Hope Can Abound – John 20

A text – John 20:19-31

20:19 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.”
20:20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
20:24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
20:25 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.”
20:26 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.”
20:27 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.”
20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
20:29 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.”
20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
20:31 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.

A reflection:

Jesus spends a lot of time among his disciples during his healing ministry praising people who come to him for healing, just knowing he can help them. “Great is your faith,” he often says, or “Your faith has made you well.” He also says to his disciples, “Oh ye of little faith!” on several occasions. His chosen ones, who are with him all the time for three years, often do not seem to have the same perception, the same urgency and depth of faith in Jesus that these strangers have.

Today’s story, often called “Doubting Thomas,” may be a little hard on Thomas. His faith in the resurrection of Jesus was limited. He wanted to believe, but to his reasonable mind, it just wasn’t possible. So many of us might be in his shoes. Yet Jesus understands him. When Jesus suddenly appears on the week after the resurrection and Thomas is present, Jesus doesn’t shame him. Shaming isn’t what this encounter is about. Jesus WANTS him to believe so that he can be an apostle and convince people just as reasonable as himself to believe in the risen Christ. And Jesus wants him to go easy on those who don’t demand proof, who believe because the Holy Spirit gives them the gift of believing.

We believe that Jesus rose from the dead because the Holy Spirit empowers us to believe it, because the Holy Spirit calls us to believe it and then tell some others about our belief. Whether we are just natural believers or whether we are harder to convince, our faith will make a difference to someone we know and who knows us well. When a friend is grieving and needs to believe that we live in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection, remember to tell that person you know who isn’t sure, who has lost hope, that you believe. You are one of the lucky ones who know the Resurrection is real and is within reach of all human beings, no matter what. Tell them that. There is hope.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving us the gift of belief in your rising from the dead so that we too can rise from the dead. Help us to see when someone we know needs to share in this hope, and help us to be a witness to that person so that hope might abound.  Amen.