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Ezekiel 37:1-14 1 John 5:4-10 St. John 20:19-31 April 16, 2023 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Throughout this season of Easter that extends from last Sunday until Pentecost, throughout these 50 days we will continue to rejoice with this Easter refrain that Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! We repeat this joyful phrase in celebration of Christ conquering death. During the season of Lent, we fasted from using the word “alleluia,” a Hebrew word that means ‘Praise the Lord.’ We also dropped the hymn of praise that appears in the Divine Service, the Gloria in Excelsis and This is the Feast. With all these, we never stopped praising God, but their intentional absence focused us on Jesus’ suffering and strife. But fasting leads to feasting. Now that we have completed our Lenten fast and celebrated our Lord’s resurrection, we can now feast and repeat our alleluias again and again. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! In our Gospel readings last week, we heard about Mary Magdalene at the tomb, weeping and crying. No angel, no friend, no disciple could wipe away every tear from her eye. Only the risen Christ could comfort her and end her sadness. In today’s Gospel reading, we come to another witness, to Thomas. You have no doubt heard of his nickname, “Doubting Thomas,” but what exactly was it that he was doubting? He was one of the several disciples that stayed far away from Jesus’ crucifixion, but he had no doubt heard of the awful news. Despite the Passover holiday and his shame at abandoning his friend and master, he also no doubt had heard the women’s Easter message that Jesus was not in the tomb. After hearing such wonderful and puzzling news, what do you think he did? Do you think he kept himself away and hidden in grief? Or do you suppose his curiosity got the better of him and he wandered over to the empty tomb to see the empty burial cloths as well? Do you think he doubted what every one of his closest friends said? What about Peter? Do you think he believed Peter? Peter had been so ready to pledge his life to Jesus on Maundy Thursday, saying that he would suffer all, even death, rather than fall away. Yet, just a few hours later, he denied Christ three times. Do you think “Doubting Thomas” would trust “Denying Peter”? In fact, Thomas and Peter were very much alike. In John 11, as Jesus resolutely decided to go towards hostile Jerusalem to resurrect his friend, Lazarus, Thomas encouraged his fellow disciples, saying, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (11.16). With Thomas showing himself as being surrounded by such a great crowd of witnesses, and himself being bold in his encouragement, it seems unlikely that he would doubt or deny the resurrection completely. Rather, in recording this story, John the Evangelist answered a different question than “Did Jesus rise from the dead?” Each of us can relate with Thomas. Not because we have our doubts about Jesus, but because he was a practical sort of man. He wanted to know that Christ rose physically. There is a wonderful Easter hymn that we’ll sing during distribution that captures Thomas’ practical and skeptical nature. Please grab a hymnal in front of you and open up to hymn 472 “These Things Did Thomas Count as Real.” The hymn is quite graphic and visceral in its description of this account. Once you find it, I would like to draw your attention to verses 1 and 3. In the first verse, we hear what Thomas counted as real: “The warmth of blood, the chill of steel, / The grain of wood, the heft of stone, / The last frail twitch of flesh and bone.” Though Thomas steered clear of Jesus’ crucifixion, witnessing that style of execution was difficult to avoid in the ancient Roman Empire. Thomas had seen crucified criminals before as they gasped for their last few twitching breaths. Verse 3 picks up here: “His reasoned certainties denied / That one could live when one had died, / Until his fingers read like braille / The markings of the spear and nail.” Thomas was a very practical guy. He could have been happy that that Jesus had changed his life, that he would never forget his friend, and that as long as Jesus’ memory lived on in his heart, Jesus was never really gone. He could have been content with all that, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t interested in separating the physical resurrection from an eternal spiritual existence. He wanted to see that the resurrection would be a reunion of body and soul. Thomas was a practical guy. Think about it this way. He could imagine a unicorn, but what good is a unicorn if it only lives in your memory? He could picture the crucifixion, but what good was it if he couldn’t grasp the resurrection? He wanted the real thing. Thomas desired to touch and feel and read like braille the markings of the spear and nail. He wanted the true hope and peace that only comes from a physical resurrection where the body and soul are reunited for eternity. So Jesus said, “Put your finger through my hands. Place your hand into my side. Stop doubting that the resurrection is physical and believe that God will raise your body too.” A lot of us can relate to Thomas, not just in that we have doubts, but that we are practical folks. We like to touch and feel and let our fingers read like braille. We are created as body and soul, and each of those need something to hold onto. So, God gives us Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Our spirits believe God’s promises contained in the Sacraments, that through them he gives us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Our bodies, on the other hand, need something to touch, to feel. Knowing this, God includes the physical elements, the water, bread, and wine, for us to grasp the promises as true. Our communion bread even has a small mark of the cross on it for your fingers to read like braille. God loves that we are practical and physical people; he’s the one that made us that way. We can all think about a unicorn, but what good is that to us? We can all think about the crucifixion and resurrection 2000 years ago, but what good does that do us? The death and resurrection of Christ are historical events, but there are many other historical events listed in the text books. Through Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, God brings those historical events to today and delivers them to you skeptical people through tangible means. That’s God. That’s real. He is not just an emotion. He is not just a nice thought. He is not just a historical event. He is real and has a physical body. In addition to being risen bodily, notice how Jesus comes to his disciples and to Thomas. He is not just risen bodily, but he is risen as the crucified. When Jesus comes, he invites his disciples to inspect the marks he still has from the spear and nails. This reminds us that Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice on the cross was once-and-for-all. He took your place on the cross. You can add nothing to the marks on his hands, you can offer nothing better than the spear mark in his side. All you can do is observe and believe. When John wrote his Gospel account, he wasn’t setting out to record a biography of Jesus. In fact, chapters 12-21, which is nearly half the book, covers the span of a few weeks, at most. John also lets us know that this isn’t an exhaustive biography. He states as much in the last verses of our reading today, that, “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.” He adds a similar thought as the last verse of his book: “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (21.25). John wasn’t writing a comprehensive historical account, He was writing that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20.31). John recorded specific accounts, like this one of Thomas, so that we may know without a doubt that Jesus was bodily raised from the grave. We also can be certain that Jesus Christ comes to us as the crucified. His suffering is complete, but His sacrifice is eternal. Thomas often gets a bad reputation for doubting whether Jesus rose or not. Many people feel that they can relate to him whenever they have doubts. In reality, though, we can relate to him in another way, in that Thomas was a practical guy. He wasn’t doubting whether Christ’s memory would live on. He wasn’t holding out to believe until he saw an end to world hunger. He wasn’t asking for Jesus to bring a total end to persecution. Thomas wanted to know his faith was real, that it wouldn’t fail him as he suffered and was martyred. Thomas desired to know confidently that when he too died, that Jesus would bodily raise him from the dead. Thomas sought a God that was greater that the cross, stronger than his sin, and able to overcome even death itself. So when his fingers finally read like braille the markings of the spear and nail, he no longer doubted, but firmly believed that Jesus was truly his Lord and God. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Pastor Schultz Trinity Lutheran Church Paola, Kansas Return to Top \| Return to Sermons \| Home \| Email Church Office

