"No Doubt About It, Part 2"
Last Sunday’s sermon was entitled “No Doubt About It.” We looked at the proof that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead on Easter morning. We look at the proof of the empty tomb and the angel who spoke to the women. We heard about Jesus revealing Himself to the women as they left that empty tomb. And I concluded with these words: “Jesus Christ died for our sins. He was buried. And He was raised from the dead on the third day – all in accordance with the Scriptures. Because He has risen, we too shall rise from the dead – all in accordance with the Scriptures. No doubt about it.”
And yet, in today’s Gospel lesson we return to the subject of doubt. Remember that the women had gone to Jesus’ tomb early on that Sunday morning, but today’s reading focuses on what happened quite a few hours later, on the evening of that first day of the week. We have read that the women saw Jesus, but in ancient times the testimony of women was – for all practical purposes – worthless. No men – no male witnesses – have yet seen the risen Jesus. The disciples have heard stories, but not a single one of them has actually seen Jesus face-to-face. There was no proof.
There was, however, a lot of doubt and a lot of fear. St. John writes that the disciples were in a room where the doors had been locked, because the disciples were afraid of the Jews. The disciples had seen what the Jewish religious leaders had done to Jesus, and they were afraid that their names would be next on the hit list. After all, if you want to destroy any kind of group, you start by taking out the leader and then the top supporters. When they’re gone, with no leadership of any kind left, the rest of the followers will lose interest, and the group – no matter how large or how small – will pretty much disintegrate. That is exactly what the great Jewish teacher Gamaliel was talking about in our reading from Acts chapter 5, where he is quoted as saying: “And he said to them, ‘Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!’”
Returning to today’s Gospel lesson, all of a sudden Jesus is standing among ten of the disciples. No one can figure out how He got there – remember, the doors were locked from inside – but there He was, as full of life as the last time they were together on Maundy Thursday evening. Can you imagine what kinds of emotions must have been running through their minds right then, before Jesus spoke? Shock? Of course. Joy? Absolutely! Confusion? Very probably. But do you think there was also more than a little doubt? Not doubt any longer about Jesus being alive – but doubt and probably even a lot of guilt and fear about what was going to happen next.
After all, the disciples had bailed out on Jesus in His hour of greatest need. They deserted Him. They ran and hid. In spite of all of his bluster, Peter actually denied Jesus not once but three separate times. From what we read in the four Gospels, John was the only one of the disciples present on Golgotha to see Jesus die, but now he’s in hiding, too. And remember that they hadn’t believed the women when they said that they had actually seen the risen Jesus early that day.
They might have wondered if Jesus was going to chastise or criticize them for deserting them. They might have wondered if Jesus was going to rebuke them for their unbelief. They might even have wondered if Jesus was coming back for revenge, coming back to “get even” for their cowardly behavior. But none of that happens. Instead, Jesus simply stands among the disciples and says, “Peace be with you.”
“Peace” is an interesting word – it’s a word we hear and use quite frequently. When nations attack each other in war, efforts are made to stop the fighting by signing a peace treaty, an agreement that those nations will no longer attack each other, but will live together in harmony. When families or friends or neighbors have disagreements and arguments, other family members or friends or neighbors will try to restore the peace by helping to settle or solve the disagreements or arguments. Sometimes when our lives are too hectic and there are too many things going on, we say that we just want a little time of peace and quiet, a few moments when we can sit back and relax.
But in Biblical terms, the word “peace” takes on all kinds of new and sometimes surprising dimensions. Unless you’re a student of Biblical Greek you wouldn’t know the Greek word εἰρήνη that Jesus uses here – which we translate as “peace” – but there’s a very good chance that one time or another you’ve heard the Hebrew version of that word: the word “shalom.” “Shalom” is an ancient word that means so much more than just the absence of war or conflict or argument, for in the Biblical sense, shalom describes the full condition of well-being and harmony when God and man are at peace. When Adam and Eve plunged all creation into sin, their sin created an inescapable enmity between God and His creatures. But now this enmity has been removed at the cross, where this long-awaited reconciliation finally took place. It was the peace that was first promised by God after the fall, and it is the peace described in the final passages of Scripture, where the final chapters of Revelation portray the restoration of God’s holy and perfect creation.
The Scriptural meaning of “peace” has an additional dimension that we often overlook or may not understand. When Jesus says “Peace be with you” to the disciples, He is also speaking words of forgiveness. The disciples are forgiven for their desertion of Jesus. The disciples are forgiven for their unbelief. Their sins and their unbelief were forgotten, were separated from them as far as the east is separated from the west. Jesus came not in vengeance or anger – but in peace. Peace and forgiveness.
If you listen carefully, you’ll hear me use the word “peace” four times during the remainder of this morning’s liturgy. I typically end each Sunday’s sermon with these words: “May the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.” Following the Words of Institution I will turn to you and say: “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” When I dismiss you from the altar rail following the distribution of the Lord’s Supper, I will tell you to “go in peace.” And we end this and every Divine Service with words known as the Aaronic blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.”
It is no accident that the word “peace” is repeated so often in our Worship Service. In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus does more than just extend a word of peace to His disciples. In verses 21 and 22 we read: “Jesus said to them again, ‘peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” Jesus sends them to share that peace with those who also will become believers in the risen Jesus, to those who will be brought to faith by the grace of the Holy Spirit. In spite of persecutions that we cannot even imagine, their faith and their numbers will grow quickly. As the disciples go to all nations, people of all nations will come to know the peace and forgiveness that only Jesus can give. In the Divine Service we, too, receive that peace. And forgiveness.
When you hear or read today’s Gospel lesson, there’s an understandable tendency to skip past the first five verses and concentrate on the man we’ve come to know as “doubting Thomas.” As we know, Thomas was not in that locked room on the first Easter evening, so he did not see the risen Jesus as the other ten did. When the others told him what happened, he refused to believe without some sort of physical proof. He expressed his doubts by saying: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” And of course, a week later Jesus appears again in that same room and speaks the same words: “Peace be with you.” When Thomas sees Jesus, his doubts are erased and his unbelief is forgiven.
It’s common for people to criticize Thomas for his doubts, but in some ways I almost feel sorry for him. While his fellow disciples were rejoicing during that first week and enjoying the words of peace that Jesus spoke to them, Thomas’ unbelief gave him no peace. We can only imagine the emptiness he must have felt, the inability to believe that Jesus had risen, the pain he must have suffered believing that Jesus was dead. No matter what the others said, he just couldn’t believe.
So Jesus returns a week later and gives Thomas the same peace and forgiveness that He had already given to the other disciples. And Thomas confessed with joy: “My Lord and my God!”
In this account of what happened on two Sunday evenings in a locked room somewhere in Jerusalem, we again see that Jesus truly is raised from the dead – no doubt about it! But we also see how this resurrection is so much more than just a physical manifestation of one man miraculously coming back to life some 2,000 years ago. We see that through this resurrection we truly have peace with the God who created us, who died for our sins, and who brought us to faith. We have forgiveness of sins. And through this peace and forgiveness, we have eternal life.
No doubt about it.
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