The Resurrection body of Jesus, the sending of the Disciples, St.Thomas, and you- John 20

Acts 5: 27-32; Psalm 118: 14-29; Revelations 1: 4-8; John 20: 19-31

Jesus has been resurrected. He is alive again, but in a new way. He isn’t alive the way Lazarus was alive again. Lazarus was brought back to life- But he was brought back to the same kind of life that he had before. He would die again someday. But Jesus was resurrected into a new kind of life. The New Testament scholar Bishop NT Wright says that Jesus went through death and out the other side into a new kind of life.

In our gospel reading, the disciples are afraid, and they are hiding behind locked doors. And somehow Jesus just appears in the room. He wasn’t knocking on the door asking to be let in. He is just suddenly there among them. He shows them the scars from the crucifixion in his hands, feet, and his side, … which happened just the previous Friday. He wasn’t in need of medical attention. He was okay- More than okay. … He isn’t a ghost, and this isn’t a vision. He has a body. His body has continuity with the body that died. It is the same body that was crucified, but this body is alive again and living a new kind of life.

We get hints that this is a new kind of life by some of the odd descriptions we have. Like how Jesus isn’t immediately recognized by people who knew him very well. Mary thought he was the gardener. On the road to Emmaus, two of his disciples are having a conversation with him and don’t realize it’s him. In the next chapter we will see that the disciples again don’t recognize him until they cast the nets and have a miraculous catch of fish. In our reading today, Jesus seems to be able to just appear into locked rooms, and he seems immediately recognizable to the disciples. There is something different about the kind of life that Jesus is resurrected into.

So, Jesus appears to his disciples, he appears into a locked room to his disciples. He appears to Peter who denied him three times- to those who couldn’t stay awake praying with him in the garden before his arrest- to those who fled and hid when he was captured and put on trial. … If you were them, what would you imagine he would say to you? … “Peter, I thought you said you would go to prison and die for me rather than disown me? You all left me to face my death alone. Your fear to protect your own skin overcame your loyalty to me”. … These wouldn’t be unreasonable things for Jesus to say.

Instead, three times in our reading Jesus declares “peace” on his disciples. No doubt the disciples felt that they had failed at the time of testing. Now they have been hiding because they were worried about being arrested and maybe even being killed for being associated with Jesus, who was killed as an enemy of Rome, and handed over by their own chief priests. … And Jesus appears, from out of nowhere, and his first words to them are “Peace”. … Imagine the relief that would wash over you with those words. … He has not rejected you. He is not holding grudges. He still thinks of you as his disciples, he isn’t out calling new disciples to follow him.

Jesus then says to them, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”. The Father sent Jesus into the world to show God’s love, and to show the way back to God. Jesus is sending them to continue this mission. … It’s an amazing responsibility to be given, considering their most recent failures. Jesus is showing an enormous amount of faith in them. It is a mission they can’t accomplish as they are, scared, and hiding in locked rooms.

On Good Friday and Easter Sunday we looked at how the Gospel according to John revisits Genesis. We see more of these hints in our gospel reading today. … Breath, wind, and spirit, are all the same word in Hebrew and in Greek. … Just as God breathed into the first human being in Genesis, so Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit into his disciples, making them a new creation. … John mentions it was the first day of the week. It was the day of creation. … He makes them into his Church. His Church receives the Holy Spirit. They become a kind of temple where God takes up residence. … This isn’t so that they can gloat over others and feel special. It is about the mission that they have been sent on.

Part of their mission is that the Church will be used by God to forgive and heal sin- “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them”. … This is not something human beings can do. When Jesus forgave people’s sins, the scribes said, 

“Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’” (Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21). 

 And they were right.[1] … But here Jesus actually commands his Church to take up this role- If you will forgive their sins, they are forgiven. And they can only take up a role like this because God is forgiving through them. It is not them doing it, but God is choosing to act through them. It is the Holy Spirit in them who is forgiving. … Are you crushed by the weight of sin in your life? Is there a sin from your past that is haunting you? … God, through His Church, is willing to heal you from that sin by offering you forgiveness and a new way forward. You don’t have to be stuck.

