ENCOUNTERING THOMAS ENCOUNTERING THE RISEN JESUS

John 20:24-28

Rev. Paul Wrightman                                                        4/27/25

AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS GOSPEL,

JOHN STATES “NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN GOD.

IT IS GOD THE ONLY SON, WHO IS CLOSE TO THE FATHER’S HEART,

WHO HAS MADE HIM KNOWN.”  (John 1:18)

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE CLAIM FOR SOMEONE TO MAKE!

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE WHEN IT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENING?

WELL, SAYS, JOHN, IT LOOKS LIKE THIS . . . AND OFF WE GO,

THROUGH GALILEE AND JERUSALEM, BACK AND FORTH,

MOMENTS OF GLORY AND DOOM WOVEN TOGETHER

UNTIL THEY MEET ON THE CROSS.

IN TODAY’S TEXT, WHICH ORIGINALLY TOOK PLACE

A WEEK AFTER EASTER, IT LOOKS LIKE THIS:

A CONFUSED, DOGGED DISCIPLE,

DETERMINED NOT TO BE TAKEN IN,

STANDING ON HIS RIGHT NOT TO BELIEVE ANYTHING

UNTIL HE’S GOT SOLID EVIDENCE,

CONFRONTED BY A SMILING JESUS WHO HAS JUST WALKED,

AS HE DID THE PREVIOUS WEEK, THROUGH A LOCKED DOOR.

THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.

AND OF COURSE IT BAFFLED THOMAS JUST AS IT BAFFLES US.

WHAT SORT OF A PERSON ARE WE DEALING WITH HERE?

THE WHOLE POINT OF THE TEXT IS THAT IT’S THE SAME JESUS.

THE MARKS OF THE NAILS IN HIS HANDS.

THE WOUND IN HIS SIDE, BIG ENOUGH TO GET YOUR HAND INTO.

THIS ISN’T A SHOST.  NOR IS IT SOMEONE PRETENDING TO BE JESUS.

THIS IS HIM.

THIS IS THE BODY THAT THE GRAVE-CLOTHES

COULD NO LONGER CONTAIN.

HE COMES AND GOES AS THOUGH HE BELONGS BOTH IN OUR WORLD

AND IN A DIFFERENT WORLD,

ONE WHICH INTERSECTS WITH OURS AT VARIOUS POINTS

BUT DOESN’T USE THE SAME GEOGRAPHY.

JESUS IS NOT MAKING A VALUE JUDGMENT

AND PUTTING DOWN THOMAS HERE.

HE IS SIMPLY REASSURING FUTURE GENERATIONS OF BELIEVERS

THAT THEY TOO CAN BLESSED WITH THE REALITY

OF HIS RISEN PRESENCE, UNSEEN, YET NEVERTHELESS EXPERIENCED.

BEING A FIRST-GENERATION WITNESS

IS NOT A PREREQUISITE FOR FAITH.

JESUS IS MAKING THE CLAIM THAT HE IS AS REAL

FOR EACH OF US TODAY AS HE WAS FOR THOMAS

AND THE OTHER DISCIPLES GATHERED IN THAT UPPER ROOM

SO LONG AGO.

AND NOW I WOULD LIKE TO EXERCISE A PRIVILEGE

THAT THIS CHURCH ENCOURAGES: INDEPENDENT-THINKING.

I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE QUESTION

IS ANY OF THIS STUFF ABOUT JESUS REALLY BELIEVABLE,

I MEAN BELIEVABLE ENOUGH TO BASE ONE’S LIFE ON?

EVEN ASKING THIS QUESTION WOULD BE CONSIDERED

AS IMPERTINENT, IF NOT DOWNRIGHT SACRILEGIOUS,

IN MANY CHURCHES.  BUT NOT HERE.

I’M CONVINCED THAT THIS IS A QUESTION

THAT MUST NOT ONLY BE ASKED – BUT ALSO ANSWERED –

IF WE ARE TO AVOID THE DISASTROUS ERROR

OF BUILDING OUR LIVES ON, AT BEST, WISHFUL THINKING,

AT WORST, A SERIES OF LIES.

