FROM FEAR TO FAITH
John 20:19-31
Second Sunday of Easter, Year C
Analysis by Brian Moeller
19When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So 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.”
26A 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.” 27Then 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.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
From Wikimedia Commons
“Christ appears to the disciples, showing his wounds, and that he is risen from the dead! … Fear is now replaced by a hope that was once unimaginable.”
DIAGNOSIS: Misplaced fear leads to death!
Step One: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem) – We preach ourselves crucified
In the past weeks, the disciples have been on a roller coaster of emotion and experience – from the celebration and warm welcome for Jesus as he entered into Jerusalem, to seeing their Lord arrested, mocked, beaten, and eventually crucified. Now we see them in a different context: “The doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews” (v. 19). What is there left for them now but to grieve their loss, waiting for the inevitable knock on the door, demanding they come out and face their punishments for being Jesus’ accomplices? What message do they have to share, other their own death and crucifixion as it comes to all who dare to challenge the order of the world?
Preaching the liberating message Christ gave to the world is not what many of those in power want to hear. To preach love and forgiveness seems antithetical to a society where might makes right and facts are debatable. We find that in the seeming absence of God, the man with the biggest stick determines our worth. Like the disciples in that locked room, we preach ourselves crucified, because we know that eventually we will run afoul of the world, and those with greater power will see us hanging from a tree, humiliated and broken. Our message, instead, becomes one of hopelessness and death.
Step Two: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem) – Our hearts create fear
For the disciples together with all the other eyewitnesses of Jesus’ ministry, his death-by-crucifixion was horrifying and traumatic. Once they had seen their simple but downtrodden lives filled with hope by Jesus through his teaching and miraculous signs. But now, tragedy strikes, producing the kind of trauma that gives people nightmares for the rest of their lives, changing their sense of identity and function in the world. It’s no surprise that fear has left the disciples hiding behind locked doors. Fear from the vengeful powers of this world overcomes any measures of hope.
We still have reason to fear the systems that rule the world. We fear our modern-day versions of crucifixion, whether that be the physical violence, bullying on social media, or being “cancelled” in society. We fear deportation, mass layoffs, and reduction of services we depend upon for daily living. We fear that the men with big sticks will be label us as “the enemy,” and prosecuted us as such. And so, living in a constant state of fear, we set aside our fidelity to God and fall in line with what the world demands of us.
Step Three: Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem) – Death appears
The world may offer us all kinds of temptations, including its own offerings of security. But none of these will help us truly face the consequences for our actions or inactions and our cowering, fearful lives. Death comes for us all. We have no power to cheat death nor our accountability before God, for which death is the verdict. Fear before God takes on new meaning as we consider the insignificance of what the world would have us fear.
PROGNOSIS: Faith in Christ leads to life!
Step Four: Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution) – Christ appears
Beyond all this fear, however, is the coming our risen Lord, with all the death marks that he bears. Christ appears to the disciples, showing his wounds, and that he is risen from the dead! “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” (v. 27) Jesus died on the cross, taking the sin of humanity to himself, and exchanging it for our sake with his righteousness and resurrection! This is the promising final verdict we receive from God through Christ!
Step Five: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution) – The Holy Spirit creates faith
“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.” (vs. 22-23) In that locked room, the disciples experienced something new – faith in the crucified, died and risen Jesus Christ. A gift of the Holy Spirit, this faith changed everything for them. Sin, death, and the devil no longer have an exclusive dominion over humanity when our mortal bodies give out! Fear is now replaced by a hope that was once unimaginable! This leads to Thomas giving his short but beautiful statement of faith, “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28)
We too have reason to feel joy in our lives! Through our baptisms and hearing the preached word, the Holy Spirit moves in us at it wills, creating faith in the promise of Christ, a faith that we share with all who locked in their rooms of fear. We too believe that one day we will be with Christ in paradise, where there is no more fear, no more pain, no more tears. No more bullying and fear of powerful men and their machinations. All those things are replaced by feelings of joy, being in the presence of our creator. Death does not have the last word for us anymore! We can see hope for the future, because through the Cross of Christ, we can be made righteous before God!
Step Six: Final Prognosis (External Solution) – We preach Christ Crucified
“Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:29-32) Filled with the faith given to them by the Holy Spirit, the disciples went out into the world, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. The trauma they experienced is overshadowed by the urgency to tell the world about the atoning work God has done for them in Christ. The men with the big sticks will certainly try to stop them, but it doesn’t matter. They cannot hide away any longer.
That urgency continues to this day, as we also preach Christ crucified for the sins of humanity. We tell others of his promise of the life of the resurrection. Full of faith, we love God and neighbor, moving as the Spirit wills in us, and never counting the cost. We no longer fear the punishment of the world, or what the man with the biggest stick has in store for us. Our worth isn’t based on anything found on earth; it’s based on the blood of Christ that makes us righteous before God. We share our message of life-giving hope and joy with all whom we encounter!