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Ezekiel 37:1-14

1 John 5:4-10
St. John 20:19-31

April 16, 2023

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Throughout this season of Easter that extends from last Sunday until Pentecost, throughout these 50 days we will continue to rejoice with this Easter refrain that Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! We repeat this joyful phrase in celebration of Christ conquering death. During the season of Lent, we fasted from using the word “alleluia,” a Hebrew word that means ‘Praise the Lord.’ We also dropped the hymn of praise that appears in the Divine Service, the Gloria in Excelsis and This is the Feast. With all these, we never stopped praising God, but their intentional absence focused us on Jesus’ suffering and strife. But fasting leads to feasting. Now that we have completed our Lenten fast and celebrated our Lord’s resurrection, we can now feast and repeat our alleluias again and again. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In our Gospel readings last week, we heard about Mary Magdalene at the tomb, weeping and crying. No angel, no friend, no disciple could wipe away every tear from her eye. Only the risen Christ could comfort her and end her sadness.

In today’s Gospel reading, we come to another witness, to Thomas. You have no doubt heard of his nickname, “Doubting Thomas,” but what exactly was it that he was doubting? He was one of the several disciples that stayed far away from Jesus’ crucifixion, but he had no doubt heard of the awful news. Despite the Passover holiday and his shame at abandoning his friend and master, he also no doubt had heard the women’s Easter message that Jesus was not in the tomb. After hearing such wonderful and puzzling news, what do you think he did? Do you think he kept himself away and hidden in grief? Or do you suppose his curiosity got the better of him and he wandered over to the empty tomb to see the empty burial cloths as well? Do you think he doubted what every one of his closest friends said? What about Peter? Do you think he believed Peter? Peter had been so ready to pledge his life to Jesus on Maundy Thursday, saying that he would suffer all, even death, rather than fall away. Yet, just a few hours later, he denied Christ three times. Do you think “Doubting Thomas” would trust “Denying Peter”? In fact, Thomas and Peter were very much alike. In John 11, as Jesus resolutely decided to go towards hostile Jerusalem to resurrect his friend, Lazarus, Thomas encouraged his fellow disciples, saying, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (11.16). With Thomas showing himself as being surrounded by such a great crowd of witnesses, and himself being bold in his encouragement, it seems unlikely that he would doubt or deny the resurrection completely. Rather, in recording this story, John the Evangelist answered a different question than “Did Jesus rise from the dead?”

