers. They don’t get involved in their community. They may even avoid getting involved in the political process. They remain silent as the vocal minority— and I for one pray that it is the minority— as the vocal minority continues to make the evening news. What Easter encourages us to do, my friends, what Easter empowers us to do is to take our risen Savior’s message of “Peace be with you!” and share it! Share it with as many people as we can! Share it however we can! The stigmata, the wounds that heal, remind us that Jesus not only died to pay for our sins, but He died to pay for all the sins of all mankind. Sharing that glorious message of Easter peace with others is how we strive to overcome the bitterness and the distrust and the hatred that we see in the world around us. Sharing that glorious message of Easter peace with others is how we take the closing words of our text for today and make them relevant to our lives and our world. John tells us, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
Scars. Often times the scars that you and I bear on our bodies are a reminder of something foolish that we have done something tragic that has happened to us. Thankfully, the scars of crucifixion that our risen Lord and Savior bears in His resurrected body are scars that He bears proudly. The wounds in His hands, the wounds in His feet, the wound in His side are indeed wounds that heal. They are the wounds that have the power to assure us that our relationship with God has been healed. They are the wounds that have the power to heal our relationships with each other. They are the wounds that have the power to heal the world. They are the wounds that empower us to say with sincerity: “Peace be with you!”
To God be the glory!
Amen