Title: In Christ’s wounds, peace is revealed!
Text: John 20:19-31
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
People refuse to believe that which they don't want to believe, in spite of evidence. When explorers first went to Australia they found a mammal which laid eggs; spent some time in water, some on land; had a broad, flat tail, webbed feet, and a bill similar to a duck. Upon their return to England, they told the populace of this, and all felt it was a hoax. They returned to Australia and found a pelt from this animal and took it back to England, but the people still felt it was a hoax. In spite of the evidence, they disbelieved because they didn't want to believe.
cf. J. McDowell, Answers to tough questions, under "miracles"
In Christ’s wounds, peace is revealed!
In my class at Seminary we’re dealing to some extent with the work of Apologetics. This is the work of a Christian to defend what seems to some – especially those who don’t believe as silly and not something one can prove in a reasonable way … that the evidence of a God who took on human form, died for the sins of the world by crucifixion and then rose from the dead three days later is just not believable.
The work of Apologetics cannot prove that Jesus rose from the dead but it can help to show that what we as Christians believe as truth is reasonable and trustworthy and that a God who created a wonderful world and a humanity in his image … can also in love redeem those who have fallen into sin and have broken what God created perfect.
Richard Dawkins, an atheist, in a letter to his 10 year old daughter writes:
"And, how do we know that Earth is a small ball whirling round one of those stars, the sun?
The answer to these questions is "evidence." Sometimes evidence means actually seeing (or hearing, feeling, smelling ....) that something is true. Astronauts have traveled far enough from earth to see with their own eyes that it is round."
What I find interesting with this is that scripture knew and had made known what Dawkins needed astronauts to tell him.
In Isaiah 40:22 the prophet writes speaking of God:
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
The word here proclaims what astronauts later confirmed by seeing. What I think Dawkins misses is that science has made wrong observations over the years that have had to be changed as new evidence became available.
Thomas in the Gospel reading too needed proof. He demanded evidence.
In Christ’s wounds, peace is revealed!
Ill.
G. Campbell Morgan had already enjoyed some success as a preacher by the time he was 19 years old. But then he was attacked by doubts about the Bible. The writings of various scientists and agnostics disturbed him (e.g., Charles Darwin, John Tyndall, Thomas Huxley, and Herbert Spencer). As he read their books and listened to debates, Morgan became more and more perplexed.
What did he do? He cancelled all preaching engagements, put all the books in a cupboard and locked the door, and went to the bookstore and bought a new Bible. He said to himself, "I am no longer sure that this is what my father claims it to be--the Word of God. But of this I am sure. If it be the Word of God, and if I come to it with an unprejudiced and open mind, it will bring assurance to my soul of itself."
The result? God found Morgan through His word! The new assurance in 1883 gave him the motivation for his preaching and teaching ministry. He devoted himself to the study and preaching of God's Word.
Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, Moody, 1984, p. 211.
Many times doubt conflicts us all. We hear the word but find our own reason at war with God’s word. We hear about Easter and the resurrection and unbelief clouds our own understanding. How can a dead man rise? How does God take on flesh and become man … and why? Some believe the flesh is bad and is the cause of all our problems? Even Luther thought that if he beat into submission his own sinful flesh … hiding as it were in a monastery, that his sinful thoughts and actions could be controlled but he quickly found that his own sin went in to the monastery with him.
Many of those who come to church occasionally or only on the High Holy Days of Christmas and Easter … wrestle with unbelief. They may say that their lack of attendance is not unbelief really, but only other pressing things in life that get in the way. Some never come at all and are absent altogether … choosing to do something else or nothing rather than to get up and be fed on God’s word which is to give full acknowledgment that they really don’t believe or feel a need to hear God’s word. How about you? Have you doubted God and His word? That question needs to be answered by us all … me included.
Our Gospel today gives one account:
24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
The Bible is silent on why Thomas wasn’t with them and if you remember the words of the angel that rolled the stone away from the tomb Easster morning when he said:
7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, (I’m assuming that this included Thomas too?) that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
So, it might have been just old fashioned unbelief and distress in this Jesus who Thomas had placed his trust and hope … who was given over to Pilate, crucified and killed … dead and buried that now when the other:
25 … disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “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.” Full unbelief there; No wavering on his part; this disciple of Jesus’ now cries out:
SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE!
That is what Thomas wants, nothing more nothing less. So many in our day too just want the evidence, unless Jesus comes down to me and I can see, feel and taste … I won’t believe.
We all at times want to see the evidence. Those we love want to see it too. We want to touch the holes in His hands and put our hand in his side or we won’t believe. Some unfortunately die in their sin never coming to faith in the one who died in their place and then rose from the dead so that they too would rise.
But in spite and because of our sins:
In Christ’s wounds, peace is revealed!
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Now, the irony here is amazing. Thomas, the one with unbelief, is now with those who have seen the risen Lord. They are all together and the doors are still locked! The other disciples have seen Jesus resurrected yet they also remember, very vividly the crucifixion, and all that may still come upon them. But in spite of the fear and unbelief, Jesus comes to them … in to this locked room of unbelief … and brings … peace.
Our Lord, through His word and sacraments, also comes to those who still live locked in unbelief. By His Holy Spirit the lock of unbelief is opened and faith is given.
Ill.
Christian author Eric Metaxas once said about his own coming to faith from unbelief as he struggled in college with a dead faith having been raised in a Greek Orthodox Christian home. His friend at work said:
“Pray and ask the Lord to reveal himself to you.” Eric, thought this was a bit stupid as he began praying to a God he didn’t think existed, and asking that same God to reveal Himself, to show himself or in other words – “show me the nail holes in your hands and the spear hole in your side.”
27 Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
The evidence is there and:
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Just like Thomas, Eric Metaxas’ prayers were answered too. He came to faith in a God who he didn’t think existed, who heard his prayer and came to Him through His word proclaimed and he comes to you and me as well through that very same word spoken today as it was spoken to Thomas in that upper room, “Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
Our Lord will not leave you in unbelief but by His Spirit He will bring about your transformation. He will cause His word not to return void for you or for your children. He promises that His word will achieve all that He intends was also proclaimed by Peter in the book of Acts in chapter 2 verse 39:
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
Remember -In Christ’s wounds, peace is revealed!
And, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
May the Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you all now and forever!
Amen
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