Each of us can relate with Thomas. Not because we have our doubts about Jesus, but because he was a practical sort of man. He wanted to know that Christ rose physically. There is a wonderful Easter hymn that we’ll sing during distribution that captures Thomas’ practical and skeptical nature. Please grab a hymnal in front of you and open up to hymn 472 “These Things Did Thomas Count as Real.” The hymn is quite graphic and visceral in its description of this account. Once you find it, I would like to draw your attention to verses 1 and 3. In the first verse, we hear what Thomas counted as real: “The warmth of blood, the chill of steel, / The grain of wood, the heft of stone, / The last frail twitch of flesh and bone.” Though Thomas steered clear of Jesus’ crucifixion, witnessing that style of execution was difficult to avoid in the ancient Roman Empire. Thomas had seen crucified criminals before as they gasped for their last few twitching breaths. Verse 3 picks up here: “His reasoned certainties denied / That one could live when one had died, / Until his fingers read like braille / The markings of the spear and nail.” Thomas was a very practical guy. He could have been happy that that Jesus had changed his life, that he would never forget his friend, and that as long as Jesus’ memory lived on in his heart, Jesus was never really gone. He could have been content with all that, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t interested in separating the physical resurrection from an eternal spiritual existence. He wanted to see that the resurrection would be a reunion of body and soul. Thomas was a practical guy. Think about it this way. He could imagine a unicorn, but what good is a unicorn if it only lives in your memory? He could picture the crucifixion, but what good was it if he couldn’t grasp the resurrection? He wanted the real thing. Thomas desired to touch and feel and read like braille the markings of the spear and nail. He wanted the true hope and peace that only comes from a physical resurrection where the body and soul are reunited for eternity. So Jesus said, “Put your finger through my hands. Place your hand into my side. Stop doubting that the resurrection is physical and believe that God will raise your body too.”

A lot of us can relate to Thomas, not just in that we have doubts, but that we are practical folks. We like to touch and feel and let our fingers read like braille. We are created as body and soul, and each of those need something to hold onto. So, God gives us Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Our spirits believe God’s promises contained in the Sacraments, that through them he gives us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Our bodies, on the other hand, need something to touch, to feel. Knowing this, God includes the physical elements, the water, bread, and wine, for us to grasp the promises as true. Our communion bread even has a small mark of the cross on it for your fingers to read like braille. God loves that we are practical and physical people; he’s the one that made us that way. We can all think about a unicorn, but what good is that to us? We can all think about the crucifixion and resurrection 2000 years ago, but what good does that do us? The death and resurrection of Christ are historical events, but there are many other historical events listed in the text books. Through Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, God brings those historical events to today and delivers them to you skeptical people through tangible means. That’s God. That’s real. He is not just an emotion. He is not just a nice thought. He is not just a historical event. He is real and has a physical body.

In addition to being risen bodily, notice how Jesus comes to his disciples and to Thomas. He is not just risen bodily, but he is risen as the crucified. When Jesus comes, he invites his disciples to inspect the marks he still has from the spear and nails. This reminds us that Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice on the cross was once-and-for-all. He took your place on the cross. You can add nothing to the marks on his hands, you can offer nothing better than the spear mark in his side. All you can do is observe and believe.

When John wrote his Gospel account, he wasn’t setting out to record a biography of Jesus. In fact, chapters 12-21, which is nearly half the book, covers the span of a few weeks, at most. John also lets us know that this isn’t an exhaustive biography. He states as much in the last verses of our reading today, that, “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.” He adds a similar thought as the last verse of his book: “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (21.25). John wasn’t writing a comprehensive historical account, He was writing that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20.31). John recorded specific accounts, like this one of Thomas, so that we may know without a doubt that Jesus was bodily raised from the grave. We also can be certain that Jesus Christ comes to us as the crucified. His suffering is complete, but His sacrifice is eternal. Thomas often gets a bad reputation for doubting whether Jesus rose or not. Many people feel that they can relate to him whenever they have doubts. In reality, though, we can relate to him in another way, in that Thomas was a practical guy. He wasn’t doubting whether Christ’s memory would live on. He wasn’t holding out to believe until he saw an end to world hunger. He wasn’t asking for Jesus to bring a total end to persecution. Thomas wanted to know his faith was real, that it wouldn’t fail him as he suffered and was martyred. Thomas desired to know confidently that when he too died, that Jesus would bodily raise him from the dead. Thomas sought a God that was greater that the cross, stronger than his sin, and able to overcome even death itself. So when his fingers finally read like braille the markings of the spear and nail, he no longer doubted, but firmly believed that Jesus was truly his Lord and God.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Schultz
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office

Pastor Schultz Trinity Lutheran Church Paola, Kansas

Pastor Schultz
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas