EASTER II - A - 20 JOHN 20. 19-31
“Although you have not seen
him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him…”
These words from St. Peter’s first letter are words addressed to the
post-Easter church in his own day, but apply to all of us as well who are on
this side of the cross.
Peter’s words speak of faith
in the risen Lord Jesus whom we have not seen. We are post-Easter Christians.
We live in a world that is post-Easter, while others would say pre-Apocalypse.
Many believe in the one and not the other and vice a versa. The current
pandemic is proof of that.
Our world, as we have
previously known it, has been turned up side down and inside out by the current
crisis. Such was the world of the early disciples before and after the
resurrection. Today’s gospel contains two stories and two post-Easter
appearances of the resurrected Jesus to his disciples.
The first story takes place
on the evening of the first Easter Day. Ten of the Jesus’ disciples are locked
behind closed doors for fear of the Jews. Jesus miraculously appears to them
and greets them with “peace.” I am sure that they were stunned and speechless
by his appearance.
Jesus shows them the marks of
the crucifixion and according to St.
John
One disciple, however, is
absent, that would be Thomas. When he returns, Jesus has disappeared just as
miraculously as he appeared. The ten joyously tell Thomas of his appearing to
them. They know it was the Jesus they loved for he showed them the marks of the
crucifixion as proof. The Jews had crucified him but he is alive!
Thomas will have none of
that. As much as he would like to believe their story, he cannot. He takes his
stand. He must see with his own eyes the risen Lord, see, and touch the marks
of the crucifixion for himself before he will believe. Thomas wanted and needed
physical proof. Nothing less would do. A week passes.
The disciples are again
gathered in the upper room and like before, behind closed doors. Thomas is
present. Jesus appears a second time and it would seem that he does so solely
for the benefit of Thomas. Jesus offers Thomas the test he requires in order to
believe.
OK, Thomas, here I am. Come,
put your fingers in the marks of the nails, and place your hand in my pierced
side. Do not hesitate, just believe.
What John tells us in his
report of this second resurrection appearance of Jesus is that upon seeing the
risen Christ, Thomas makes a clear confession of Christ’ divinity. He proclaims
Jesus as his Lord and his God.
Thomas is the first person in
the gospel of John to look at Jesus of Nazareth and address the word God
directly to him. This is what John has been working around to from the
beginning as he stated in the prologue to his gospel. “In the beginning was the
Word…and the Word was God.”
What today’s gospel offers us
in Thomas is not an apostolic skeptic, but rather a flesh and blood representative
of the fledgling church in the pre-Easter faith. Stunned by the arrest of Jesus
and scattered by his trial and death, the early disciples were unquestionably a
bewildered, floundering group following that Friday we have come to know as “good.”
It is clear, however, that at
least initially, this eventful day was not good for them, and it appeared to be
the definite end to an impressive, but short-lived, success story named Jesus.
Yet it was from the ashes of apostolic doubt that faith arose.
And so it is for us. We live
after the resurrection in a post-Easter world. We are well aware of that even
though much of the world is not, or at best chooses to ignore it. Because we
do, it is easy for us to presume that we should possess a post-Easter faith.
Today’s gospel reminds us
that we are still in a journey from Friday to Sunday, from a pre-Easter to a
post-Easter faith. From the ashes of the times of our own doubt and fear our
faith rises.
This is exactly what the
author of First Peter proposes in our second reading for the day…from trial to
journey to Jesus Christ risen from the dead and through him an inheritance that
is imperishable.
Thomas’ faith rests upon
sight. It was important for him as well as the other disciples to see Jesus in
order to preach with conviction his having been raised from the dead. Our faith
is based, not on signs and wonders, but on the basis of apostolic testimony
through the eyewitness accounts recorded in Holy Scripture.
The lesson, therefore, from
today’s gospel of these two stories of
journey from a pre-Easter to a post-Easter faith, is not one of precedent for fear and doubt, but a
foundational story of journey in the midst of community - a story of doubt that
gives birth to faith.
It is not a journey we make
alone. Like Thomas, we are invited to face our own faith struggles within the
community of like believers, those fresh from the font, as well as those of us
who have long journeyed from the font. Faith is not an isolated process, but
one that is adequately explored and confirmed only in the context of community.
May God grant us the grace to
show forth in our lives what we profess by our faith learning to be faithful to
the apostolic teaching and the communal life, to the prayers and the breaking
of bread for the sake of Him who died and rose again, even Jesus Christ, Our
Lord. AMEN+
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