2nd Sunday of Easter (Quasimodo Geniti) – April 7th, 2024
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: John 20:19–31
“Speaking Words of Peace”
Theme: Fear leads to unbelief, but God’s Word leads to faith and peace.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
When we read Bible stories, it is fine and good to place ourselves in the stories, as long as we don’t assume that we are the God character in them. For example, in David and Goliath, you are probably not David. David stands in for Jesus, fighting your battles against unbelievable odds. You are the scaredy-cat Israelite army who doesn’t want to fight Goliath.
Likewise, in our Gospel text, you can assume that you would have been going through the exact same feelings as the disciples. We know they were hiding “for fear of the Jews” (19). You would have been hiding in fear. You would have thought that the soldiers are coming to get you too. In a way, fear and unbelief are connected. By this time, they have heard the report of the women that Jesus has risen. Peter and John have seen the empty tomb. They should have believed from Mary Magdalene’s account alone, but they don’t. Their fear of suffering and death causes their unbelief in the spoken word.
And then, when Jesus appears, their fear turns into joy. They were joyful because Jesus sought them out and spoke to them. These are his first words to them: “Peace be with you” (19). He also shows “them his hands and his side” (20). His hands and his side prove to them that he died by crucifixion. He did not escape death. He endured it and overcame it. The sacrifice is complete, and he stands before them as victor. He now bears the mark of his death as signs of victory. Note this: their fear and unbelief turn into faith and joy. That is how it goes with God—that’s what he wants to work in your life too.
What about Thomas? Thomas is a curious figure in this text. You could see yourself in him as well. He’s not with the other disciples when Jesus first appears. Perhaps he is braver than them—or puts on a show of false bravado by going out on whatever errand he was running. Regardless, he too is afraid and unbelieving. He says, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” (25).
I see a mix of false bravado and fear and pride and unbelief in Thomas. He’s full of himself. There might be a part of him that wonders if it’s really true, but he buries that thought under a mountain of being indignant. “Jesus? Appear to you? No way."
He seems to be trying to save face somehow. Sometimes people put on this sort of pride to protect themselves. They don’t want to hear good news in the midst of a bad situation, so they stick their nose up in the air and refuse to hear any way out. Imagine if you bought something and it broke right away. Instead of returning it, you think, “Nope, I’m going to live with this thing, and maybe, one day, try to fix it.” Thomas could be thinking, “Jesus died. We know he died. That’s that, and I’m moving on with my life as best as I can. And oh by the way, even if it is true that he appeared to you, I need hard, physical evidence that he really rose again.”
Well, Jesus answered his prayers. Jesus is patient for all of us. He gave into Thomas’s demand. He came back one week later, seeking Thomas and again He comes in peace, bringing peace. He meets Thomas’s demands. He answers the prayer. He invites Thomas to put His finger into the scar left by the nails in His hands and to put His hand into the place from whence came water and blood. As John reports it, Thomas responds immediately: “My Lord and My God!”
John does not describe for us whether or not Thomas actually made an investigation of the marks. Did he probe the marks with his finger and hand? He might have. But, in the end, it is the Word that converts Thomas. It is the bestowal of peace and the offer of intimacy. It is also the admonition and rebuke: “Do not disbelieve, but believe” (27). The Lord spoke and Thomas believed. His fear and unbelief are turned into faith and peace.
This happens for you too. Have you ever thought that it would be wonderful for Jesus to do that for you? I envy Thomas in a way. Jesus actually appeared to him when he demanded it. But Jesus does not act that way for us today. Rather, Jesus speaks of us in this text. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (29). That is you. What don’t we see? We don’t see the Lord’s risen Body with our eyes. We see bread and wine. We don’t see the marks. We see instead reminders, crosses, that celebrate and confess the kind of death that Jesus died. We see an altar upon which nothing was ever sacrificed and we make it a table from which the Lord feeds us His risen Body and Blood.
What then do we believe? We believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of His Father from eternity, and also true Man, born of the virgin Mary is our Lord, that He was crucified for us and that He finished death on the cross and overcame death by His resurrection to be our Bridegroom. He declares us to be blessed, righteous, and holy. We believe that He who lives loves us and has reconciled Himself to us, that He is patient with us and seeks us and speaks to us in His Word, that He hears and answers our prayers. We believe that he works against our own fear and unbelief to create in our hearts faith and peace.
This is what it is to be blessed: to have faith in Jesus, to know Him according to His Word and the marks on His risen body. Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, is our God and our Lord. He is the one who went against Goliath in our place. He defeated our enemies, and continues that in our lives even now. So have faith as he speaks to you even now, and have peace, a peace that surpasses anything in this world, a peace that strengthens you even when your enemies rise up against you.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office