Lectionary Reflection — 08 April 2018, Second Sunday of Easter
19-20 Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then he showed them his hands and side.
20-21 The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant. Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.”
22-23 Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he said. “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?”
24-25 But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, wasn’t with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.”
But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”
27 Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.”
28 Thomas said, “My Master! My God!”
29 Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”
30-31 Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you’ll believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real life — the Life of the Age — in the way he personally revealed it.
Other readings:
~ ~ ~ 
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
This is one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture. There’s so much going on in this story; a lot of poetic imagery. So let’s jump right in a look at those symbols.
Right off the bat we get a call back to another image. The text states, “Later on that day…” This refers back to verse 1 of this chapter. There, John wrote, “Early in the morning on the first day of the week…” All of this directs us back to the Prologue of John’s Gospel which mimics the creation story found in Genesis 1. And all of this ties into John’s use of “signs” (or “miracles” as they’re referred to in the Synoptic Gospels). Before the resurrection, there were seven signs pointing to the seven days of creation.2
John’s purpose is not only to remind us of creation but to emphasize new creation. “Later on that…first day of the week” would be the eighth day of the previous “week.”3 On the “eighth” day, the eighth sign was Jesus’ resurrection. The resurrection is the sign of new life, of new creation. John’s whole Gospel, then, is like the “first chapter” of the Book of New Creation.
Next comes one of the most shocking statements in all of Scripture. Jesus appears to the disciples and says, “Just as the Father sent me, I send you” (verse 21). With a statement like that, John’s asking us to look and see how God sent Jesus. Again, this calls as back to the beginning of his Gospel. There he wrote:
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word was with God in the beginning….The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
We see here that Jesus was God’s Word made human. In John 20, Jesus is telling his disciple — those of us who follow him — to become the same thing.
We’re called to be God’s Word made human.
Like Jesus, we’re to be “full of grace and truth” (verse 14). If you’re a follower of Jesus, and you’re wondering what’s God’s calling is upon your life, this is it. This is what you’re signing up for.
If you’re thinking, “I can’t do that!” You’re absolutely right…if you’re relying on yourself. But John gives us another poetic image right at this point. He said Jesus “took a deep breath and breathed into them. ‘Receive the Holy Spirit,’ he said” (verse 22). This, too, calls us back to the story of Genesis 1. There, God’s Spirit — God’s breath5 — was instrumental in the creation of the cosmos. It’s through the strength and power of the Holy Spirit, the “breath” of the Life of the Age, flowing through us that gives us the ability to be the human image of Christ to the world.
Part of being Christ in the world is the authority to forgive someone’s sins. Jesus said, “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?” Have you ever thought about forgiveness in this light before? Our power to forgive is not our own. It’s been given to us by God through Christ. When we are Christ in the world, the power to forgive (or not) is just like God forgiving someone (or not). When we withhold forgiveness from someone, it’s not just us who aren’t forgiving them — it’s God. Do we really what that responsibility? The reason someone’s sins aren’t forgiven is because we didn’t forgive them? Is that something one would want on one’s conscience?
Not forgiving someone comes at a price. Jesus said:
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father won’t forgive your sins.”
The New Testament is clear about this — we’re to forgive others the same way we’ve been forgiven:
Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, and discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, and quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.
After this, we discover that Thomas, one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them. When the others tell Thomas what they experienced, Thomas doesn’t believe them. A lot of people give Thomas flack for not believing, but it was Thomas who insisted on going with Jesus to Jerusalem even if it meant their own deaths (John 11.1-16).
Personally, I like that Thomas didn’t take the others’ word for it. This was something he wanted to experience for himself. This is quite telling for us. Too often many of us follow along with what others tell us without looking into them ourselves.7 Even though there’s a “better blessing in store” for those who believe without seeing, there’s nothing wrong about wanting proof. Jesus didn’t say that Thomas wasn’t blessed. Obviously he was. Having seen the risen Jesus, he exclaimed “My Master! My God!”8
We see, then, that there’s a lot to following Jesus. It’s not just “trying to live a good life,” although that does have merit. No. It goes much deeper than that. People who are called to follow Christ in this life are called to a life of self-sacrificing love and forgiveness. They’re called to The Way of the cross as Jesus was. They’re called to a dying to themselves and their own desires and wants and, yes, maybe even dreams. Following The Way of Jesus is not for the faint of heart. It’s a costly endeavor. But the reward is grand:
28 Jesus said to them, “I assure you who have followed me that, when everything’s made new, when the Human One sits on his magnificent throne…all who’ve left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, or farms because of my name will receive one hundred times more and will inherit the Life of the Age. 30 But many who are first will be last. And many who are last will be first.”
~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
~~~
1. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
2. The seven signs are: (1) Changing water into wine at Cana in John 2:1-11; (2) Healing the royal official’s son in Capernaum in John 4:46-54; (3) Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in John 5:1-15; (4) Feeding the 5000 in John 6:5-14; (5) Jesus walking on water in John 6:16-24; (6) Healing the man blind from birth in John 9:1-7; and (7) The raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-45. For more information about this, see here.
3. And verse 26 starts with, “Eight days later…”
4. Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.
5. The Hebrew word translated “Spirit” in Genesis 1.2 is ר֫וּחַ (ruach — roo’-akh) and means “spirit, breath, wind.”
6. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation, Inc. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
7. This just happened recently. Someone I know what making very bold and erroneous statements and citing different biblical passages to support the claims. However, all one had to do was read the verses cited to show that there was nothing within them to support the claims. I support people for wanting to dig deeper into the Bible but my heart breaks when they’re led astray by others posing as “Bible teachers.” Of course, I’m sure some people could say the same about me.
8. It should be noted that while Thomas said he wouldn’t believe until he touched Jesus’ wounds, the passage never says he did (no matter what the paintings show us). I think Thomas took one look at the wounds of Jesus and fell directly to his knees in belief.
Comments