Sermon | Parish Eucharist | Second Sunday of Easter (Year A) | Sunday, 12th April 2026 | St Anne’s, Wrenthorpe
John 20.19-31 | Acts 2.14, 21-32 | Exodus 14.10-31 | 1 Peter 1.3-9
The other day, my work colleague – we will call him Paul, as that is his name – he asked me a question about Jesus. Now, he’s not a believer, but like many people, he has questions…
He says: “I have a question about Jesus.”
And I tentatively responded: “Oh yes….”
I am wondering what is coming next. Is this a joke? Will I have “an answer” or maybe some wisdom to share…? Will I look foolish?
He said…
“So, Jesus is crucified and then comes back to life….. what does that mean, and what does He do then…?”
“That’s a good question, Paul”, I say. And it was.
Crucifixion…. Resurrection…. Ascension….. and all the bits in between….
How does it all fit together…. Where does this story go next…? What does it all mean?
Sorry, but this sermon doesn’t answer all of that…its about something different ☺️
Perhaps you also have had conversations like the one I had with Paul.
Questions… of your own, from other people… from children!
Or worse – statements from those with absolute certainty concerning anything and everything in scripture!
So what did I say..?
I tell Paul that, in the Gospels, Jesus is seen and encountered by many; appearing and speaking, showing His wounds, answering questions and generally encouraging His frightened Disciples onwards to their greater mission.
My words, my understanding and ‘explanation’ of the written resurrection accounts, are offered from my reading of the Gospels, from various theological perspectives; from my own experiences and considered reflection, as a disciple in the making.
Unsurprisingly, my colleague Paul placed my comments alongside what he read on ChatGPT or wikipedia etc., or had heard elsewhere.
Humanity might presume resurrection to be ’completely impossible nonsense’, and so we often look for fact and assurances – to make the story work! PROOF!
Where does that leave faith?
This story – the narrative of the Resurrected Jesus – in John and the other Gospels – it is transformative – then and now.
Place yourself within the Upper Room, for example, and see if you too are changed….
Maybe you would be there with the Disciples, locked away, terrified of what might happen next. For them, the burden of their choices, failures and lack of big-picture understanding weighed very heavily. Were they hiding away from persecution? Were they looking for any faint glimmer of hope that they had made good choices, in Jesus. Even now!
Standing there, with them, how does it feel?
And then, Jesus appears….!
“Peace be with you….!”
He breathes on them….
“Receive the Holy Sprit….”
Wow!
How does THAT feel?
What about Thomas….?
Always referred to as “Doubting Thomas”. What a shame.
Why not ‘Satisfied Thomas’ or ‘Convinced Thomas’ or even better…. ‘Confirming and believing Thomas’!
No, he did not believe his friends, and their very recent rapture! Everything was very challenging at that time; very hard to take anything on trust, in that Upper Room…..
Yet he was still a Disciple. He came back and wanted to know more.
Thomas wasn’t willing to take his friend’s enthusiasm and confirmation as his own.
He needed to see Jesus in person, and Jesus was there….. Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas in the ways Thomas needed.
And yet… perhaps all Thomas really needed was to be ‘seen’, himself – understood, taken seriously. Perhaps in his darkest and lowest moments – Thomas is invited by Jesus – as we all are – into a faith and trust in God. Into the light.
Doubt IS NOT a sin and Jesus did not chastise him for it.
Doubting…. confirming…. And Proclaiming Thomas!
He believed…..!
And this is the first time that The Christ is named “My Lord and my God”.
John’s Gospel is completed right there, in that moment.
What next? Well…
Thank God…. Jesus gives us a hope that has prevailed over two millennia….
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”.
That’s us!
This phrase from verse 29 creates in me a truly physical and emotional response – like I can look into that Upper Room, and see Jesus looking forward, to me – in that moment – and recognising the difficulties, the pain, the joy of believing in Him – in this time – against all odds… with no physical proof.
Does that make sense?
I have spent much of my faith-life balancing doubt with trust, and the transformation that comes from that. I expect you have too.
