“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Most of the time in life this is a good cautionary axiom. People get duped all the time into doing things because they believe that it’s going to make them rich or cure all their ailments. “Bill Gates is giving away his fortune to every person who forwards this email ten times.” That one’s pretty harmless. But I knew a guy who bought heavily into Iraqi money because he was told that it would be revalued and he’d be rich. He even gave me a bill for a thousand Iraqi dinar, and told me it would pay for my schooling. Well, I’ve been done with school for a long time, and that thousand dinar bill is worth about 75 cents.
I wonder if Thomas was normally the sort of person who lived with a healthy dose of reasonable skepticism. Or was it just the resurrection of Jesus that he doubted? The fact that he doubted is not really the surprising part of the Gospel account we have before us today. His doubts are truly reasonable. But they were also opposed to the promises of God, and they were robbing Thomas of the great blessings of knowing that Christ is risen.
Our account begins on that first Easter Sunday, at the end of the day, in the evening. By this time there was great excitement among Jesus disciples, though there was still quite a bit of fear and trepidation as well. Stories were abounding. That Jesus’ tomb was empty was well-established. No one was denying that. Actually, still today that’s an important argument in the field of apologetics. If someone says that they don’t believe in Jesus’ resurrection, you can ask them, “Then what do you do with the fact that many witnesses agree that on the third day his tomb was empty?”
Besides the empty tomb there were other witness reports. First, the women had seen angels who said he had risen. Then people started reporting that they had seen him. And not just in the way that people today might claim that they saw Elvis, a fleeting glimpse in a crowd. But rather that Jesus appeared and spoke with them. Mary Magdalene. Some of the other women. Two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And to Peter as well.
But then Jesus appeared to them all. The doors were locked. The windows were shut. They were still hiding, still afraid that they too might be arrested, and Jesus came and stood among them. John doesn’t tell us how this exactly happened, but it’s probably accurate to picture this not as Jesus walking through the locked door, but more like Jesus just appearing in their midst, similar to how he vanished from the sight of the Emmaus disciples at their dinner.
John was right there, and this is what he reports: [Jesus] said to them, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.” After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
There is so much in these few short verses. Jesus was truly alive, truly risen. He showed them his hands and feet and they rejoiced. Knowing that Jesus lives, believing in him, trusting in him, brings with it such great blessings. There are three great assurances from Jesus here in this text. First of all, by his resurrection Jesus proved that he is truly Lord and God. This is what Thomas would eventually exclaim, “My Lord and my God!” To rise from the dead is simply impossible. When we die, that’s it, our time is up. Jesus had already shown his power over death on multiple occasions. He raised from the dead the daughter of Jairus, and the son of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus. Even among the great prophets of the Old Testament miracles like this were extremely rare, but for Jesus they were done with ease, as simple as waking someone from his sleep. But this situation was different. We can speak of this event in different ways, which we find in Scripture. We can say that Jesus rose, that is, by his own will and power he came back from the dead. We can also say that God raised him, and by doing so demonstrated approval of his perfect sacrifice.
That might seem contradictory unless we confess that Jesus is true God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. But this is what Jesus said of himself before his death and resurrection. Who can argue with the one who rose from the dead? Among all the religions of the world, among all the religious leaders, there is no one like this. Other people have pointed to God, some falsely, some truthfully, but Jesus alone rose from the dead to prove that he is God.
In the second place, we can see what Jesus’ resurrection meant for his disciples. He didn’t leave it a question. He spoke to them and said, “Peace be with you.” This might not have been the kind of message they were expecting. When was it that they last saw him? For most of them, it was when they abandoned him in the Garden of Gethsemane. After saying they would never leave him, they did exactly that. What had they been thinking? We know that they were afraid of the Jews. If the Jews would put Jesus to death, what would they do with his followers? But might they also have been feeling very guilty? Peter denied Jesus three times. They all turned tail and ran, and while they were being cowards Jesus was put to death. Might Jesus be angry with them for their faithlessness? Might he just sigh and shake his head in disappointment? But no, he said “Peace be with you.” He said it twice.
Truly, this is what Jesus died and rose for, so that we might have peace. And this peace is a peace that knows no bounds. It’s not the kind of peace that the world gives, which is a tenuous and temporary outward peace. We go through times when we have that kind of worldly peace, but then it quickly disappears. There’s war or natural disaster. There’s conflict without and anxiety within. But the peace that Jesus gives is peace with God. It’s the peace of the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus went to the cross to pay for our sins and his resurrection means that the payment is complete. There is nothing more that is owed. Our accounts with God are settled, paid for by his own precious blood. Jesus did not even mention disappointment or anger with his disciples. Rather, it is as if he said, “You are afraid, burdened by your enemies without and your guilt within. But I have risen to take away your fears. Because of what I have done your guilt before God is erased, and your enemies are powerless. What can man do to you when you belong to me, who holds all power over death? What can Satan do to you when by my cross Satan’s head is crushed forever?”
Jesus established the ministry of the word so that his forgiveness and the peace that comes with it would be proclaimed to the whole world. Today we still gather in his name, with him present among us, and receive his forgiveness and his peace. “The peace of the Lord be with you always” we hear.
So Jesus’ resurrection proves that he is Lord and God. It gives us peace by the forgiveness of sins. And in the third place, Jesus resurrection proves that we too will rise. John says that by believe you’ll have life in his name. Jesus had already told his disciples, “Because I live, you also will live.” Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. His resurrection means our resurrection. Jesus stood in the midst of his disciples. He showed them his hands and feet. His body was now glorified, no longer subject to pain and death. The nail marks remained, as perpetual signs of his love, but his suffering was ended. How we long for that day when we will be raised and glorified with him!
It’s almost too good to be true. Maybe that’s what Thomas was thinking. He wasn’t there when the disciples saw the Lord, and when they told him what had happened he refused to believe. I think we can all understand, because we’ve had our own dark doubts. Can all this, such great things, really be true? But it wasn’t just the word of his fellow disciples that he was doubting. It was the word of God. And by his doubts, Thomas was cutting himself off from these great blessings that Jesus brings by his resurrection.
Jesus did appear to Thomas the next week, bringing him also his peace. Thomas saw and Thomas confessed, “My Lord and my God!” But you don’t need to live in doubt as Thomas did, insisting on more evidence. You have the word of God, which proclaims to you these blessings that are yours in Christ Jesus. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to work in your heart so that you may believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing have life in his name. You don’t need to put your finger in the nail marks on Jesus’ hands. What he gives you is so much greater. He gives you his name in baptism. He gives you his body and blood in his Supper. He proclaims to you that he is your Lord and your God, that you have peace in the forgiveness of sins, and that you have life in his name. Blessed are you who believe! Because Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson