MY LORD AND MY GOD
“Thomas
said in response, ‘My Lord and my God’”. The Easter Jesus reveals himself as
the God of the 2nd. chance. On Easter Sunday, the Lord signals the Apostles
that though they had turned their backs on him, he himself would not follow suit.
Today He signals Thomas the message that He forgives him for his disbelief in
the Resurrection. We can enter these points in the back of our mental computer.
They probably will be the best news for all of us. It appears
that the followers of Jesus continued to meet after the Resurrection in that
famous Upper Room. Since it was owned by a friend of the Teacher, the price was
probably right. Check it out that St. John was very anxious for us to know that
it was the first day of the week. It is interesting to know that the expression
“the first day of the week” is mentioned in the New Testament a remarkable
seven times. Presumably these early followers of Christ wanted us to understand
that Sunday had already become the Lord’s Day. So, our gathering for the
Eucharist on Sundays is no accident. We have taken our cue from the Apostles. The disciples were sitting about
relaxing and exchanging rumours. Perhaps they had just finished the breaking of
the Bread. Suddenly but sweetly the Resurrected Lord sails into their company. Some
of them must have fallen off their perches, some jumped and hit the ceiling, and
some others must have reached for their blood pressure tablets. “Peace be with
you,” says a smiling Jesus; a greeting that has more impact than our colourless
“Good morning” or “Have a nice day”. A free translation would mean: “May God
give you every wonderful good.” When you consider who Jesus is, the disciples
had to feel good all over immediately. Let
us now focus on the apostle Thomas. You remember that the apostle Thomas had
expected the assassination of Jesus from day one. Try to recall the time when
Jesus proposed going to Bethany where the police had an arrest warrant for him.
Eleven of the disciples took fright and, I imagine, protested that they had to
do their laundry down by the riverside. Any excuse would do to keep them away
from danger, and so they politely asked for a postponement. Thomas shamed them
all for chickening out by saying, “Let us all go that we may die with him.” Thomas
was the original superhero. But like most TV heroes his bottom line was a zero.
His faith told him that it would be better to die with Jesus than to live without
him, but his unbelief told him that once the Teacher died, he would stay stone
cold dead in the market place. Sadly, there is a Thomas inside many of us. Belief
and doubt have the nasty habit of coexisting very uncomfortably in our honourable
selves. If that be your problem, you’re in the best of company. When Jesus made
a personal appearance on Easter Sunday, Thomas was absent without leave. Perhaps
he was out looking for a job. When his friends reported that they had seen the
Lord, he assumed they’d been having Bacardi on the rocks! Thomas did not say
that he would not believe but rather that he was not able to believe without
some physical proof. Haven’t we also quite often said, “I believe only what I
see or touch?” But please consider. Thomas
was the last man to believe in the Resurrection; yet he was the first to
profess absolute faith in the divinity of the Risen Saviour. The cry that came
out of the heart still reverberates down the centuries: “My Lord and my God”
which we ourselves repeat today. It is perhaps the most famous five syllable
mantra in the world. Thomas’ belief in the crucified, risen and exalted Christ
is the highest profession of faith uttered by any of the witnesses of John’s Gospel.
It brings John’s Gospel to its triumphant climax. Thomas did not allow his doubts
and hesitations to overwhelm the impulse of faith by which the Spirit was
leading him. Thomas, known as the Twin, began that 2nd. Sunday of
Easter as man and friend. But when he pulled back his hand, he realised he was
in touch with God himself. Thomas was blown away by the encounter. He would
never be the same man again. The
master forgave the disciples for turning tail on Good Friday. And He absolved
Thomas for his unbelief. God does no abandon us in our dying but holds us in
and beyond our death. The other hand is the forgiveness: God does not let us
down in our guilt, but there also love’s mighty hand keeps accepting us. The two
hands stretched out to us meet us precisely in the two extreme situations where
our strength falls short – death and guilt. The beauty of this passage in John’s
Gospel is that these extreme forms of God’s love meet here – the resurrection
and the forgiveness of sins. All of us have seriously messed up at one time or
another. We are wounded people, and what better could we do but place our
wounds into the wounds of God and it is we who will be healed. After hearing
this Gospel, do you still believe the Resurrected Jesus will not also give you
a second and a second and a second chance?
From the New Zealand Prayer Book
Living
God, for whom no door is closed, no heart is locked, draw us beyond our doubts,
till we see your Christ and touch his wounds where they bleed in others.
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