2nd Sunday of Easter (Year C) | Sunday 27th April 2025 | St Mary Magdalene, Outwood (Communion by Extension)
John 20.19-end | Acts 5.27-32 | Exodus 14.10-31; 15.20-21
The other day, my work colleague – we will call him Paul, ‘cos that’s his name – asked me a question about Jesus.
We run an IT support company and we were on a customer site, doing not-very-exciting stuff. And he says to me….
“I have a question about Jesus.”
I respond:
“Oh yes….”
I am wondering what is coming next.
He said…
“So, Jesus is crucified and then comes back to life….. what does He do then…?”
“That’s a good question, Paul, I say. I am hopefully preaching about that on Sunday. Come along and maybe you will receive enlightenment…..!”
Thinking, he probably wont, and I’m right as he says..
“Er, no, it’s ok thanks…”
So I explain that Jesus is seen and encountered by many, appearing and speaking, showing His wounds, answering questions and generally encouraging His frightened Disciples onto their greater mission.
And then He is Ascended into Heaven…..
At this point I feel I have lost Paul, and we move on to other more technical stuff, with no more talk of The Ascension!
Perhaps you also have conversations like that!
Crucifixion…. Resurrection…. Ascension….. and the bits in between….
How does it all piece together…. Where does this story go next…?
Maybe you would explain about how the Disciples had locked themselves away, terrified of what might happened next?
And then, Jesus appears….!
“Hello…. Peace be with you….!”
Can you imagine….?
Is it really you?
Am I dreaming?
Are you changed?
Are you alive or dead?
Let me see your wounds……
He shows them….
This is Jesus transformed….
And To confirm He is actually present, He breathes on them….
“Receive the Holy Sprit….”
His friends…. For all their faults, failures and lack of big-picture understanding..!
Those that might have warranted some judgment for their actions, or lack of them…
What does Jesus do?
They are given the power of judgement for the sins of others….
NOT in their own right, but in the name of Jesus…..
“As the Father sends me, so I send you….”
And then Thomas….
“Doubting Thomas” as he is always referred to….
Why not ‘Satisfied Thomas’ or ‘Convinced Thomas’ or even better…. ‘Confirming Thomas’!
No, he did not believe his friends, and their very recent rapture! Probably everything was cloudy and strange 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 friends enthusiasm and certainty as his own.
He needed to see Jesus in person, and Jesus was there…..
Doubt isn’t a sin and Jesus did not chastise him for it.
And nothing is lost in what he saw in that moment… just because he needed to see for himself.
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.
And then…. 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”.
This phrase from verse 29 creates in me a truly physical and emotional response – like I can look into that room, and see Jesus looking forward, to me….in that moment, and recognising the challenge, the pain, the joy of believing in Him, in this time, against all odds… with no physical proof.
Do you know what I mean?
I have spent much of my faith life balancing doubt with trust, and the transformation that comes from that. I expect you have too.
Our floundering efforts to explain the Resurrection – if only we could point to irrefutable proof…..there, right there….. do we really need that?
Perhaps we might trust in how God nurtures the transformation from all that kills our spirit into the life lived in His love and free grace! That is surely the essence of The Resurrection!
In the passage from Exodus (for reading later!) we have the excitement of God parting the Red Sea for Moses, and his people, to escape the Egyptians. Now that would be something remembered for generations…. However, the following 40 years in the Wilderness were hardly underpinned with an unshakable belief and trust in God’s love and power!
Peter, in our reading from The Acts of the Apostles, is really pushing against his accusers….
He has passed through misunderstanding, denial, redemption and now…. He is speaking a truth to power that is not welcome – that Peter and the disciples are the ones keeping to the Law, not the Council – and then accusing them of executing Jesus. Cool!
And yet… he acknowledges, in all humility, the truth that is greater than any human testimony….
It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that encourages and strengthens his words, for they are of God, of Jesus and truly in the Spirit.
When Thomas proclaims “my lord and my God” he moves from the darkness of fear, of 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 in his presence, witnessed by the Holy Spirit.
That is a transformation that needs nothing else that this life can give.
Tell the world of your transformation. Tell them of the challenges of faith – no easy route to a happy life, no quick answers or explanations; proof is often needed and found in odd places!
Like Thomas, our doubt may prevail…. Yet we dwell in the Spirit which will light the way….
We live in uncertain times. With all that is changing in the world, much of it to the detriment of economic and climate security, 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 and live our lives.
Who 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?
The passing of Pope Francis has taken away a voice that spoke of Gods love. As the Roman Catholic Church seeks a new leader, will it trust in God or in human discernment alone?
If our faith leaders fail to promote the task that Jesus set: to love one another, what hope do we have of pulling back the nations from the abyss of oppressive self-interest?
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 , panic and wonder how we got here.
We will fear…. Hide behind closed doors …. And do nothing…
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 poor!
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 in the world and beyond.
God be praised! Alleluia!