“Peace be with you” Colchester Federated Church, April 27, 2025, Second Sunday of Easter (John 20:19-31)

The celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ we experienced last Sunday continues.  Because Easter is not just a single day in the Church’s liturgical calendar.  Easter Sunday ushers in Eastertide—the great fifty days leading up to Pentecost.  We can get even more specific.  The Second Sunday of Easter is Thomas Sunday.  The Third Sunday of Easter is Meal Sunday.  Next Sunday we’re talking about a fish fry on the beach!  The Fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday.  The Fifth Sunday of Easter is I AM Sunday.  And then we get into the Sundays preparing us for the Ascension.[1]

All of this to say, the Second Sunday of Easter is also known as Thomas Sunday.  After all the pomp and circumstance of Easter Sunday with our trumpets and flowers and praying and singing our Alleluias after the long weeks of discipline and devotion during Lent, we keep contemplating the mystery of resurrection in this season.  Because the truth is that it takes more than one Sunday to do so anyway!  We give thanks for new life and that God keeps God’s promises.  We celebrate that death didn’t get the last word in Jesus’ story or in our stories.  We reflect on the mirrors of the miracle of resurrection in God’s creation, reflected in the changing of the seasons and in the emergence of a butterfly from a cocoon.  We engage with these stories of our Christian faith that require us to use both our heads and hearts to understand their meanings.

Our Easter story continues on Thomas Sunday.  We move from Jesus and Mary Magdalene in the garden in the dawning light of Easter morning to the disciples terrified and locked away behind closed doors on the evening of that same day.  John tells us that on the night of Easter Sunday, Jesus comes and stands among the frightened disciples behind those closed doors.  Jesus greets them by saying, “Peace be with you.”[2]  He shows them his hands and side.  Jesus breathes on them, commanding them to receive the Holy Spirit.  Jesus tells the disciples that he is sending them out to forgive sins.  Perhaps this is his way of saying that he is sending them out to continue the work that Jesus began with them.  There are some amazing moments happening here, and poor Thomas misses out on the whole thing.  This Gospel story is a nightmare for anyone who may struggle with FOMO—the fear of missing out!

Now when the disciples eventually tell Thomas what happened, Thomas says that he won’t believe unless he sees for himself.  Though Thomas goes even further, saying that he needs to put his finger in the wounds left by the nails in Jesus’ hands.  He needs to put his hand into Jesus’ side that had been pierced by a spear on the cross.  Until and unless that happens, Thomas will not believe.  Perhaps a better way to say this is that until and unless that happens, Thomas cannot believe.  Maybe Thomas wanted to believe in Christ’s resurrection deep down, but he simply couldn’t go there (at least not yet). 

Eight days later, Thomas gets his chance to experience the mystery of resurrection.  Jesus shows up among the disciples once again saying, “peace be with you.”  Jesus invites Thomas to do exactly what he asked for, “Put your finger here.  Look at my hands.  Put your hand into my side.  No more disbelief.  Believe!”[3]  The text never says if Thomas actually touches Jesus’ resurrected body.  Though the compassionate invitation alone is enough to move Thomas from doubt to belief, from despair to hope.

We may have many questions when it comes to Thomas’ story.  One of the questions that will always remain unanswered is what to make of Thomas’ absence the first time Jesus appears to the disciples on the evening of Easter Sunday.  Where was Thomas and what was he doing anyway?  Here’s the thing, we all have different ways of dealing with grief.  Jesus had just died and it must have seemed that all was lost.  Is it that surprising that at least one of the disciples maybe wanted to process his grief alone?  Sometimes it may feel like too much to be around other people when one is grieving.  Maybe Thomas was dealing with being numb to it all or he felt angry and didn’t want to take it out on anyone else.

A few years ago, there was a musical that was showing at the Goodspeed Opera House called The 12.  Neill and I went to see the show, and I know that some of you did as well.  The writers explained the story with, “A group of fugitives huddles terrified in a room in an abandoned building.  Outside, the searching police grow nearer.  Inside, there is fear, anger, and despair.  We could be in NYC today, or Jerusalem two thousand years ago.  One of the group begins to tell a story, an amazing story of miracles and betrayals and hope.  The 12.”[4]  The musical was intense and portrayed some of the conflicts present between and among the disciples following Jesus’ death.  The cast did embody the fear, anger, and despair that must have been felt by the disciples after their teacher and friend was crucified. 

The opening verses of the story of Doubting Thomas begin with the disciples behind closed doors because they were afraid of the authorities.  We are meant to understand this whole atmosphere as charged.  Isn’t it remarkable that the first words out of Jesus’ mouth (words that Thomas may have desperately needed to hear, except he wasn’t there to hear them) were, “Peace be with you.”[5]  Jesus shows up and declares peace after everything that happened.  Jesus declares peace in the midst of their fear.

Presbyterian Minister Mark Davis wrote a great analysis about this story.  His contention is that Thomas walked away from the community after Jesus’ traumatic death.  And it was the disciples (empowered by the Holy Spirit) who brought Thomas back into the community of believers.  Davis reflects that Thomas’ “head and his heart remain unconvinced, but with his feet he joins them.  They are walking the path again.  To me, this may well be why Jesus washed their feet—because where we walk makes all the difference.  There will be times when our head simply cannot wrap itself around the idea that God is making all things new.  There will be times when our hearts are not courageous, but discouraged.  Even so, we can ‘believe’ with our feet, by walking with the community, letting those who have the capacity to sing the faith sing while we are silent, letting those who can praise praise, while we can only lament.  I tell my own children often, ‘Doubt all you want.  That is often the path to believing.  But, the best place to doubt is right here among the church.’”[6] 

I just love this sentiment from Rev. Mark Davis (that Pastor Jack helpfully sent me after we chatted about Doubting Thomas in Bible Study this week).  It’s worth reiterating that doubts are not wrong or bad.  Doubts are often the path to believing if we allow ourselves to stay with our doubts and keep questioning and searching for answers.  Though church is not necessarily the place that has all the answers.  Well, some churches and clergy say that they have all the answers and you have to believe what they believe and doubts are wrong.  But that is not how we roll here at CFC.  We are on faith journeys together, and walking with the community makes all the difference in the world when it comes to living out Jesus’ teachings.  We help lift each other up.

In the end, one of the most compelling aspects of Thomas’ story is that no one gives up on him.  No one gives up on him even if he had walked away from his fellow disciples in his grief.  The Risen Christ meets Thomas right where he was, and invites him to touch the scars of his own body if that’s what he needs to believe that Jesus has risen from death itself.  The compassionate invitation alone was enough to move Thomas from despair to hope.  Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the disciples would go forth to show and tell the good news.  May we go out and do likewise.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

[1] Laurence Hull Stookey, Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church, pgs. 53-65.
[2] John 20:19, CEB.
[3] John 20:27.
[4] Robert Schenkkan and Neil Berg, “Writers’ Notes” in The 12: A New Musical, Goodspeed Musicals Playbill, pg. 15.
[5] John 20:19.
[6] Mark Davis, “Outing, Touting, Routing, Pouting, Doubting Thomas,” Left Behind and Loving It, April 11, 2023, https://leftbehindandlovingit.blogspot.com/2013/04/breath-touch-sight-and-faith.html

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash