He Keeps Showing Up [Easter 2A]
The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson
John 20:19-31
He Keeps Showing Up
Where was he? Everyone else was there in the room, but he
was gone and while he was gone, he missed it.
Now, in Matt's defense he had never attended an Easter Vigil before; he
did not know about the sudden transition from the dark anticipation of the
Vigil into the first dramatic Easter acclamation. And so it was just after the baptism when he
left; it seemed like the perfect time to slip out, under the cover of darkness – just for a couple of minutes. But in that brief period of time a lot
happened.
When Matt returned to the nave it
was no longer dark in the church. The
lights were on, the candles were out, bells were ringing, the congregation was
joyfully singing the Gloria. He told me after the service, “I stepped out to go to the bathroom and when I came
back in, everything was different. I
missed Jesus coming back!”
Where was he? Everyone else was there in the room, but he
was gone and while he was gone, he missed it.
The ten other disciples – the ones
remaining after Judas left the group – were
locked up – afraid that their associations
might do them in as well. But Thomas was
out; he wasn't there.
And his absence is notable. Not only did a lot happen while he was gone,
it is a surprise that he was gone to begin with. To recap: Jesus, their leader, was killed on
Friday. None of his disciples, except
the mysterious disciple whom Jesus loved, were with Jesus at the cross. They were afraid; they were in hiding. Their leader was crucified – opposed by political leaders, religious authorities,
local crowds; they probably suspected that his fate would soon be theirs as
well. And so they locked themselves
away. But on the third day of their
retreat, Thomas is missing.
It's curious. And John does nothing to clear this mystery
up for us. Maybe Thomas was the only
brave one of the eleven; maybe he did not feel the need to hide. Maybe he laughed in the face of danger. It was Thomas who earlier in the Gospel of
John boldly challenged the other disciples to follow Jesus to the tomb of
Lazarus, saying, “Let us also go, that we may die
with Jesus.”
Or it could have been something less heroic. A couple of pastors who put together a weekly
pod-cast on the Sunday scriptures joked that after three days holed up
together, the disciples were probably just really hungry; Thomas drew the short
straw and missed Jesus because he was out fetching some pizzas.[1] Whatever the reason, Thomas was not with the
other disciples, Jesus came back, and he missed it.
When Thomas returns to the locked
room – after he completes the secret
knock and says the code word and the disciples let him re-enter the hideout – they tell him what happened: while you were out,
Jesus showed up. Yes, the one who was
killed a couple of days ago. Yes, we all
saw him. Also we talked to him. No, really.
This is not a cruel prank.
I think it would be a little hard
to believe. This passage is often framed
as the “Doubting Thomas” passage in John's Gospel. But it should be noted that Thomas does not
doubt Jesus; he does doubt these other guys though, the other disciples. Their story is, I think we can all agree, a bit
difficult to believe. And Thomas knew
these guys pretty well; maybe he had good reason to doubt their story.
For what it’s worth, Thomas is certainly not alone in his
doubt. See earlier in this chapter of
John's Gospel, actually in the verses we heard last week, on Easter Sunday,
Mary Magdalene tells the group of disciples the same thing they later tell
Thomas: I have seen the Lord. And yet,
they still lock themselves in a room – afraid of
what might happen next. Despite Mary's
testimony, they seem not to believe until Jesus shows up in that room. Thomas is no different from his colleagues – except for one thing: he was in the wrong place, at
the wrong time, or rather he was not in the right place at the right time.
No one in John's resurrection story
gets it until they see Jesus – not Mary,
not the ten disciples, not Thomas. No
one gets it until they see Jesus.
And so Jesus keeps showing up. Thomas misses Jesus – at first. But
Jesus keeps showing up. The disciples
abandoned Jesus in his hour of need – abandoned
him to death upon the cross – but Jesus
keeps showing up. The Risen Jesus keeps
showing up. Jesus is persistent; Jesus
is relentless. He just keeps showing up.
The Jesus story did not end with
the cross. That is why we celebrated
last week. But the Jesus story does not
end with the resurrection either. Jesus
keeps showing up. Easter keeps happening
and happening and happening. And the
Jesus story does not end with Thomas in today’s Gospel; in
fact, it does not end in the Bible. It
does not end at all. Jesus keeps showing
up – in friends and in strangers, in
the bread and in the wine, in our hearts.
Jesus keeps showing up.
The final thing Jesus says to
Thomas is: “Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet have come to believe.” And that is where most of us are. We are here believing without the benefit of
sight. Unlike Thomas, unlike the other
disciples, we have not seen but yet we have come to believe, come to believe
because in one fashion or another Jesus keeps showing up in our lives – in ways mysterious, inexplicable, unexpected, but
true, undeniably true.
This is the heart of the Easter
Gospel, the heart of our witness still today: Jesus is alive – he is risen! – and he
keeps showing up.
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