Easter 2A
"Thomas" by Evan Courtney
536: Easter 2A (4/16/2023)
Voice in the Wilderness: Robin Lovett Owen, find her art and writing at Facebook.com/3Solas and on Instagram @3Solas
5:02 - 1 Peter 1:3-9
17:22 - John 20:19-31
36:56 - Psalm 16
44:07 - Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon
Tremaine Combs, Facebook- Dayspring Church
John 20:19-31
Initial Thoughts
Switch to Gospel of John for a while
Same story...every year
Women had told the disciples that he had risen, but they are locked in a room out of fear.
“Fear of the Jews” is a troubling phrase.
Reports of Ukrainian officials requesting registration of all Jews.
Exaggerated, but still disturbing in their plausibility.
Common English version: “For fear of the Jewish authorities”
Mary Luti’s Excellent note about “the Jews” in John’s Gospel:
As Christians, we live under the burden of a sad and violent history of anti-Semitism, in the sobering shadow of the Shoah (Holocaust). It is critical for us to be clear about what our sacred texts mean when they make reference to “the Jews,” especially during Holy Week, when we contemplate Jesus’ death.
When the crucifixion narratives speak of “the chief priests and leaders of the people,” they are referring to officials who collaborated closely with the Roman systems of oppression, and were viewed with contempt by much of the Jewish community in their time. They should not be identified with the Jewish people of the past as a whole, and certainly not with Jews in the present.
It may be helpful to recall the cultural context of our Christian scriptures, emerging as they did from a small, originally Jewish community of believers in Jesus as the Messiah. All of the Gospels originated from Jewish communities. Jesus himself, was born, lived, and was crucified, a Jew. Any criticism of Jews from Gospel writers should be understood as the expression of differences of opinion among or about their fellow Jews. The gospels’ use of the term “the Jews” therefore, should not be read as a criticism of the Jewish religion, and especially not as a condemnation of an entire people, either then, or now.
It is one of the bitter ironies of history that our sacred texts have been used to justify the persecution of the covenant people, from whom our Savior came, and who are created, as we all are, in the precious image of God.
Russia blaming Jews for meddling in the 2016 election
Bible Study
John merges the events of Easter and Pentecost.
Giving of the Holy Spirit occurs while Jesus is present.
Jesus is closely linked to church
Mission of Jesus as sent from God is parallel to mission of Church as sent from Jesus.
“The beginning of the community’s life is not separated from the story of Easter; indeed, in John, the gift of the Spirit and the commissioning of the church occur on Easter Sunday evening… [which] serves as a reminder that the church’s life is intimately bound to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection” (Gail O’Day, New Interpreter’s Bible v. IX, p. 848)
“With the coalescing of Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost and particulars of this appearance, the passage stresses the close continuity between Jesus and the church. Just as Jesus is sent by the Father with a mission, so the church is sent by Jesus with a mission. Just as Jesus has been the bearer of the Spirit, so the church is the bearer of the Spirit. Just as Jesus has declared the forgiveness of sins, so the church has declared the forgiveness of sins” (Charles Cousar, Texts for Preaching, Year A, p. 271-272).
Jesus Appears to Mary v. 11-18
Lection leaves this part out, but it feels improper to leave it out. Should at least be informed by this part of the story.
Mary discovered empty tomb, with stone already rolled away. Runs to get Simon and the Other Disciple. They find empty tomb, then go back to where they were staying.
Mary lingers, and meets a “gardener.” Gospel of John is the only one that specifies that Jesus was arrested in a garden. Now he is also resurrected in one.
Matthew and Mark call it “a place called Gethsemane.” Luke says he went to the Mount of Olives. Only John names it a garden.
“Woman, why are you crying?” asked twice.
Mary recognizes Jesus when he says her name.
First appearance
Door locked for “fear”
“In truth, Easter absorbs both the joy and triumph as well as the fear and disbelief, and is irreducible to just one experience of it. It would be easier if Easter were only the trumpet blasts and Alleluias. Or, it might even be easier if Easter were only fear and disbelief. But Easter is all of this, it holds all of it, even the contradictory emotions, and makes them one.” (David R. Henson, “Easter for Doubters”)
How terrifying to be confronted by the one who you have abandoned and betrayed- will Jesus come back with vengeance?
This sermon/article points to the idea that the disciples were afraid of running into Jesus. When he came, he broke into their fear and offered peace. http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/thisWeek/viewArticle.php?aID=794
Jesus appeared in the midst of the locked room, and said “Peace be with you.” Then they rejoiced.
Jesus didn’t knock this time. He was there among them without them doing anything. – this is an illustration of Prevenient Grace – the grace that is offered to us before we even know it.
Reports of his resurrection were not enough, his assurance of peace is what brought them to rejoicing.
He showed them his scars.
Jesus is wounded- the triumph of Easter does not erase the pain of Friday.
They don’t ask to see it, but he shows them anyway.
They have no particular reaction.
No confession by any disciples at seeing Jesus.
He breathed on them the Holy Spirit. Mini-Pentecost.
No response by disciples at receiving H.S.
Jesus Breathed on them- passing the Holy Spirit – Genesis 2
Forgiveness is a foundation of this community. That is the only thing they are directly told to do.
Forgives them - for their abandonment, for their fear, for their paralysis.
Sends them out to forgive others.
Which of the disciples are present? Later Thomas is identified as one of the twelve. Presumably Peter was there, what about Judas? There is no reason to think that Judas would not have been there.
Second appearance
Eight days later they are still locked in a house
If they had seen the risen Lord, and been given the Holy Spirit, shouldn’t they be doing something other than chilling in a locked room for a week?
What have they been doing?
Where was Thomas?
Thomas: “Unless I see the nails marks in his hands… I won’t believe”
Disciples didn’t believe the women until they saw. Thomas doesn’t believe the disciples unless he sees
Thomas demands no more evidence than they received.
Thomas didn’t want anything that the disciples hadn’t gotten themselves. He was no less a believer than any of them. He didn’t doubt Jesus – he doubted their testimony. Maybe because he was living in the same fear that they had. Once he encountered the risen Christ, that was enough.
He does not doubt Jesus, he doubts them.
Doors shut (not locked) Jesus appears
Jesus’ first words again, “Peace be with you.”
He shows Thomas his scars (no evidence that Thomas actually had to touch him). Jesus’ presence and assurance were enough.
"Jesus said…Thomas answered." The word did it; touching had become irrelevant, perhaps even rude and offensive. (Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide.)
Thomas’s response is the greatest yet, “My Lord and my God”
Only time in Gospel of John where Jesus is referred to as “My God”
“Doubting Thomas” is a pretty bad nickname. He is actually the first to declare Jesus’ divinity.
Generally believed to be the original ending to John.
Jesus last words are a call to future readers. Witness and testimony of Mary, then Disciples, then Thomas is meant to lead readers to their own witness and testimony:
Blessing to “those who believe, but have not seen,” is a direct call to the community receiving this gospel. They now have the complete good news, and are free to believe where they have not seen.
Readers are pushed to proclaim, as Thomas, that Jesus is “My Lord and my God,” which was the point of the prologue, back in 1:1. Probably the end of the Gospel of John, but “there is no evidence that John’s Gospel was ever circulated without chapter 21” (Common English Study Bible, p. 212 NT).
The next paragraph is seen as an epilogue, reminding people of what they will gain if they believe.
Truth of the Gospel lies not in historical facts, but in its ability to inspire faith in Jesus. The gospel’s own stated purpose is not to report history, but to help readers understand the truth of Jesus Christ. Once again, the writer uses two levels of meaning.
Thoughts and Questions
What were they afraid of? Fear didn’t keep two of them from sprinting to the tomb when they heard the body was gone. After the tomb, they returned home. Why were they now locked in a room? Now faced with reality of resurrection, why were they paralyzed?
Thomas didn’t want anything that the disciples hadn’t gotten themselves. He was no less a believer than any of them. He didn’t doubt Jesus – he doubted their testimony. Maybe because he was living in the same fear that they had. Once he encountered the risen Christ, that was enough.
In Easter, Jesus is called “Teacher,” “Lord,” and “My God.” What do each of these titles mean? Is he teacher, Lord, and God? What does it mean to my life if he is all of these things?
