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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the text comes from that Gospel reading. You may be seated. Last Sunday was Easter, and our text picks up the day, that evening of the first Easter, as the disciples gathered in the upper room where they celebrated the Lord’s Supper just a few days prior for the very first time. And they gathered in that room and they locked the doors for fear of the Jews. So these ten apostles that gathered there, remember Thomas wasn’t present at that time. These ten apostles were fearful and filled with unbelief. At the same time, they were filled with belief. Seems kind of contradictory and yet it exists in you and it exists in me. Faith and unbelief at the self-same time. Why else would that man’s words be recorded for you in Scripture from the Gospel of Mark that said, “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief”?
These ten that gathered in that upper room were filled with belief and unbelief at the self-same time. It’s not fun, is it? It’s a struggle. And they were struggling. And Jesus knows exactly where they are. And Jesus knows exactly where Thomas is. And it’s not as if Thomas missed the boat and didn’t get there on time because he didn’t have his watch set correctly. It’s because Jesus chose to reveal himself first to these ten, then to Thomas. So when he arrives, he knows Thomas isn’t there. He designed it that way for a reason. And when he comes into the room, he doesn’t say, “It’s me, Jesus, let me in.” He appears in a spectacular, unbelievable way—in a resurrected body. A body that takes up space. A body that gives off heat. A body that can be touched. A body that can be seen. A body that can be heard when they speak. And a body that responds when they’re spoken to. This is the kind of body you will have when you’re raised from the dead just like me. We will all have that same kind of body as Jesus revealed to his apostles in that upper room on that evening of that first day of the week.
Then listen to what he says. The first thing out of his lips are not, “Why did you leave me back in the garden? Why did you run away? Why did you say the things that you did? Why did you deny me?” None of that comes out of his lips. Now you and I, who have received lectures from loving parents and friends and family members and have given them ever so eloquently to others, they didn’t receive that when Jesus appeared to them except one small sentence: “Peace be with you.” “Peace be with you” is an absolution. That is forgiveness, as we read and confessed. Absolution is forgiveness. “Peace be with you” is forgiveness. You can’t have peace without forgiveness. And forgiveness brings with it peace because you are right with God. You have forgiveness.
After he says this word of absolution and not lecturing them, then he does to them what he’s going to do with Thomas, and he knows full well he’s going to do that with Thomas a week later. He shows them his hands and his side. They look, they touch, they see, and they’re glad. He doesn’t lecture them. He doesn’t say, “Why didn’t you believe? Why did you run away?” He says it to them again: “Peace be with you.” Absolving them again for their doubt and misbelief. He does not condemn them for having within them faith and unbelief at the self-same time. He does not cast them outside by struggling with these two realities within their one person. And that means he doesn’t cast you aside either.
Having given them the second absolution of “Peace be with you,” he commissions them. He says, “Okay, you’ve received my peace and my forgiveness. Now I want you to go give that peace and that forgiveness by forgiving other people.” No, he did not call you to be pastor here. That’s what you all did to me, to do that here in this place as pastor. But he did call you as son or daughter to give it to mother and father and to receive it. He did call you as mother and father to give it to your son and daughter. He did call you as sister and brother to give it to your sister and brother and your family. Grandparents to grandchildren and grandchildren to grandparents and so forth. And then he put people into your life with whom you work, with whom you go to school, to give it.
So there’s this concept that we’ve got to make disciples of all nations. And that means we’ve got to do all of these things to make disciples. When Jesus has just told you how to make disciples, give forgiveness, and how do you sustain a disciple? Receive forgiveness. That’s what he’s commissioned you to do. And the kind of people that he chose to do it with were these crazy apostles who are found in the room with the locked door and who are filled with unbelief and faith at the self-same time are the kind of people he sends out to give forgiveness.
Sounds like me. Does it sound like you? Because it is just like you. This is how disciples are made, served, and sustained—through forgiveness, which brings peace. And peace which cannot be given without forgiveness. This is the will for the bride of Christ, who from the world’s look, looks like a bunch of hypocrites. Yeah, that’s what the church is filled with—hypocrites. And if it’s not, then it’s not the church. Because the church exists as people who struggle with faith and unbelief at the self-same time. The disciples, more importantly, these ten apostles were.
