The Second Sunday of Easter
April 23, 2017
John 20:19-31
Easter Demolishes Doubt!
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!
Doubt. According to Webster’s dictionary doubt when used as a verb means “1.to be uncertain in opinion or belief; be undecided 2.to be inclined to disbelief 3.to hesitate 4.to be uncertain about; question; feel distrust of.” As a noun Webster says the word doubt means: “a wavering of opinion or belief; lack of conviction; uncertainty; a lack of trust or confidence.” Have you ever had doubts, my friends? I have. Have you ever doubted something and been proven to be completely wrong? I have. When our children were little there were times when one of them would come up to me and say, “Daddy, look what I can do!” and before I could even get the word “Wait!” out of my mouth they did it— and I was both relieved as well as pleasantly surprised when it turned out well. On the other hand, have you ever doubted something and been proven right? Unfortunately, I have. For a long time I have doubted that the two major political parties here in our country will ever be able to play nice together, much less work well together. Sadly, these last few years have done little to allay those doubts.
For generations the first Sunday after Easter has been set aside by the Christian church to specifically address the subject of doubt. The person who is usually the focus of this attention is, of course, the Apostle Thomas— also known as “Doubting Thomas.” And yet, I rather doubt that there is anyone here today who has not at one time or another been a “Doubting Thomas” themself. Today then, my friends, as we still bask in the warm glow of the empty tomb let’s see how: Easter Demolishes Doubt. We have two goals today. First, we want to see what causes doubt. Second, we want to see how Easter demolishes doubt by removing those things that cause it.
While there are a number of things which can cause doubt to rise up in our hearts and minds, as I look at our text for today I see two main causes revealed to us here. The first cause of doubt had successfully invaded the hearts of all of the Lord’s disciples— not just Thomas. That cause is a combination of grief and fear. John tells us, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews…” The overwhelming grief that the disciples had experienced over the course of those last three days was only compounded by the fear that they also felt. Why were they afraid? Perhaps they were afraid that they were next on “the list.” Now that the religious leaders had been successful in having Jesus executed it only made sense for them to also get rid of Jesus’ closest friends and long-time disciples. Perhaps the rumor that Jesus’ disciples had gone during the night and stolen Jesus’ body (Matthew 28:11-15) had circulated fast enough throughout
What about you? Has grief or fear ever caused doubt in your hearts, my friends? Sometimes the death of a loved one fills us with so much grief that we might indeed doubt what God is doing. Sometimes the loss of a job, the headlines in the newspaper or the failure of plans that we were sure would succeed can cause us to fear the future and perhaps even doubt that our God is still in control. Unfortunately, as long as this world stands, as long as we have that old sinful nature lurking inside of us, as long as we have that roaring lion prowling circles around us we will be vulnerable to doubts. Praise God, my friends, that Easter has the power to demolish doubts— even the doubts caused by grief and fear!
Some of the most beautiful words recorded in the Bible are found right here in our text. After revealing to us that the disciples had locked themselves in a room out of fear John goes on to say, “…Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After this he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” “Shalom aleichem!” that is, “Peace be with you!” was the ordinary common greeting among God’s people of this day and age. Here, however, it was anything but common! Here it was anything but ordinary! There in that locked room on the evening of that first Easter Sunday “Shalom aleichem!” “Peace be with you!” took on a new unbelievably glorious meaning! The grief and fear that had so completely shrouded the hearts and the minds of the disciples was now replaced by joy and peace. And notice, my friends, notice very carefully what that joy and that peace was based upon! John tells us, that Jesus “showed them his hands and side.” Could there be any doubt that this was the very same Jesus who had been nailed to a cross just three days earlier! No way! Could there be any doubt that this was the very same Jesus into whom the Roman soldier had plunged his spear to make sure He was dead? No way! Could there be any doubt that this was the very same Jesus who had promised His disciples that He would suffer and die to pay for the sins of the world and then rise to life again to secure for us that glorious robe of righteousness which guarantees to us eternal life in heaven? No way! There in that locked room Easter demolished all the doubts caused by grief and fear! Right down to this very day the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ demolishes any doubts concerning life after death. Our crucified and risen Savior demolishes any doubts that either fear or grief may cause in our hearts by coming to us and proclaiming to us those sweet words, “Peace be with you!” “Shalom aleichem!”