MY OWN QUESTIONING BEGAN AS A UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE.

I GOT CAUGHT UP IN THE THOUGHT OF THE DANISH

PHILOSOPHER/THEOLOGIAN SOREN KIERKEGAARD,

WHO INSISTED THAT TO BE A REAL CHRISTIAN

ONE MUST MAKE A LEAP OF FAITH, AND THAT THIS LEAP OF FAITH

CONSISTED IN EMBRACING THE UNBELIEVABLE FACT

THAT GOD HAD ACTUALLY BECOME A PERSON IN JESUS.

FOR A WHILE I WENT ALONG WITH THIS LEAP-OF-FAITH BUSINESS.

BUT ONE DAY IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT IN A PARALLEL WAY

TO WHAT KIERKEGAARD WAS INSISTING ON,

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN GERMANY,

INCLUDNG MILLIONS OF SUPPOSEDLY CHRISTIAN GERMANS,

HAD MADE A LEAP OF FAITH TO HITLER.

I TOOK A LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM MY FAITH FOR AWHILE.

IT’S IRONIC HOW I GOT IT BACK.

I ENGAGED WITH A JEWISH THINKER, MARTIN BUBER,

WHO SAW JESUS AS A PROPHET, AND MORE-THAN-A-PROPHET,

GOD’S “MESSIAH,” IF YOU WILL, FOR US GENTILES.

BUBER TOOK THE GOSPELS SERIOUSLY, SEEING THEIR CONTENTS

NOT AS THE EVER-REPEATING EVENTS PROPER

TO THE CATEGORY OF MYTH, BUT AS HISTORY

THAT DOES NOT REPEAT ITSELF.

SOMETHING SOLID.  SOMETHING ESSENTIALLY TRUSTWORTHY.

SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE A LEAP OF FAITH,

BUT AN UNDERSTANDING OF JESUS AS ESSENTIALLY JEWISH,

A MAJOR JEWISH PROPHET, TO BE PRECISE,

COMPLETE WITH THE FOLLOWERS, OR DISCIPLES,

THAT ANY MAJOR JEWISH PROPHET WOULD HAVE.

USING THIS BASIC INSIGHT FROM BUBER,

I WAS ABLE TO REBUILD A STRATEGY FOR BELIEF.

CAN WE ACCEPT THE FACT THAT THE FAITH OF THE DISCIPLES

IN JESUS – FAITH MEANING A SENSE OF DEEP ATTACHMENT –

WAS REAL?

I THINK THAT WE CAN.

THIS GIVES US AN IMPORTANT WORKING PRINCIPLE.

NAMELY, THAT THE MESSAGE OF JESUS,

IN THE FORM IN WHICH HE GAVE IT,

WAS REGARDED AS WORTH PRESERVING AND PASSING ON.

AND THAT IN FACT IT COULD BE SO PRESERVED AND PASSED ON

BECAUSE OF THE CLOSE FAMILIARITY

IN WHICH JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS LIVED.

JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES LIVED IN A CULTURE

WHICH WAS STILL ESSENTIALLY ORAL, A CULTURE

IN WHICH EVERYTHING WAS MEMORIZED –

THE PSALMS, THE LAW, THE PROPHETS.

IN THIS SETTING, JESUS HAD TO EXPRESS HIS MESSAGE

IN A MORE OR LESS SET FORM.

THE WORD FOR “HAND-ON” OCCURS 120 TIMES

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.  THAT’S A LOT.

THE JEWISH AND RABBINIC CONCEPTION OF “TO HAND OR PASS ON”

IMPLIES AN ATTITUDE OF FIDELITY TO WHAT HAS BEEN RECEIVED

AND HANDED ON.

THE ISSUE IS NOT ONE OF CREATING, INNOVATING,

OR TRANSFORMING, BUT SIMPLY HANDING ON.

