Sermon for Easter 2, April 27, 2025
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Amen.
John 20:19-31 19On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors because of their fear of the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.” 22After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23Whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” 24But Thomas, one of the Twelve, the one called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26After eight days, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book. 31But 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. (EHV)
Believing, not seeing, brings us peace.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The signs were all there, but few understood. Jesus was fulfilling all the prophecies concerning the promised Messiah, but even the leaders and teachers of Judah couldn’t see Jesus for who He is. Jesus told His disciples time and again that He would suffer at the hands of the authorities, be put to death on a cross, and rise to life again on the third day, but on the third day, those same disciples were hiding without hope because they had seen their Lord dead.
Still today, it seems counterintuitive to believe something we haven’t seen with our own eyes. (Even though our eyes can deceive us.) We are by nature sceptics, and anyone who believes too readily is considered gullible and foolish. We want proof for every claim, and we want to see it all ourselves. Historians and scholars often ignore or mock the Scriptures because they contain so many events, activities, and miracles that seem counter to what we experience in our lives. Even if something seemingly miraculous happens in our midst, many wonder how God could have anything to do with it. To all the sceptics of the world, we can confidently say, Believing, not seeing, brings us peace.
On the evening that Jesus rose from the dead, even after hearing the reports of the women who had seen Jesus alive and examining His empty tomb themselves, “the disciples were together behind locked doors because of their fear of the Jews.” They heard the firsthand testimony and saw with their own eyes that the grave was empty, yet the disciples remained in hiding because they still were unsure that Jesus was alive again. How could He possibly raise Himself, I am sure they wondered. Thus, in spite of the evidence, they found it hard to trust that Jesus did as He promised.
Does that sound at all like you, sometimes? Do we ever worry about the weather, or this year’s crop, the markets, or things being decided in Washington or St. Paul? What if thieves break in? What if marauders take our life? Okay, maybe we don’t think about that last question too often, but how many times have we simply been afraid of something? How often has that fear really been a lack of confidence in God’s promise to be with us and take care of us? Even more so, how often does God’s promise that all our sins are forgiven feel impossible? How often does guilt eat at our conscience even after hearing that Jesus paid for all your sins? Doubting whether God could forgive a sinner like you or me is what Peter felt. Most likely the others, also, for they all ran away when Jesus was arrested.
Here, we see how Jesus handled their fear: Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. With the living Jesus standing in their midst, how could anyone deny the truth? Yet, is that faith, or is it simply accepting what your eyes cannot deny?
St. Paul wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “Hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for something we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patient endurance.” (Romans 8:24-25) Granted, Paul was writing concerning our hope of eternal life, but is it any different with faith? The writer to the Hebrews tells us, “Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Therefore, dear friends, be sure and confident that by His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has accomplished reconciliation, or peace, between you and God.
Now, what the world calls being gullible is how God brings us into His kingdom of grace. Indeed, we certainly have evidence in the eyewitness accounts and the very promises of God which always are true and certain to be fulfilled. At the same time, Jesus told Thomas, when he needed to see Jesus’ wounds with his own eyes before believing that Jesus lives, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” The writer to the Hebrews lists a long line of people throughout history, prior to Jesus entering our world in human flesh, who believed in the promises of a Savior and thus received the due reward of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life based on their faith in a Savior they would never see in this life. The same is true and certain for you and me, that Believing, not seeing, brings us peace.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.” After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” What a commission Jesus gave those apostles! First, Jesus assured them that even though they trembled in fear for their very lives, their sins are forgiven, even their doubts and week faith. Then, against reasonable expectations, Jesus told them to conquer the world, not with swords or weapons of war, but with the power of the Gospel bringing Good News to the poor, the meek, and the fearful, all the broken-hearted sinners who needed relief from the torment of guilt and the fear of death. Though those men knew they had disappointed their righteous Savior and Lord, Jesus declared real peace with them. We might say peace between Jesus and those who betrayed Him, but in truth, it is peace between God and all people.
It is that message that gives us real peace. Through faith in Jesus, given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel, you and I were renewed in life and spirit and hope. Where once, we had no future, we now have an eternity of glory ahead of us. Where once we trembled at the thought of meeting our Creator and Judge, we now can look forward to that day with eager expectation of being welcomed back into our dear Father’s home, because He has already welcomed us into His grace through the water and Word of Baptism.
This peace doesn’t by any stretch mean that everything will be peaceful for us here on earth. As Jesus prayed for His people, including you and me, He prayed, “I am not asking that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the Evil One. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:15-16) When God chose us to believe in Jesus, He chose us to be members of His holy kingdom, not because of any good in us but because of His great mercy and love. However, because He chose us to believe in His Son, we are no longer part of this cruel and wicked world. Still, as sojourners, here, the world will hate us, and the curse of sin upon the world will certainly trouble us.
Yet, in the end, because we have peace with God through faith in Christ Jesus, our everlasting future is only glory, peace, and eternal celebration of the Lamb of God who gave His life on the cross to make us holy and acceptable and righteous in God’s sight. At the gate of heaven, no accusation will be held against us. No devil or enemy will be able to stand in our way for Jesus Himself will welcome His people in peace. Therefore, Believing, not seeing, brings us peace.
In the well-known story of doubting Thomas, we can often see ourselves. Sceptics that we are, it can sometimes feel like we need proof that God loves us. Maybe when times are tough, we wonder how God can let bad things happen to people who want to follow His Son. When those things happen, or we start to wonder about God’s plan, it is time for us to repent, that is to turn around from judging God and His grace and simply trust with all our heart that He has our eternal life in mind no matter what the circumstances may be.
On the other hand, even though skeptical Thomas doubted his fellow disciples’ report, the Holy Spirit has moved us to believe the things we could not witness in person. St. Paul reminds us, “Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) To that faith given through the Gospel, Jesus adds this assurance: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” We are blessed in every way, because through the faith God gives us, we have forgiveness of all sin; we have peace with God and a home in the mansions of heaven. Furthermore, Jesus tenderly feeds us with His body and blood in His Supper to renew our confidence in the truth that He gave Himself into death to remove the guilt of our sins, fears, and doubts.
On top of all that even, the peace we have unto everlasting life also gives us a measure of peace here on earth, for we can have absolute confidence in God’s care. Again, St. Paul is moved by the Holy Spirit to give us comfort and confidence as he writes, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) Therefore, no matter what trials and hardships might come our way, or even great success or material blessings, our hope is in the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, and thus we are comforted and confident in God’s love because Believing, not seeing, brings us peace. Amen.
Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.