There is less comfortable side to that role that the Church is commanded to take up- “if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." As NT Wright says, they will 

“warn the world that sin is a serious, deadly disease, and that to remain in it will bring death. They are to rebuke and warn- not because they don’t like people, or because they are seeking power or prestige for themselves, but because this is God’s message to a muddled, confused and still rebellious world”.[2]

Sin is real and dangerous. This isn’t about “cheap grace”, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer would teach, where we just wave a dismissive hand as sin without requiring repentance and transformation. “Cheap grace” doesn’t take the danger of sin seriously- not the danger to the sinner’s soul, nor to the world abused by the sin. … Dealing with sin is still serious business, so it is unwise to deal with racism, exploitation, and abuse by simply waving a forgiving hand at it without requiring transformation. Deep healing is needed. … Retaining sin means taking sin seriously.

The disciples are given a mission. What Jesus has done in Israel, they declare and bring to the world. … And it is a job that is impossible for human beings. It is a mission that requires God- The Holy Spirit- active, and working through them. They become active with God’s own life living in them. They are made new, and through them this new life is offered to the world.

The Gospel story shifts here. Thomas arrives late, not having experienced the extraordinary things the disciples just experienced. … Like the others, he heard the story from Mary Magdelene, saying that Jesus is alive. Now the disciples are telling the same story. But it’s an incredible thing to believe. It is sometimes said that to believe an extraordinary claim you need extraordinary evidence. Thomas just can’t believe it.  

"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."

 Thomas represents all of us who come after, who weren’t there to experience what those disciples experienced.

And the saints don’t teach us to believe everything we hear. Being gullible is no spiritual virtue. St. Paul says that 

“Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14). 

There have been many stories of demons appearing to people as Jesus, or as angels, or some holy person, trying to trick them. St. Anthony had visions where demons appeared as holy beings to try to trick him. St. Teresa of Avila warned about deceptive visions. St. Ignatius of Loyola taught that spirits would try to trick people this way, as does St. John Climacus, and St. Gregory of Sinai. They all emphasize prayer, and discernment, and seeking the advice of wise spiritual elders. But they seem to suggest that our initial reaction should be doubt, and trust that God will get through to us eventually if it really is God. … We can be led astray by false visions. Our ego can become inflated by believing we have been given a special vision from God. … The saints teach that there are dangers that come with these kinds of spiritual experiences.

Graciously, Jesus does show himself to Thomas, as he showed himself to the other disciples, and he is invited to touch his wounds. But, instead of touching his wounds, Thomas’ reaction is praise- “My Lord and my God”. Thomas’ words bring us back to the beginning of the gospel- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Thomas puts it together and is the first person to address Jesus directly as God.

Thomas helps us to see that we are not expected to believe in a gullible way, but we are invited to touch the effects of Christ on the world, and believe- to consider what he has said and done as recorded by the communities that encountered him. … We aren’t to believe gullibly, but neither is it wise to reject belief without serious consideration. … We are invited into something amazing, and if we come to the place of being able to say to Jesus “My Lord and my God” then there is a special blessing waiting for us- “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe”.

Jesus invites us into a new kind of life- life transformed beyond death, life filled with grace, forgiveness, and purpose. His appearance among the disciples behind locked doors shows us that even in the face of failure, fear, or doubt, He offers peace rather than condemnation. He entrusts His mission to flawed humans, breathing the Holy Spirit into them to empower their calling. … Like Thomas, we are invited to approach belief thoughtfully, not gullibly, seeking God's truth. And when we come to recognize Jesus as "My Lord and my God," we embrace the profound blessing of faith that transforms us and calls us to live as vessels of God's love and grace for the world.




[1] What right would you have to forgive sins that weren’t committed against you?


[2] NT Wright, John for Everyone