Jesus’ disciples had a lot of good reasons to be afraid. They had been following Jesus. They had called him the Christ and the Son of God. And then he was gone. He was dead, crucified, treated the same way that dangerous rebels were treated. Now what? What would happen to them? Would they be hunted down too, as rebel accomplices?
But it’s not just that. Their whole worldview was turned upside down. What happened to restoring the throne of David? What happened to the kingdom that reaches to the ends of the earth? Jesus isn’t supposed to die!
What if Jesus had stayed dead? What would that have meant for these disciples? Maybe they didn’t have to fear the Romans. Pontius Pilate didn’t really want anything to do with Jesus and was just eager to be done with it all. I suspect as long as they didn’t give him any trouble he wouldn’t have gone after them either.
It might have been a little different with the Jewish leaders. They might not have dropped it all so easily. Maybe they’d want to make an example of them. Maybe they would have them arrested too. Or maybe they’d have them permanently banned from the synagogues and labeled as outcasts from society for the rest of their lives.
But the biggest reason for those disciples to be afraid—isn’t it a philosophical one? They had pinned all their hopes on Jesus. They believed he was the promised Messiah, the Lord and Savior of the world. How could they be so wrong? Everything he said and everything he did pointed to it. If not him, then who? What even are we supposed to look for?
It’s really no wonder they were afraid. They were full of doubts. They were of guilt. They had always turned to Jesus for answers, but who were they supposed to turn to now that he was dead?
And then, all of a sudden, there he was! There had already been reports since that morning, but John says
On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors because of their fear of the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and 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.”
A dead Jesus gave them a lot of reasons to be afraid. A risen Jesus, though, changes all of that. “Peace be with you” he said, and those words are a perfect summary of what his resurrection accomplishes. They were afraid of the Romans. But they don’t need to be afraid anymore. What’s the worst the Romans can do? Nail someone to a cross? They did that with Jesus, and look, he’s risen! They were afraid of the Jews. But they don’t need to be afraid of them anymore. True Israel was the Israel that longed for the Messiah. Anyone else is a hypocrite and a liar.
And most of all, Jesus’ resurrection proved to them that they had a Savior from sin. Paul explains that in 1 Corinthians 15 where he says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” If Jesus was still dead, what peace could they have with God? But instead Jesus rose and he appeared to his disciples and said, “Peace be with you.” and the very heart of that peace was the peace that he had accomplished for them by dying and rising to bring them the forgiveness of sins.
You can’t help but feel a little sorry for Thomas. Jesus’ resurrection is the greatest event in all of history and he came back from the dead to bring peace in the forgiveness of sins, and Thomas missed out. He wasn’t there.
But Thomas’ stubborn unbelief really highlights that “what if?” question. What if Jesus hadn’t been raised? In Thomas’ mind he hadn’t. Thomas said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Why do you think it was that Thomas didn’t believe? Was it a purely rational thing? “Dead people don’t come back to life.” Was it because he was afraid—afraid of things that go beyond our human understanding? Was it just plain stubbornness? I once had an older lady who was not a member attending a Bible class and she would often state what she believed about something and her argument was simply how long she had believed it. “This is what I believe, and you’re not going to change my mind because I’ve believed it since 1972,” she’d say. “OK, then, that contradicts the Bible, so you’ve been wrong since 1972!”
The thing is, unbelief can always find an excuse. It claims to be rational, but there are actually a lot of holes in that claim. Thomas might have argued that it is impossible for people to rise from the dead. But then what about the people he himself had seen raised from the dead by the power of Jesus? Was it reasonable to call all the other disciples liars when they said they had seen the Lord? Was it reasonable to deny all the ways Jesus had connected his death and resurrection to the Old Testament?
But as a result of his stubborn unbelief, Thomas was missing out on something great that all the other disciples had. They had the peace that comes from the forgiveness of sins. Thomas did not. Thomas was still living as if Jesus was dead. But if Jesus is dead, then you’re still in your sins.
But this account shines with the wonderful love of Jesus. First he showed that love to the other disciples on the evening of that first Easter. He didn’t appear to them and condemn them for abandoning him or for their lack of faith. Instead, he brought them forgiveness and peace. And then he did it again, the next Sunday, for all the disciples but specifically for Thomas. John says
After eight days, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.”
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus rose from the dead for our sake. He rose to bring us the forgiveness of sins. He rose so that we would have peace. And that peace in the forgiveness of sins is something that is received by faith. We feel sorry for Thomas that he missed seeing Jesus that first Easter, but the saddest part of this is that Thomas went a whole extra week refusing to believe.
Doubts and unbelief cut us off from the blessings that are ours from our risen Lord Jesus. You don’t have to do anything to have your sins forgiven. You don’t have to do anything to have peace with God. Jesus did it all, and he did it for you. Why should we doubt? Why should we be afraid? It’s not because it’s reasonable. It’s only because I have a sinful heart that despises God and everything God says and does. That sinful nature is incredibly stubborn. Thomas said, “Unless I put my finger in the nail mark in his hand I will never believe!” and he meant it.
And it’s not because I’m so much less stubborn and doubtful than Thomas that I believe even though I’ve never touched Jesus’ wounded hands. It’s only because of the shining love and grace of Jesus that has overcome all of my sin, including my stubborn unbelief. Even though I didn’t see him he made himself present at my Baptism where his name was placed on me. He is present every time I’ve gathered together with other people in his name. He is so present that his own body and blood are right there in the Lord’s Supper, bringing us the forgiveness of sins and peace with God.
Jesus is talking about you when he says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” He is blessing you. He is saying that faith need not be snuffed out by stubborn unbelief. Instead, faith grows as the Holy Spirit works in us through the Gospel.
Thomas learned this too. After all, Jesus was going to be ascending to heaven. He wasn’t going to appear to Thomas every Sunday so that Thomas could chase away any new doubts by again touching that nail mark. That wouldn’t actually be the thing to strengthen Thomas’ faith anyway. The Gospel would do that. And that’s why Jesus didn’t send his disciples out with the nails from the cross, but he sent them out with the Holy Spirit to proclaim the forgiveness of sins, forgiveness for the world, forgiveness for you.
The people all around us have a lot of reasons to be afraid. They have doubts and fears. They have guilt and stubborn unbelief. We have something wonderful to share with them. Jesus was crucified. He was dead. But now he is risen. He lives to forgive our sins. How we all need to hear those words! That is why Jesus assures us that the forgiveness we proclaim in his name comes with his full authority, as if the words were coming from Jesus’ own lips.
What wonderful work we have together, to proclaim this message of our Savior. Sinners all, repent of your sins. Receive your Savior. Receive his forgiveness. Be at peace. Because Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.