Doubt is the pathway to faith. When we doubt, we probe, question, and search. Perhaps Thomas started with doubt, but he ended with the greatest testimony of the disciples.
Thomas didn’t doubt Christ, he doubted his followers. He doubted those that gave witness to the risen Christ, perhaps because they showed no evidence. Even after encountering the risen Christ, they were locking themselves in a room. Is there any wonder that he didn’t believe them? What evidence do we show that there is a risen Christ? If all we do is lock ourselves in rooms (sanctuaries, churches, institutions), then why would anyone believe that we have been changed by a miraculous experience?
Readers at the end of this passage are pushed to recall the prologue. The gospel started by proclaiming that Jesus is the eternal Word made flesh. At the end, Thomas is able to declare that Jesus is “My Lord, and my God.” This is the culmination of belief. Just as the gospel is structured with increasingly dramatic signs and wonders, so is the increasingly bold witness. In the end, we are left to witness that Jesus is Lord and God. This might be a difficult thing for those with low Christology, but it is a basic tenet of Christianity that Christ is fully human and fully divine.
What did the disciples do for eight days after they “received the Holy Spirit,” and were still locked in the room? The disciples are passive in these stories. They have no real response. Except for Thomas who declares “My Lord and my God.” He is the only one who makes this stark confession to Jesus’s resurrection.
This passage is more about the readers - the Johannine community - than it is about the disciples themselves. To a group that is beginning to face scrutiny and persecution, it is a word of encouragement for those who believe though they had not seen.
“Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and believe.” This is clearly an exhortation to the community receiving the gospel. The good news is that you need not have seen Jesus to believe. The offering to see and believe is made to all. The question is, “What have you seen?” The gospel closes (kind of) with the words, “believing, you will have life in his name.” What does it mean to have life in Jesus name? Is it purely about afterlife? Is following Jesus just about believing so that you can get to heaven? Or does life in Jesus name mean something more?
“When the resurrected Jesus appeared in the upper room, the doors being shut, he came with peace as opposed to revenge. Nowhere in the life of Jesus do we find even an inkling of revenge.
After Jesus breathe a gentle breath on them He said,”Receive the spirit.” He also said, “The sins you forgive are forgiven them, the sins you retain are retained.” The word retain comes from the greek word kratos a strong word that can have the meaning, “Holding unto something for your own use,” leading to revenge rather than forgiveness.
First the Spirit was given with a gentle breath, fifty days lather with mighty power. We need to ask but don’t know for sure, “What happened in the mean time?” They were the same people in the upper room.
We know they were in competition with each other arguing who was the greatest. Could it be they forgave each other in the mean time of everything, making it possible for the Spirit to come with power? If so how should we act with forgiveness in the Church with each other for the possibility of the Spirit to be present with power also? What would that do for adding many to the body of the risen Christ the Church?” - Tony Bouwmeester, listener comment
Acts 2:14, 22-36
Initial thoughts
Response to vs. 12 - “What does this mean?”
This is not the resurrection, but the bestowing of the Spirit
Obviously linked to the resurrection as Peter will claim
Four Sundays on Peter’s Sermon and the results - Three Whats
WHAT? - Easter 2 - Acts 2:14, 22-32 - Second half of Peter’s Sermon
SO WHAT? - Easter 3 - Acts 2:14a, 36-41 - Response of the crowd
NOW WHAT? - Easter 4 - Acts 2:14a, 42-47 - formation of the community
Pentecost - Acts 2:1-21 - Pentecost (last day of Easter, not the first day of a new season)
Read all of Acts 2 - How would you like if someone only read your sermon in bits and pieces and out of order?
Read through verse 36
Bible Study
Peter makes sense of the resurrection
The resurrection was not God fixing a mistake but making a declaration
No take backsies
David died, was buried and decayed and Jesus didn’t
Therefore:
Jesus must be the “Holy One” David talks about in Psalm 16
Jesus is the foretold descendant of David, who is seated at the throne, therefore inherits the sovereignty and power of God.
Jesus is greater than David
Jesus is the Lord and Messiah (v.36)
Crucifixion, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus linked
Crucifixion is the result of evil humanity killing an innocent man. The resurrection does not “undo” crucifixion, it is God’s comment on it. Crucifixion is not allowed to be the end of Jesus because such an ending is against God’s very nature.