From our floundering efforts to “explain” the Resurrection – if only we could point to irrefutable proof…..there, right there….. do we really need that?
I don’t think I do. Instead… Jesus asks us to trust in God.
Whoever we are, we might trust in how God nurtures the transformation from all that diminishes our hope to live in His love and free grace! That is surely the essence of The Resurrection!
Believing in the resurrection can and should transform not only how we view the world, but how we live in it. We should become people in whom others can see new life, as people who introduce that new life wherever the world is bleak and lifeless. That’s always our task. That is discipleship!
When Thomas proclaims “my lord and my God” he moves from the darkness of fear and doubt into the light of possibility – into faith and belief!
NOT by his own agency and abilities, but by the grace of God in the Christ that came and stood next to him, witnessed by the Holy Spirit. That is transformation!
Will you tell the world about how God has transformed you?
Tell them of the challenges of faith – no easy route to a happy life, no quick answers or explanations; proof is often desired but doesn’t always look like what you think it will!
Like Thomas, our doubt may prevail…. It may even help us… Yet we dwell in the Spirit which will light the way….Faith is built over a lifetime.
We live in very uncertain times, with the poorest people always losing the most; with human leadership becoming ever more inward looking, and less compassionate. These are times when ‘doubt’ and ‘faith’ are to be found alongside ‘truth’ and ‘fact’; as we have less and less firm ground on which to stand.
Who, then, do we put our trust in?
Do we say “I will leave it to God”; or “scripture is the only answer”, and then turn aside and disengage?
Maybe we seek a strong leader to tell us what to do, who mostly says what we think, and has some sort of religious identity but really has another agenda entirely, that is contrary to all you believe.
Or do we hear the voices of those who justify their acts of cruelty and violence, their lack of mercy and justice, in the certainty that God is always on the side of the victor – lift high the cross and wrap it in a flag! Holy Christ, have mercy on us.
If you spend anytime on social media – and I use the term loosely – you may encounter comments that frame God’s Kingdom in odd ways – where the Sermon on the Mount is woke nonsense, and all who fail in strict obedience – according to them – will be punished; love, empathy and hope are misguided, and to believe otherwise is a falsehood.
Certainty. I have always struggled with certainty when placed alongside Christian discipleship: the work is of faith, a lifetimes endeavour, to form and shape me in God’s image.
Instead. Listen to Jesus. Know the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Trust in the love and free grace of God.
For… “As the Father sends me, so I send you….”
We will sometimes remember and trust, and sometimes forget and doubt.
We might speak with conviction of all that God has done for us in Christ.
We will also stay silent, we will panic and wonder how we got here, with no answers for those that enquire – ‘what does it mean’!
We will fear…. Hiding behind closed doors …. And do nothing… but not always. Have hope.
To believe in the resurrection – without the proof, based purely on faith – might be our greatest act of rebellion against all the evil, corruption and oppression that threatens to consume us. Things can and will change. The darkness ceases to be so, once the light is thrust into it! Be the Light!
The Holy Spirit, the Comforter – ever present – is a gift to us of God’s presence with us. It is the true witness to the Crucified and Risen Christ, in every moment, whether we doubt or believe.
We are invited to share our testimony – however incomplete – in how we live and love and hope.
Not everyone will find encouragement in Thomas. Some will say, how dare he disbelieve! Some might think that having zero doubts is the only way to godliness, a purity of belief that makes no space for the Holy Spirit.
Surely though, to be transformed in the light of Christ requires us to look within – to offer all of our failings as well as our trust; to know and own all of who we are – the person that God has always known, and still says to us, “you are my beloved”.
My sisters and brothers, in whatever darkness may to come to pass….
And in the hope and light that morning brings…
Let us live this week as those who proclaim, with Thomas, ‘My Lord and my God,’ and trust that the Spirit goes before us, from Christ, into the world and beyond.
God be praised! Alleluia!
Amen.
Image: Markus Winkler on Unsplash
Inspiration from the words of Paula Gooder, on CAC Daily Reflections