Sunday 07/04/24

Second Sunday of Easter 

 John 20:19-end Acts 4:32-35

‘With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.’

The book of the Acts of the Apostles gives us all manner of evidence to the resurrection and in a sense continues Jesus’ ministry on earth, even after he has gone up to heaven, through the power of the Holy Spirit. And we are called to do likewise. We have just celebrated Easter, that most important moment in the history of salvation, when Jesus was raised from the dead and opened for us the gate to heaven. Easter is the story of hope; the story of life; and the story of love. Our faith may at times be tested but we always come back to that undeniable mystery of God’s work of salvation, culminating in the evidence of the empty tomb.

Thomas, one of the disciples and called ‘the twin’, had not been there when the disciples first saw the good news of Jesus when he appeared among them. That made him cynical, not willing to believe or not allowing himself to accept what seemed impossible, lovely though it would be if it were true! And so Jesus came again, a week later, standing among them, although the doors were shut, it says in John 20. Jesus does not rebuke Thomas for his lack of faith. Instead, he simply speaks to him, saying, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ It doesn’t say that Thomas actually did what Jesus told him; he might not have needed a physical touch after all but even if he did, he came to believe, saying, ‘My Lord and my God!’

When Thomas doubted the accounts of the other disciples, not willing to be taken in by their enthusiasm, Jesus encouraged him to really hear and see the truth. It enables Thomas to then indeed see and address Jesus as God. Now, nothing more was necessary for Thomas to make that leap in his understanding of who Jesus really was and still is. Do we sometimes doubt? I bet we do. That’s not unnatural but it is a moment to work out again what the evidence is saying and to be encouraged and reassured about the work and the love of God in and through his Son Jesus.

In the book of Acts, amazing things continued to happen, as the Church, in the shape of the disciples and new followers of Christ, came to grow and spread the news that God had stepped in, had taken on human flesh in order to recreate us. For that is what it was all about: the resurrection was a recreation. As a redeemed people, we are now able to really be as God always intended us to be, through faith in his Son Jesus, the living Word. Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ We may sometimes feel that we are at a disadvantage, living so long after the event. But that should not hinder us at all. The death and resurrection of the Son of God was for all and for all time. And we can ‘hear and see’ through the work of the Holy Spirit, who came to help us do just that: to show us the glory of God so that we too may be saved. Is it still a mystery? Yes. Is it still the most wonderful news? Yes. Is it the most precious and life-giving gift? Yes! It may not always be easy to take a leap of faith, but if we do, we find that we too are able to say, ‘My Lord and my God!’, knowing that we have finally come home, safe in the care of our Saviour. Amen.