On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 10.19-21)
The selection from the Sacred Scriptures for this Second Sunday of Easter presents to us two of the eight post-resurrection appearances of the Risen Lord that are found in the New Testament texts. These particular appearances are found in the Gospel of John and are important for several reasons. In all likelihood, they should be considered the conclusion of the Gospel of John, although Chapter 21, usually called the epilogue, follows.
Almost all scholars believe Chapter 20 was the original conclusion of the text and, at some subsequent date, Chapter 21 was added to the original. There is good cause for this argument, particularly since the last verse in Chapter 20 says as much, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.”
Furthermore, that final verse reiterates the same point that the evangelist makes in the first verse of the gospel where he writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” If we accept the argument, then these two verses, one at the very start and one at the very end, form bookends, both statements emphasizing that Jesus was divine, John’s central thesis that he presents throughout the text, particularly in the seven signs that are used to demonstrate the same truth.
The first of these two appearances occurs on the same day as the resurrection. John pinpoints it precisely, telling us, “When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week . . . Jesus came and stood in their midst.” So, according to John, Mary Magdalene had seen the Risen Lord in the early hours of the morning. Now, the other disciples see him in the late hours of the day.
The next appearance takes place a week later. Once again, John provides the timeline, writing, “After eight days again his disciples were inside.” The two appearances to the disciples are tied together by a number of things. In both instances, the disciples are in a locked room. Likewise, the first thing that the Risen Lord says when he appears on both occasions is “Peace be with you.”
And, perhaps more importantly, in both appearances he shows his disciples his hands and his side, verification that he is the same one who was crucified and died, and now stands before them risen and gloried. Of course, the other connective tissue is found in the fact that one of the disciples, Thomas, is not present at the first appearance, but is present at the second appearance.
We’re never told where he is in the first instance, but we are told that he doesn’t believe his fellow disciples when they say to him, “We have seen the Lord.” His response is, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” The case can be made that his lack of belief prompts the second appearance in the next week when the Risen Lord appears and says to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side.”
Forever after, the two appearances, bound together by their similarities and linked by Thomas’s disbelief in the first instance followed by his belief in the second instance, become known as the story of “Doubting Thomas.” Of course, there is an unfairness in the attribution of disbelief singularly to Thomas, since all of the disciples, except for the Beloved Disciple, apparently disbelieved Mary Magdalene when she told them what she had seen.
John tells us that the disciples, after seeing the empty tomb, returned home and locked themselves behind a heavy door, fearing the Jews were out to get their heads. Apparently, they have their own doubts. In fact, John makes a point to tell us that when the Risen Lord appears to them later in the evening, “they rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” We are safe to presume they were despondent and depressed prior to seeing the Risen Lord with their own eyes.
Nevertheless, history has chosen to cast Thomas in an unflattering light, when just about all of the disciples–with the exception of Mary Magdalene and the Beloved Disciple–were in the same boat, all of them “unbelievers” until they had seen the Risen Lord with their own eyes. Like Thomas, they believed only after they had seen visible proof. That point, unfortunately, seems to have become lost in the course of history, not unusual, but unfortunate.
For our purposes today, we may want to look at another similarity shared by Thomas and the other disciples. In both instances, the appearance of the Risen Lord provided a turning point for the followers of the Risen Lord. Prior to his appearance, they were disbelievers. Afterwards, they were believers. In other words, their stance before the appearance–disbelief–was the same, and their stance after the appearance–belief–was the same.
That transition from disbelief to belief allows the evangelist to make a central point that is found in the words of the Risen Lord to Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Writing to an audience decades after these post-resurrection appearances, John wants to make an argument for believing in the Risen Lord even if his readers have not had the benefit of seeing with their own eyes.
Of course, believing without seeing is what we call faith. And when are we ourselves most in need of faith? When we are at a turning point in our own lives. The early listeners of John’s gospel find themselves at that same point. Pummeled and persecuted, ridiculed and rejected, they cannot see a path ahead. They have a choice–to retreat or to advance, to hide behind locked doors or to walk in the streets, to believe or not to believe.
It is a turning point because the possibility of a decisive change lay before him, a change not unlike that of the disciples, that time of transition from doubters or skeptics into believers and followers. And the oil that lubricates that transition is, of course, faith. In that decision-making moment, we move ahead without seeing where we are going because of our faith, our belief that we never walk on the road alone, but always with the Risen Lord beside us, even if we do not have the benefit of seeing his hands and his wounded side like Thomas and the others.
The question we have to ask ourselves is if we can take that next step. If we can, then it marks a turning point in our lives. If we cannot take that step into the unknown, instead requiring absolute assurance or total clarity, then it is not a turning point, only more of the same, meaning more doubts, more darkness, more despair. With faith, we do not have to have proof. We can reach out and find his hand in the darkness.
Or, as the words from that old hymn say so well, “When my way grows drear, Precious Lord, linger near; When my light is almost gone, hear my cry, hear my call; Hold my hand lest I fall, take my hand Precious Lord, lead me on.” The lyrics capture beautifully that moment when we reach into the darkness that surrounds us, believing that the hand of the Risen Lord, invisible to the naked eye, is there for us to grasp, to hold onto because our faith is strong enough to let us see what others may not see.
It is for that same reason that the Risen Lord says to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.” The word “blessed” should be familiar to us because it is the same word that prefaces each of the well-known beatitudes that Rabbi Jesus speaks to the crowds when he says, for example, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
We can make the case that here, at the close of John’s gospel, we then find Jesus’ final beatitude, his last blessing. And that blessing goes to those of us who can believe even without seeing, who can believe without seeing the marks of the nails in his hands or putting our hands into his side.” Or as Saint Paul will say at a later point, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”
In walking by faith, we receive a blessing reserved for and given to those of us who can find cause to believe where others find cause to disbelieve, who can find hope where others find no hope, who can take the next step while others stay locked in the room. What is that blessing? It can be many things, but whatever form it takes, it strengthens us to move ahead, to turn the corner.
A few years ago, a minister wrote an essay in which he told of the day that a co-worker walked into his office to tell him that her cancer had returned after two years. The prognosis from the doctor was not encouraging. Stunned, the minister could find no words, finally only saying, “I’m so sorry,” followed by tears.
The co-worker said, “Stop it! I’m fine. I believe in the resurrection.” Although the tears did not stop immediately, they subsided and the two of them spoke about what the future held. Afterwards, the minister reflected on those words and realized something important. He wrote: “There must be ten million miles between me saying that to her and her saying that to me. “I believe in the resurrection.” If I say it, it’s a religious platitude offered in an attempt to avoid entering her pain. But when she says it, it is a confession of faith, raw and authentic and true and full of courage and hope.” He concluded, “I don’t know where that kind of faith comes from. I don’t know if I have it. I thank God she does.”
The story tells us many things. But it reminds us that, more often than not, turning points bring to the fore either our belief or our disbelief. If we can walk ahead with the faith of that woman who said, “I’m fine, I believe in the resurrection,” then we will find ourselves blessed in ways not foreseen. It is a promise made by the Risen Lord to those who, unlike his first followers, do not have to see in order to believe.
–Jeremy Myers
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