THE WORD REVEALS A MENTALITY AND AN ENVIRONMENT

IN WHICH THE CONCERN IS TO PRESERVE THE MESSAGE RECEIVED

AS THOUGH IT WERE A TRUST, AN INHERITANCE.

AFTER THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS

THE APOSTLES REMAINED IN JERUSALEM

FOR FIFTEEN OR TWENTY YEARS, PRECISELY DURING THE PERIOD

WHEN THE GOSPEL TRADITION WAS BEING FORMED.

IN THE SETTING OF THIS ORAL CULTURE, CONTROLLED HERE

BY THE PRESENCE AND INFLUENCE OF THE ELEVEN APOSTLES,

THE TRADITION ABOUT JESUS TOOK DEFINITIVE SHAPE.

IN THE LANGUAGE AND MENTALITY OF THE EARLIEST CHURCH,

A DISCIPLE LIVES OUT A RELATIONSHIP OF FIDELITY

TO THE ONE WHO DELEGATES HIM OR HER

AS REPRESENTATIVE AND TO WHOM HE OR SHE BEARS WITNESS.

A COMMUNITY WHOSE BASIC ATTITUDES ARE FOCUSED

ON MISSION, TESTIMONY, TRADITION, AND SERVICE

IS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM A COMMUNITY

THAT CHANGES POSITION IN EVERY WIND,

HAS NO CENTER OR POINT OF REFERENCE,

AND IS IGNORANT OF ITS PAST AND CARELESS ABOUT ITS FUTURE.

A HUMAN GROUP WHOSE CONSCIOUS INTENTION

IS TO HAND ON UNDIMINISHED WHAT IT HAS RECEIVED,

TO BEAR WITNESS TO WHAT IT HAS SEEN AND HEARD,

TO ACT AS THE DELEGATE AND REPRESENTATIVE

OF THE ONE WHO APPOINTED IT,

AND TO GIVE THIS SERVICE A PRIVILEGED PLACE OVER EVERY OTHER –

SUCH A GROUP MERITS THE DESIGNATION TRUSTWORTHY.

I WAS THUS ABLE, WITH THE HELP OF JEWISH SCHOLAR

MARTIN BUBER, TO MOVE FROM A POSITION OF HAVING TO REJECT

THE “LEAP-OF FAITH” APPROACH TO BEING ABLE TO AFFIRM

A “STEP-OF-FAITH” APPROACH BASED ON

SOLID HISTORICAL SCHOLARSHIP.

HISTORICAL SCHOLARSHIP DOES NOT IMPOSE FAITH,

BUT IT DOES MAKE FAITH POSSIBLE BY GIVING ACCESS

TO THE AUTHENTIC GOSPEL OF THE AUTHENTIC JESUS.

WE ARE STILL LEFT WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY

FOR ALLOWING JESUS TO CHALLENGE US

AND FOR RESPONDING TO GOD’S SPIRIT WHO SPEAKS WITHIN

AND ENABLES US TO SEE THE LIVING MESSAGE OF JESUS

AS A LIVING MESSAGE ADDRESSED TO EACH OF US PERSONALLY.

(PAUSE)

BASED ON THIS MORNING’S SCRIPTURE READING,

THE APOSTLE THOMAS HAS COME TO BE KNOWN TO THE WORLD

AS “DOUBTING THOMAS.”

YET THOMAS DID NOTHING DIFFERENT

THAN THE OTHER MALE DISCIPLES,

WHO ALL DOUBTED UNTIL THEY

ACTUALLY SAW THE RISEN JESUS FOR THEMSELVES.

THOMAS HAD THE MISFORTUNE

OF BEING A WEEK LATE TO THE UPPER ROOM.

HE WAS ODD-MAN-OUT IN TERMS OF NOT HAVING HAD

THE SAME EXPERIENCE AS THE OTHER DISCIPLES.

