Doubt, Faith, and the Risen Lord (MPLS)

John 20:19–31

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.

‘Text Message’ Reflection:
From Pastor Meta Herrick Carlson
I spend a lot of time thinking about God…maybe a little too much time in my head about theological language and liturgical rituals, the history of Christianity, and what it means to follow Jesus today.

Stories like this one remind me that faith is also (perhaps more importantly) embodied in my physicality. In Jesus, we come to know a God who cares about bodies enough to have one, to heal them, to feed them, and to raise them from the dead.

It matters to my faith that the risen Jesus appears to the disciples in a body. He’s not an abstract idea or a state of mind in these stories. He’s a voice that speaks peace. His hands and side bear real scars. He breathes on them and invites Thomas to touch his wounds.

In the Apostles’ Creed, we confess that we believe in the resurrection of the body. I’ll admit that I don’t understand what that means with my brain…but I think my body understands. In a world that wants to divide mind from matter and spirit from body, God cuts through our categories and compromises to raise the fullness of who we are from death to new life. And trusting that means I can live more fully in this body here and now.

‘Text Message’ Reflection Questions:

• How would you’d like your body to be buried or returned to the earth while we await the final coming of Jesus and the resurrection of the body?
• The risen Jesus had scars on his body, a sign of the suffering and death that really happened. Notice one of your own scars and, if it feels safe to do so, remember the story it tells.

Prayer:
Jesus, you speak peace to your people three times, breathe the Holy Spirit upon them, and bless the ones who believe things they cannot see for themselves. May our bodies bear witness to your peace, your Holy Spirit, and things we cannot prove and still trust because our bodies know they are true. Amen.