Second Sunday of Easter 2022
[1] Twice in this passage we are told that the doors
were shut closed. The word door is not only a literal description but was also
used as a metaphor for an opportunity. The disciples have missed the
opportunity to encounter the risen Jesus. Mary Magdalene alone has seen the
Lord. Simon Peter and the other disciple who ran with him to the empty tomb
missed it because they went home. The other disciples didn’t even go. And now
Thomas has missed the opportunity yet again. He has really blown it.
[2] We are told that the doors were locked because of
fear. These Galileans were afraid of the Judeans who had handed Jesus over to
the Romans. The Judeans had done so out of fear of the Galileans. Not long
before, some ill-prepared Galileans had revolted against Rome, and the Romans
had crucified thousands all along the road to Jerusalem. Not just the rebels
themselves, but innocent civilians, a show of military might. And now, again, Galileans
were stirring, filling Jerusalem with dangerous talk. Better that one man die and
the people be spared. But what can break this crushing cycle?
[3] Jesus stands among them and gives them the key
that unlocks fear. That key is forgiveness: If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. The
word translated sins is that term from archery of missing the mark, a metaphor
for failings. The contrasting words to forgive and to retain are taken from the
ownership of slaves: to release a slave and send them away free, or to hold on
to control over their lives. How often do we seek to control the lives of
others out of fear that they might let us down?
[4] Thomas has missed the opportunity, again. And he
insists that he will not believe unless he is able to send out his arm, his
hand, his outstretched finger, and find the mark made by the nails, the mark
made by the spear. Unless he literally find the mark. Thomas is not prepared to
believe unless he can do so perfectly, without failure. Note that Jesus does
not tell him that this is unnecessary, indeed impossible. Jesus meets Thomas
where Thomas is, gives him the opportunity—that he thought he had missed—to hit
the mark; and it is in this grace-filled moment that Thomas realizes that he does
not need to perform, to achieve. All he needs is Jesus.
[5] The person or persons writing it down add this: it
is not possible to record everything that Jesus did. It is not possible to hit
the mark every time. We had to accept that a lot fell short. But our hope is
that what we did manage to write down might serve this purpose: that you may
come to believe that Jesus is the Son whom the Father sent into the world, and
that as you believe you may know life in all its fullness, in him.
Are you living with regret, believing that you have
missed your opportunity?
What fears constrain your life? Whom, or what circumstances,
do you need to exercise control over? Whom, or what circumstances, do you find
hard to let go of?
Do you, like Thomas, need to be beyond reproach, putting
on a perfect mask in front of others, overcompensating for failures in the
past?
Jesus comes and stands in our midst, here, in this
room, and says, Peace be with you. Peace be with you. Receive the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.