AND AS IS OFTEN THE CASE WHEN WE’RE THE ODD-ONE-OUT,

THOMAS DEMANDED MORE IN ORDER TO BE CONVINCED HIMSELF:

“UNLESS I SEE THE MARK OF THE NAILS IN HIS HANDS,

AND PUT MY FINGERS IN THE MARK OF THE NAILS

AND MY HAND IN HIS SIDE, I WILL NOT BELIEVE.”

GIVEN THE FACT THAT THOMAS’ DOUBT WINS FOR HIM

ONE OF THE MOST PERSONAL AND INTIMATE ENCOUNTERS

WITH THE RISEN JESUS IN THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT –

THOMAS’ DOUBT IS NOT A LIABILITY BUT AN ASSET.

IT IS AN ASSET AND NOT A LIABILITY

BECAUSE HIS DOUBT EMPOWERS THOMAS’

SEARCH FOR MEANING AND TRUTH.

WE COULD SAY THAT ONE OF THOMAS’ GREAT VIRTUES

WAS THE VIRTUE OF DOUBT.

HE ABSOLUTELY REFUSED TO SAY THAT HE UNDERSTOOD

WHEN, IN REALITY, HE DID NOT UNDERSTAND,

OR THAT HE BELIEVED WHEN HE DID NOT BELIEVE.

THERE IS AN UNCOMPROMISING HONESTY ABOUT HIM.

HE WOULD NEVER QUENCH HIS DOUBTS

BY PRETENDING THAT THEY DID NOT EXIST.

HE WAS NOT THE KIND OF PERSON

WHO WOULD RATTLE OFF A CREED

WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT MEANT.

IN HIS POEM IN MEMORIAM, ALFRED LORD TENNYSON WROTE:

“THERE LIVES MORE FAITH IN HONEST DOUBT,

BELIEVE ME, THAN IN HALF THE CREEDS.”

HENRY DRUMMOND,

A MINISTER OF THE FREE CHURCH IN SCOTLAND,

ONCE GAVE A SERMON IN WHICH HE MADE A DISTINCTION

BETWEEN DOUBT AND UNBELIEF.

HE WRITES:

“CHRIST NEVER FAILED TO DISTINGUISH

BETWEEN DOUBT AND UNBELIEF.

DOUBT IS CAN’T BELIEVE;

UNBELIEF IS WON’T BELIEVE.

DOUBT IS HONEST;

UNBELIEF IS OBSTINATE.

DOUBT IS LOOKING FOR LIGHT;

UNBELIEF IS CONTENT WITH DARKNESS.

LOVING DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT –

THAT IS WHAT CHRIST ATTACKED, AND ATTACKED UNSPARINGLY.

BUT FOR THE HONEST QUESTIONING

OF THOMAS, PHILIP, NICODEMUS, AND MANY OTHERS,

HE WAS RESPECTFUL AND GENEROUS AND TOLERANT.”

THOMAS’ OTHER GREAT VIRTUE

WAS THAT WHEN HE WAS ABLE TO TAKE HIS STEP OF BELIEF,

HE WENT THE WHOLE WAY.

“MY LORD AND MY GOD!” HE EXCLAIMED.

THERE WAS NO HALF-WAY ABOUT THOMAS.

HE WAS NOT AIRING HIS DOUBTS

JUST FOR THE SAKE OF MENTAL ACROBATICS.

HE DOUBTED IN ORDER TO BECOME CONVINCED.

(PAUSE)

WHAT WE SEE IN THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER

OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AS A WHOLE

IS THE AMAZINGLY SENSITIVE WAY IN WHICH

THE RISEN JESUS CONNECTS WITH THE DIVERSE NEEDS

OF FOUR DISTINCT PERSONALITY-TYPES.

IF, LIKE JOHN THE APOSTLE, WHOM WE READ ABOUT ON EASTER,

YOU’RE SURE OF YOUR INTUITION

AND QUICK TO PUT TOGETHER

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ODD DETAILS –

DETAILS LIKE THE BURIAL WRAPPINGS OF JESUS

IN THEIR SEPARATE PLACES

LOOKING FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES

LIKE JESUS’ BODY HAD SIMPLY GONE RIGHT THROUGH THEM,

AND LEFT THEM LYING EMPTY IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PLACES –

AND YOU GET AN OVERPOWERING SENSE OF WHAT HAPPENED,

AND BELIEVE – GOD IS BLESSING YOU!