Jesus then knows Thomas is not there, but he’s going to come. So Jesus bids them adieu and he goes. We have no idea of how he left. Next thing you know, Thomas is there. And Thomas, rather than riding that pony and beating up on him, Thomas is a man who’s struggling with his unbelief. It’s not as if he doesn’t believe whatsoever. He is a man who is struggling with his unbelief. Like the man in the Gospel of Mark who said, “Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.” Thomas is like that. And Thomas is saying the same kind of a thing: “I’ve got to see this. Somehow, God, you’ve got to show me.” Thomas is honest. Unlike sometimes you and I who aren’t so honest. We act it, but we’re not honest with what we really are going through on the inside. Thomas is honest. He’s honest.
And he comes after Jesus leaves, which is all a part of Jesus’ plan. And what do the ten do? Highly important. The ten didn’t rebuke him or cast him aside. The ten took the forgiveness that Jesus had given them and they gave it to him. What’s the problem, though? Thomas struggled with receiving forgiveness, just like people who sit in the pew with you struggle to receive God’s forgiveness. You question. You wonder. You see other people seemingly to have it. And you know inside you struggle with it. These ten gave it to Thomas. And Thomas did not receive it. But did Thomas get cast aside? No. Did Jesus plan this? Yes.
So Thomas is told by these guys what he did—that is, Jesus—he showed them his hands and side. So Thomas is all, all he’s saying is, “Hey, I want to get the same treatment that you guys got.” And he says, “I’m going to wait.” Well, Jesus said, “Fine, I will give you eight days.” So for eight days, Thomas had to wrestle with this idea. Contradiction within him, believing and not believing. And the ten had to live with Thomas and his contradictions within him. The ten had to work with Thomas. The ten had to love Thomas. The ten had to continually reach out to Thomas. The ten were not given the privilege of saying, “Thomas, you’re out of here. You’re not like us. Move on.”
So Jesus waits eight days to the following Sunday, which is today. When Jesus appears, and he knows that Thomas is there now, and he comes, and what’s the first thing out of his lips again? First of all, the doors were locked for fear of the Jews. So these ten, though they know Jesus rose from the dead and believe, they’re still dealing with struggling within them, or they wouldn’t have had the doors locked, would they have? Jesus comes in, and the first thing out of his lips is, “Peace be with you.” Then he gives Thomas the same exact thing he gave to the ten, and then he uses Thomas. Peace. He uses Thomas like he used Peter. You remember when he used Peter. Peter confessed to him that “thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.” That was Peter’s statement, and Christ used it. No other statement of such profound nature has been used by Christ except when he used Thomas. And Thomas said, “My Lord and my God.” A strong testimony of who Jesus is. None of the ten confessed that. Just Thomas.
Now, why did Jesus do such an unusual thing? For whose purpose? Was this all for Thomas’ sake? Was this for the ten’s sake? God never does anything that’s only for one person. He does it for the entire group. For the ten, this was to show them, because Jesus affirms Thomas in front of the ten. He doesn’t privately do this to Thomas. Aside from the ten, he publicly in front of the ten absolves him, forgives him, and lifts up his confession of faith so that the ten realize they can’t be judgmental toward one who struggles because they’re just like Thomas.
And for Thomas, he has to look at himself and realize, “I struggled and God came to me in my struggle and found me in my doubt and in my contradiction within and loved me and forgave me and gave me peace.” And just as he sent the ten out when Thomas wasn’t there, he sends Thomas out who now is there to go give that forgiveness to others. It is a miracle indeed, and it is just like us. For when Jesus says, “Stop doubting, but believe,” this is really how it should be understood. Jesus is saying, “I know you believe. Keep on believing.” Just like he handled the man who said, “I believe; help thou my unbelief.” Jesus did not disdain his unbelief. He does not disdain Thomas’. He does not disdain yours.
He encourages you in that flicker of faith that you feel that He cultivates into a flame. Because you who are convinced of your forgiveness are convinced of giving it to somebody else. You who are convinced of your forgiveness are convinced in giving it to someone else. He finds you. He seeks you out in your contradiction. He finds you when you’re not a shining example of faith. He finds you when you doubt, worry, anxiety, fear, anger. You are glowing with contradiction is when he finds you. He loves you and he says, “Peace be with you. I am sending you. Go. Bring that forgiveness which is peace that others may know what you know now.”
Peter said it in another way, which is really beautiful. Listen to what Peter says in 1 Peter 1: “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him. And you rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith that is the salvation of your souls.” These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.
Peace be with you. Amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds on Christ Jesus till life everlasting. Amen.
