2nd Sunday of Easter (Quasimodo Geniti) – April 27th, 2025
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: John 20:19–31
“Witnesses for Faith”
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!
This sentence is so tantalizing for pastors, and maybe for you as well: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (30–31). On the one hand, wouldn’t it be so cool to hear about all the other miracles that Jesus did? On the other hand, we could chalk it up to the limits of ancient technology to make books only as long as they can be, given the lack of papyrus and skill in copying and so forth. But I don’t think that actually gets at John’s argument. John notes that Jesus did many things, but the ones that we need to know were written that we would believe and have the life of God.
What struck me about this is that this isn’t how man normally writes books. Normally, if an author writes a book that becomes very popular, it spurs them to write more books, either on that topic or with a similar theme. Sometimes authors had a whole series in mind when they released their first book. They’re often eager to share more about the world that they’ve created, and they want more book deals to sell more books. You can think of popular series like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or the Hunger Games. You could think of popular authors like Tom Clancy, Janet Evanovich, or James Patterson.
There’s usually a break-out book that gets the author famous, and then they keep writing as long as the book deals keep coming. The same happens with movies or TV shows, of course. If an audience gets a taste of something great, they often demand more. Star Wars movies and shows are everywhere now. John Wayne starred in 142 movies, and some people have all his movies just to watch him in them. This is extremely common if you like a particular actor or actress.
But guess what? This isn’t limited to only books or movies. It extends into sports as well. The great thing with sports is that the stories are always being written, so you have to pay attention to the storylines that ESPN is trying to tell you. You may follow particular teams or sports and can’t get enough of the stories that keep coming out of them.
We don’t get this in the Bible, or even after the Bible. There are four Gospels, the first three of which are very similar. There is the book of Acts, then the Epistles. There’s not much more about Jesus’s life. Later there will be some false writings, supposing to be about Jesus’s childhood or suggesting that he didn’t really die. These are clearly trying to subvert the Christian truth. But John only writes one Gospel. He writes three Epistles and the book of Revelation. What we have of Jesus is in the four Gospels, and nothing more.
The reason for this is that God did not have the Bible written to entertain us. We love being entertained, and there is plenty that is entertaining in the Bible. If you’re a young boy, oh man, there are some cool stories in the Bible that are sometimes not included in Sunday School materials. But speaking broadly, the Bible was not written to entertain us. It was written, as John says, that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we would have eternal life.
I could go through a whole list of various genres and note that the Bible often includes them, but it’s not limited to them. The Bible has a lot of history, but it’s not primarily a history book. The Bible has a lot of laws, but it’s not a law code for lawyers. The Bible has a lot of practical life advice, but it’s not a pop-psychology book. The Bible includes some building specifications, but it’s not a book for architects and engineers. The Bible has a lot of songs, but there’s more to it.
The Bible is written for faith and trust. The Bible may convict you, but it does so that you would turn away from sin and trust God more. The Bible does have some history that can at first glace seem boring, but God is teaching you through His interactions with other people. The Bible does have some very entertaining sections, but that’s not its primary purpose. The Bible is written that you may believe even though you have not seen Jesus. Hebrews 11 says, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (1–3). Paul says, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7).
Thomas is a comical yet understandable example of not doing this. He was not in the upper room on Easter evening with the other disciples. He probably should have been, but we don’t know where he was. When the others say, “We have seen the Lord” (25), he refuses to believe. He’s not just a doubting Thomas. He’s an unbelieving Thomas: “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). He speaks to a part of us that wishes we would see. All of us should wish that we could see Jesus here and now.
But Jesus gave Thomas what he desired so that we would trust without seeing. Jesus is incredibly merciful for Thomas here. He could have shown up and chewed Thomas out for his unbelief. But he simply says, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” (27). Thomas then gives a beautiful, true confession: “My Lord and my God!” (28). He calls Jesus what we call Jesus: our Lord and our God. Thomas refused to believe by hearing, but he finally believed by sight. Thomas then serves as a witness for faith. In a way, he speaks to us who might wish for more. We might wish that God would show up in our lives and do miraculous things for us.
But Jesus concludes by saying this: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (29).This is us. We are those who have not seen the risen Lord yet have believed.
Our faith might, like Thomas, desire more. We might desire to see Jesus in the flesh in front of us. We will, one day. We might desire to hear more of the miracles that Jesus did. John acknowledges there were many more. We may, one day. But what we have in the Gospel and in all the Scripture were not written to satisfy our curiosity or to entertain us. They were written that we would trust in Jesus. The Bible is sufficient to do just that. That’s why we read it, even when we may not understand it completely or when we may come across some things that initially seem boring to us. The Bible was written that we would be saved. It contains Jesus, for Jesus is the Word of God that created the universe, and whose Spirit has been breathed into the Holy Scriptures and through them into your life. As John says, “The Spirit is the truth” (1 John 5:6), and along with the water of Baptism and the blood of Holy Communion, these three testify to us that Jesus is our Lord and our God.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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