Matt Skinner, workingpreacher.com: “During Easter, then, we remember that the resurrection is not "death moving backwards" or God's "Plan B," it is part of the mysterious means by which God makes Jesus of Nazareth ruler over all creation, even over death itself.”
Jesus’ death, resurrection and subsequent exaltation - proclaim that God’s purposes cannot be undone by any evil, human act, or even death itself.
God’s reign is still at hand
God is still our protector and refuge, Ps 16
God will remain faithful and deliver those who are persecuted Ps. 110
God keeps God’s promises to our ancestors, Ps 132
Occupation, deception, betrayal, torture, desertion and death cannot undermine God’s unfailing love for creation.
Resurrection is inevitable result of God being God. This is not some struggle between God and Satan where the end is in doubt.
“Resurrection is” just as “Creation is”
What does this mean?
Means we can “live in hope” (lit. “pitch our tents in hope” - see Mitzi Smith, workingpreacher.com) because God is always with us, nothing we can do, nor anything others can do to us can separate us from God
The death of Jesus does not reveal the powerlessness or unfaithfulness of God, but the enduring love of God through the cross to the resurrection and beyond.
Resurrection is a continuing act of God. It is God who worked through Jesus, and it is God who raised Jesus from the dead, and it is God who empowers the community.
Thoughts and Questions:
When are those moments when we feel our doubts have been justified? That God has abandoned us? That the Kingdom of God is not at hand, but is very far off and the world is going to hell in a handbasket?
To proclaim the resurrection is to proclaim an optimistic worldview - hope eternal.
Are we pitching our tents in hope of God or are be building institutions of sustainability? Or are we too busy pointing out all the injustices in the world without making systemic change to overcome them? Or are we too busy seeing those injustices and ignoring the blessings?
Jesus is dead and has risen...now what? The church has received the gift of the Spirit (but do we really know what that means?) and you are called to preach to the “gathered assembly” - what do you say?
How do you answer the vs 12 question?
1 Peter 1:3-9
Initial Thoughts
We’ll be reading through 1 Peter in Easter Season
2A - 1 Peter 1:3-9
3A - 1 Peter 1:17-25
4A - 1 Peter 2:19-25
5A - 1 Peter 2:1-10
6A - 1 Peter 3:8-22
7A - 1 Peter 4:12-5:11
Bible Study
1 Peter Overview
“1 Peter is a letter written to encourage Gentile Christians to embrace their identity as Christ-followers. The author wants his audience to understand who they are in relationship to the OT people of God, and he wants to remain faithful to Christ in the face of pressures to conform to the larger world’[s social and religious values.” (Jeannine K. Brown, notes on 1 Peter, Common English Study Bible)
Central themes include: (Jeannine K. Brown)
Living honorably and ethically in spite of hostility from unbelievers
The return of Jesus as a basis for Christian hope.
Continuity between the audience of primarily Gentile believers and the Israel of old
How to relate to one another, with emphasis on love and unity.
You can share in Jesus’ resurrection
Develops meaning of the resurrection.
What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to me?
Affirms belief that resurrection of Jesus was about more than one many coming back to life.
New life of humanity goes beyond biological function.
Greek word translated as soul (psyche) refers “not to some abstract peice of the human being, but to the very core fo life itself.” This is not just about second life, or otherworldly aspect. Christian life is holistic. “salvation can be thought of both as present and as future” (Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching: Year A, p. 270)
Psalm 16
Used by Peter when talking of his faith in Jesus’ resurrection.
Properly understood as a voice of Israel’s faith.
Affirmation of trust comes from understanding that life and all gifts come from God.
God’s goodness lies at the heart of the psalm, and is the source of all.
Memory of acute time of trouble only heightens intensity of praise for God, who worked through the difficulty for good.
After rescue life has resumed.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING AND GET IN TOUCH:
Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com,@pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Misirlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”,"Real Ride"and“Summertime”) and The Steel Wheels for our transition music(“Nola’s First Dance” from their album Lay Down, Lay Low) and Paul and Storm for our closing music (“Oh No”).