IF YOU’RE A HIGHLY FEELING PERSON LIKE MARY MAGDALENCE –

SOMEONE WHOM WE WOULD DESCRIBE TODAY

AS HAVING A VERY HIGH LEVEL OF “EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE” –

AND ALL IT TAKES IS FOR JESUS TO CALL YOU BY NAME

FOR YOU TO CONNECT WITH HIM – GOD IS BLESSING YOU!

AND IF YOU’RE LIKE THE MAJORITY OF THE MALE DISCIPLES –

DISMISSING THE WOMEN’S TESTIMONY AS NONSENSE

AND REQUIRING CONCRETE EVIDENCE OF THEIR OWN –

GOD IS BLESSING YOU WITH THE DETERMINATION

NOT TO BE TAKEN IN.

MAY GOD GIVE YOU THE SPECIFIC EVIDENCE

THAT YOU NEED TO FIND THE ONE

WHO IS THE ANSWER TO YOUR DEEPEST LONGINGS.

AND IF YOU’RE AN INDEPENDENT-THINKER

LIKE SO-CALLED “DOUBTING THOMAS” –

NEEDING TO PUT THINGS TOGETHER FOR YOURSELF –

GOD HAS ALREADY BLESSED

YOUR INDEPENDENCE AND YOUR THINKING

AS VITAL PATHS LEADING YOU

TO A VITAL ENCOUNTER WITH THE LIVING GOD.

MAY EACH OF US BE FILLED WITH THE KIND OF DOUBT

WHICH LEADS TO CREATIVE QUESTIONING,

CREATIVE QUESTIONING WHICH, IN TURN,

LEADS TO THE AWESOME ADVENTURE

OF SEEKING AND FINDING TRUTH,

TRUTH INTO WHICH WE CAN LEAN AND LIVE.

(PAUSE)

I CAN’T RESIST CONCLUDING THIS SERMON

WITH ONE OF MY FAVORITE ILLUSTRATIONS.

TIMOTHY GEORGE, AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST, WRITES:

“WHEN I WAS A STUDENT AT HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL,

I LEARNED PREACHING FROM DR. GARDNER TAYLOR,

A PASTOR IN NEW YOUK CITY.

I REMEMBER HIM TELLING A STORY

FROM WHEN HE WAS PREACHING IN LOUISIANA

DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

ELECTRICITY WAS JUST COMING INTO

THAT PART OF THE COUNTRY,

AND HE WAS OUT IN A RURAL, BLACK CHURCH

THAT HAD JUST ONE LITTLE LIGHTBULB

HANGING DOWN FROM THE CEILING

TO LIGHT UP THE WHOLE SANCTUARY.

HE WAS PREACHING AWAY, AND IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS SERMON,

THE ELECTRICITY WENT OUT.

THE BUILDING WENT PITCH-BLACK,

AND DR. TAYLOR DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY,

BEING A YOUNG, INEXPERIENCED PREACHER.

HE STUMBLED AROUND UNTIL ONE OF THE ELDERLY DEACONS

SITTING IN THE BACK OF THE CHURCH CRIED OUT,

‘PREACH ON, PREACHER!

WE CAN STILL SEE JESUS IN THE DARK.’

TIMOTHY GEORGE CONCLUDES HIS REFLECTION,

AND I WILL CONCLUDE THIS SERMON, BY SAYING:

‘SOMETIMES THAT’S THE ONLY TIME WE CAN SEE HIM –

IN THE DARK.

AND THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL

IS THAT WHETHER OR NOT WE CAN SEE HIM IN THE DARK,

HE CAN SEE US IN THE DARK.”

AMEN.