Dearest e-votees-
The tomb is empty but the disciples still aren't so very assured in the resurrection hope. How is our faith doing in these days just after Easter?
Peace,
Karl
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19 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.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 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.”
26 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.” 27 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.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 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.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 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.
John 20:19-31, NRSV
Jesus twice in these 13 verses walks through locked and shut doors to enter into where his disciples have barricaded themselves. They left him alone on the cross and he comes and finds them in the aftermath. They had breathed promises of loyalty to the end but in the end he was the one breathing the Holy Spirit back into them. The marks of his death become some of the first marks of his resurrected life. Jesus is about the business of undoing doubt, fear and unbelief.
Twice in his first appearance and once in his second appearance he speaks a word of "Peace." Jesus has broken down the hostility between us and God. Jesus has torn the veil. Jesus has come down to us since we have always been so very poor at ascending to heaven. Jesus continues to speak of peace and forgiveness and belief in the very face of fear and self-loathing of the disciples.
We are blessed. We have come to belief through the same Holy Spirit that Jesus breathed into his disciples. Their bold proclamations and lives of testimony and service have led us into the holy accounts of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Surely there is more that could have been written. At times, with some of the scant recountings of Jesus' life, I think there was more that should have been written. But the disciple whom Jesus loved assures us that what was written so that we might come to belief.
May God's peace sustain us and the Holy Spirit continue to breathe faith into our doubt, courage into our fears, and blessed assurance into our disbelief.
God, keep walking through the ways we try to keep you. We so need your peace. Amen.
The tomb is empty but the disciples still aren't so very assured in the resurrection hope. How is our faith doing in these days just after Easter?
Peace,
Karl
------------
19 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.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 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.”
26 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.” 27 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.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 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.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 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.
Jesus twice in these 13 verses walks through locked and shut doors to enter into where his disciples have barricaded themselves. They left him alone on the cross and he comes and finds them in the aftermath. They had breathed promises of loyalty to the end but in the end he was the one breathing the Holy Spirit back into them. The marks of his death become some of the first marks of his resurrected life. Jesus is about the business of undoing doubt, fear and unbelief.
Twice in his first appearance and once in his second appearance he speaks a word of "Peace." Jesus has broken down the hostility between us and God. Jesus has torn the veil. Jesus has come down to us since we have always been so very poor at ascending to heaven. Jesus continues to speak of peace and forgiveness and belief in the very face of fear and self-loathing of the disciples.
We are blessed. We have come to belief through the same Holy Spirit that Jesus breathed into his disciples. Their bold proclamations and lives of testimony and service have led us into the holy accounts of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Surely there is more that could have been written. At times, with some of the scant recountings of Jesus' life, I think there was more that should have been written. But the disciple whom Jesus loved assures us that what was written so that we might come to belief.
May God's peace sustain us and the Holy Spirit continue to breathe faith into our doubt, courage into our fears, and blessed assurance into our disbelief.
God, keep walking through the ways we try to keep you. We so need your peace. Amen.
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