Left Out

The Sunday after Easter feels like a bit of a let down after the intense celebration of last week, so it is called Low Sunday.  But characteristically, attendance is usually low as well.  So many people may not hear today's Gospel reading in church.  This year may be different.

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

Imagine if you had missed seeing or hearing the news, that Jesus, though crucified, is alive and among us.  Now imagine how you would feel if all your friends had witnessed this amazing thing, this unbelievable event, and they told you about it.  How would you feel?

I know I would be disappointed.  I might even accuse my friends of believing a mirage, a group hysteria, without real proof, like putting my finger in the holes in his hands and side.

That would show them.  I'm not so susceptible to visions and dreams.  That's how I would put them in their place.

I believe that is what Thomas was doing, because he may have been feeling left out, and who knew if he would get the chance to see for himself?

When Jesus does appear and gives Thomas the chance to get the proof he wanted, Thomas breaks down.  We don't know how the others reacted.  I think they might have been blown away.

From that point on, John doesn't share with us all the things Jesus shared with them.  We just don't know the signs he performed and the words he said.  Nor do we know who else Jesus may have appeared to.

Those are the things I find fascinating.  Imagine what they could have been like.

When John wrote this, sixty or so years later, all who would have heard it had also missed the opportunity to see Jesus alive, either before or after his crucifixion.  So, we are all in the same boat.  We were left out of the original experience.

But yet we believe. 

So, Jesus wants us to know we are blessed for our belief.

That ends the lesson on a high note, doesn't it?  So much for Low Sunday!

More to come...