But how does Jesus come to us today? How does the Lord Jesus share with us the glorious peace of Easter? You know the answer to that question! Our risen Lord and Savior comes to us through His holy Word and through His holy Sacraments. As you and I are reading and studying our Bibles both here at church and at home the risen Christ Himself comes to us and says, “Shalom aleichem!” “Peace be with you!” Every time someone is baptized in the name of the Triune God, every time we receive the Lord’s true body and blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion the risen Christ Himself comforts us with the peaceful Easter message, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven.” Do we ever need to doubt the Easter peace that we have been given? Do we ever have to doubt that through Jesus we are now at peace with the living God? Do we ever have to doubt the peace that comes from knowing that through faith in the risen Christ all of our sins are completely forgiven? Not at all, my friends, not at all! Easter demolishes those doubts by removing the grief and fear that causes them!
Secondly, just as Easter demolishes the doubts caused by grief and fear, so also Easter demolishes the doubts that are caused by a so-called lack of empirical evidence for the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. As you know Thomas had separated himself from the other disciples on that first Easter Sunday. For some reason— which is never revealed to us— Thomas had decided not to gather together with the family of believers. Perhaps like many people today Thomas did not see the “need” or the “value” in coming together with his brothers and sisters in the faith. Sadly, as a result of separating himself from the other disciples Thomas missed out on the peace which the risen Christ had given to the other disciples there in that locked room on that first Easter Sunday. Even more sad, however, is Thomas’ reaction to the Good News of the other disciples, “We have seen the Lord!” The very same Thomas who just days earlier had told the other disciples that they needed to go with Jesus to Bethany even if it meant dying with Him (see John 11:16), the very same Thomas who had revealed a deep heartfelt desire to know more about the way that leads to the “rooms” that Jesus promised to prepare for us in His heavenly Father’s house (see John 14:1-6) this very same Thomas when confronted by the reality of Easter responded by saying, “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.” For Thomas the message of Easter was just too good to be true.
Out of love and concern for this dear disciple the risen Christ appeared to His disciples one week later, showed Thomas His hands and side, and said, “Stop doubting and believe.” Were Thomas’ doubts demolished? Absolutely! By the grace and the power of the risen Christ Thomas was led to humbly confess, “My Lord and my God!”
There are many people today who not only doubt but also deny the reality of Easter due to what they say is a lack of empirical evidence. And while the writer to the Hebrews is absolutely correct when he reminds us, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1), while you and I understand and appreciate the Lord’s words to Thomas here in our text, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” that does not mean that there is no “evidence” to substantiate Easter Sunday! Think about it, my friends. The religious leaders who were successful in getting Jesus executed had to pay the Roman soldiers a “large sum of money” (Matthew 28:12) to lie and say that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body while the soldiers were sleeping. Do you think that these religious leaders simply went home and said, “Whew! We’re sure glad that’s over and done with”? I don’t think so! These men were so determined to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was not the Christ that I can’t imagine them not searching for Jesus’ body. All they would have had to do was produce the dead body of Jesus and it would have all been over. And yet to this day no one has ever been able to say, “We have found the remains of Jesus’ body.” For forty days the risen Christ appeared to His disciples on at least eleven different occasions— twelve if you count His appearance to Saul on the road to
The definitive answer, however, the answer that demolishes any doubts concerning the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ based upon a so-called lack of empirical evidence is found in the closing words of our text. John writes, “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.”
It’s all right here my friends— right here in this Book. Any doubts that we may have, any uncertainties that may arise in our hearts, any questions that Satan may plant in our minds— they are all demolished by the power of God’s holy, inspired, inerrant Word, the Word which contains eye-witness accounts of Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead, the Word which assures us that Jesus lived, Jesus died, Jesus rose and Jesus will come again!
Doubt. As long as you and I are living on this earth, as long as we have that old sinful nature lurking inside of us, as long as we have that roaring lion prowling circles around us we will unfortunately be vulnerable to doubts. My prayer is that we will stay so close to our risen Lord through regular use of His holy Word and Sacraments that whenever we do become a “Doubting Thomas” we will by the grace and power of God also be led to kneel at the foot of the cross and humbly confess along with Thomas: “My Lord and my God!”
To God be the glory!
Amen