Looking for Resurrection: April 19
The Resurrection account this week (below) comes from John 20:19-31. Let’s invite the text to spur our imagination and open our awareness to the weird and wonderful ways the resurrected Christ is breaking into our world. And please share your experiences in the comment section.
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
Then 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.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
But Thomas (who was called The Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
A week after Jesus comes back to life his disciples are gathered in a house with the door shut. How, in all the other times I’ve read or heard this text, have I missed the fear and the uncertainty in this scene? I think it’s because it comes after the Resurrection, and the Resurrection signals victory over sin and death and all that makes us afraid, right? The Resurrection is a cosmic revelation that God has things under control and all that was wrong has been made right. For this reason, every year we jubilantly announce that Christ is risen to the sound of bells and the sight of flowers filling the chancel.
Yet, this year, as a global pandemic sounds a discordant note in the exultant song of Resurrection, I am noticing that the meaning of the Resurrection emerges slowly in the consciousness and lived experience of the disciples. I can relate. My own transition into new life in the kingdom of God is less like Jesus’ sudden transformation and more like the disciples’ dawning awareness that Jesus’ coming back to life is altogether good news.
A week and a half ago two baby pigeons hatched in a nest their mother built on our balcony. While we weren’t thrilled to discover the nest, the existence of these prehistoric-looking creatures has been a source of wonder for me. They don’t do much, but their very act of breathing is mesmerizing.
My presence unnerves them; lately they have tried to stand up when I come close. Their attempts are unsteady and unsuccessful, yet this ability is emerging. Some day, soon I expect, it will be present in full force. Right now, this is a picture of Resurrection for me, as I’m learning that it requires time to take root and grow.
Like Amber, like all of us, I have heard this story many times and heard many sermons. Yet something new emerged for me at this particular reading. It no longer seems to me to be about doubts. What speaks to me now are the wounds of Jesus.
The door to the room is locked as a result of fear, perhaps a fear that was very well founded. The have killed the Leader; perhaps all who follow him are next. Jesus opens with "Peace." But that is just the start. He then shows them his wounds, and it is upon seeing his wounds that we are told, "the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord." It was not appearing behind closed doors that caused the recognition, not the offering of peace. It was the physicality of the wounds. After the wounds comes both recognition and joy.
And Thomas? He hears their testimony, just as his friends heard the greeting of "peace." But he asks not for more than they experienced, but the same: "I want to see the wounds."
The second appearance starts out exactly the same way. Jesus shows up after the door has been closed, and the conversation again begins with "Peace." And then he very specifically offers to Thomas what he had offered to the others - he shows the evidence of his crucifixion. And Thomas goes beyond rejoicing. He worships.
And yes, Jesus asks him not to doubt; and yes he blesses those who believe without seeing. But why are the wounds mentioned three times?
What we see here, perhaps, is the insistence that the risen Lord is the crucified Lord. If he appears to us, it is as the wounded one. He comes to us in those who are wounded; he is discovered in us in our own wounding. And when we catch this, clearly or even dimly, we believe anew and joy and worship follow.
I stood outside in the line for lunch at The Common Table. One guest (often difficult, with addiction and psychological problems), last week told me seven people he knew had died over a ten day period; today, he smiled and told me that when he went to Dollarama to get coloured pencils, the director from Sanctuary was there and bought him a pencil sharpener and paper so he could draw and colour. He smiled. No, grinned. And was excited to get a meal and a toiletry kit. And I was blessed by his simple happiness and gratitude.