Sermon for April 18

The Presbyterian Church In Sudbury, MA

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Sermon for April 18, 2004
The Rev. M. Sidney McCollum
Title: “The Stand-Ins”
Text: John 20:19-31

(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)After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the lord. (21)Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (22)When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them “Receive the Holy Spirit. (23)If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

(24)But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. (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.”

(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.” (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.” (28)Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” (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.”

(30)Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. (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.

Sermon

This is a strikingly rich passage. In it,

· The risen Jesus appeared for the first time after his crucifixion to the terrified disciples, and bestowed on them his peace.

· The disciples were then commissioned as Jesus’ representatives (in the same way as Jesus was God’s representative).

· To enable them, they were given the Holy Spirit.

· Thomas resolutely voiced his doubts, then was dramatically confronted by the risen Jesus.

· Thomas then embraced belief unreservedly, and Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who believe without seeing.

One striking fact in all of this is that these utterly foundational events happen in the presence of a small group of people behind tightly closed doors. God committed all of this to a small group of witnesses for the benefit of all the rest of humankind. It’s breathtaking what God entrusts to a small group of people for the benefit of the rest.

In the passage, there are a number of instances of people representing other people.

· Of course, the background is that Jesus died in our place on the cross.

· The disciples were sent in Jesus’ place to continue the mission God had given him.

· Thomas stands in place of those who find it especially difficult to believe.

· The disciples represent us. Their commissioning is ours. The mission given to them is the mission given to us. The foundation on which the disciples are standing is the one which supports us.

I. It is Sunday night. The resurrection has taken place that morning, and by John’s account, pieces of news are drifting back to the disciples about what has happened.

· Mary Magdalene first reported that the stone had been removed, then that she had actually seen the Lord.

· Peter had seen that the tomb was empty. We’re not told what he thought.

· John had seen the empty tomb and believed.

The disciples are gathered in uncertainty and fear. The doors are locked, but in spite of that, Jesus comes among them. His words, “Peace be with you!” are more than a standard greeting. He is giving them reassurance based on the fact of his resurrection. His presence, along with his words, gave confidence that what was happening was in the plan of the Father. The situation was not out of control.

After giving the disciples some time to rejoice and to collect their thoughts, Jesus acted again. Again he bestowed upon them his peace. He then commissioned them to represent him, with the words “As the Father sent me, so I send you.”

Jesus had been their model. As they had followed him during his earthly ministry, they had gotten his example for their own ministries.

· They had seen Jesus teach, heal, and cast out demons. Now they are to do those things.

· They had been a community. They are now to organize communities of their own.

· They had been on a journey. Now they are to lead others as they continued their journeys.

As the Father had sent Jesus, now Jesus was sending the disciples. The Father had endowed Jesus with the Holy Spirit, and now Jesus endowed the disciples with the Holy Spirit. (In the Luke’s account, Jesus gives the Spirit on Pentecost. There are various ways of understanding the two versions.) What John wants us to understand is that as Jesus gives the disciples his mission, he continues with them in the person of the spirit. It is he who breathes the spirit into them. In Genesis, God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of life. Now, in the new creation, Jesus breathes new life into the disciples.

Further, the Spirit is equipping for the disciples for their mission. In his gospel, John has emphasized some roles for the Spirit.

· The Spirit gives new birth and life.

· The Spirit is “The Spirit of truth,” who will guide the disciples into all truth.

· And the Spirit is “The Counselor.” In both these roles, the Spirit is Jesus’ presence with the disciples and their helper in their witness to the world.

The mission of Jesus has been to forgive sin and to give life. He not only breathes life into the disciples, but commissions them to forgive sin and give life in his name. Jesus’ statement in vs. 23 is, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” This sounds to our ears as though they arbitrarily choose who is forgiven and who is not. Most likely it refers to the disciples sharing of the gospel and people’s response in belief or possibly their rejection of the message.

II. Almost as soon as they are commissioned and given their mission, they are called upon to exercise their calling on one of their own: Thomas. He had not been present when Jesus had appeared to the disciples and given them an opportunity to see his hands and side. The next time they were together, they shared the good news with him.

Thomas’ response surprises us.

· He was a friend and follower of Jesus. If anyone would want the message of his resurrection to be true, it would seem to be Thomas.

· The disciples were his friends, and people we would think he would trust.

But Thomas in a way is a representative of all who have difficulty believing. They want clear, tangible proof.

Jesus responds to Thomas’ need. A week after the first appearance, the scene is repeated in remarkable detail.

· The disciples are together and the doors are shut.

· Jesus came among them and said “Peace be with you!”

Then he invited Thomas to examine him, stop doubting, and believe. Thomas was overwhelmed, and confessed: “My Lord and My God.”

Jesus’ response to Thomas also contains a word of blessing for us. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

We saw earlier that Jesus commissioned the disciples with the words, “As the Father sent me, so I send you.” We saw that Jesus was endowed with the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus had also endowed the disciples with the spirit. But there was another foundational element in Jesus’ ministry: God’s Word. John concludes our passage with the role of the word in the mission of the disciples, and the role of his gospel in particular:

“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Parents’ Wedding. Did you ever fantasize about somehow being a guest at your parents’ wedding? You would have an identity that would enable you to participate, but of course your real identity would be unknown. At the ceremony and the various parties and receptions surrounding it, the dreams and aspirations which ultimately produced you would be rehearsed for friends and family.

How would that affect you and the way you live now? I’m sure that for each of us, the answer would differ in detail, but I suspect that refocusing on the hopes of our family would change our attitudes and outlooks if not the direction of our lives.

Conclusion. Friends, we are members of God’s family and heirs of the disciples.

· We are sent by Jesus, as the Father sent him. We are the small group given the message for the rest of humankind. The group has enlarged a bit since then, and the doors are open, but we are the ones sent to this community in this generation.

· On the one hand, there are some among us (and among those to whom we are sent) who struggle to believe.

· On the other hand, we are the beneficiaries of the blessing Jesus pronounced on those who believe without seeing.

· Our mission is forgiveness and life.

· And we have the powerful equipping of God’s Word and the Spirit.

The blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with you. Amen.

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