復活期第二主日 （救主慈悲) 聖若望福音 20:19-31It is a week since Easter Sunday. Or, to express it a different way, it is the eighth day of Easter, the Octave of Easter. Today’s gospel tells us about that first Easter day, and what happened eight days later. The focus is on Thomas, who is often called Doubting Thomas.
He missed out on the encounter with the risen Jesus on that first Easter day, and he told the others that he would not believe unless he could touch the wounds of Jesus. I guess we can feel some sympathy for Thomas, because it is normal to want proof. In fact, every year around this time there are various shows on TV or articles in newspapers that sift through the historical and scientific facts in order to offer what they believe is the conclusive proof about Jesus of Nazareth. But there is a problem with all of this, and that is that it still leaves open a fundamental question, “what difference does it make?”. Let’s say you get this proof: in one sense it amounts to very little. We can know a lot of things but that doesn’t have to make much difference to our lives. I can know that there is a motel across the street, but it is not going to have much of an impact on my life. Of course, it is not useless information—I may be able to recommend to someone who is coming from far away to visit a sick relative in the hospital—but otherwise it is not going to make much difference to me.
Thomas’ encounter with the risen Jesus on the eighth day turned out to be much more than a proof that Jesus had been raised; it amounted to a lot more than he was seeking. In fact, when he saw Jesus he seemed to ignore the proof that was before him, and instead was moved to worship Jesus as his Lord and God. Instead of simply knowing that it was Jesus who was standing before him, it was now a matter of belief—and belief makes a difference in a way that simply knowing doesn’t. The encounter with the risen Jesus bypassed all his expectations about life and about the action of God. He gained much more than he originally wanted. He was drawn into the life that comes to everyone who believes in the name of Jesus.
For Thomas, as for us, belief is ultimately about having life. This doesn’t simply mean that our hearts are beating and we are breathing. It is about sharing in God’s life. When Thomas encountered the risen Jesus he got a glimpse of that life and what it means. What did he see? Jesus invited him to look at the wounded hands and side. That was exactly what Thomas wanted to see; but he only wanted to see them as a proof that Jesus was risen. When Jesus offered them to Thomas it was so that Thomas might know the life that God offers, and be drawn more deeply into it. In seeing Jesus’ wounds, Thomas glimpsed what God’s love looks like. It is not a love that is in some far away place, but rather is embedded in our world, and shares in the worst of human misery and suffering, as well as human happiness.
To understand it fully we need to go back to the Easter day appearance of Jesus—the one that Thomas missed. When Jesus appeared to his disciples he greeted them, saying “Peace be with you”. Then he breathed on them, and told them to receive the Holy Spirit so that they might forgive sins. These are the concrete signs of God’s love for the world: peace, forgiveness, reconciliation. This is the new creation, and they are part of it. This is the real proof that Jesus is risen, and that God has vindicated him. During his life on earth Jesus had brought peace, forgiveness and reconciliation to those around him. At the time this confounded many who saw him, because it seemed too generous. They saw people being forgiven who didn’t deserve to be forgiven; they saw people at peace, who should be suffering; and they themselves weren’t ready to be reconciled with so many people who were different. When the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples he showed them that what many had thought impossible had now become the new reality. It had been achieved by divine love. That’s what the wounds that Thomas saw, reveal. You can only know that in faith. That is why his response was “My Lord and my God”.
We are the inheritors of the faith that Thomas professed. We are the ones who have received the Holy Spirit. This means that we are the ones who have been drawn into the peace given to the disciples of Jesus, and we are the ones who have been charged to be peace-makers, to show forgiveness, and to be reconciled with one another. One thing that Thomas’ reaction on that first day shows us is that people are hungry to know about the risen Jesus, even if they sometimes don’t know how to find out. Even a question about proof can hide a deep-seated desire for the peace that is an Easter gift. The lesson for us is surely that other people will come to know the risen Jesus by experiencing the new creation that the resurrection brings about. And they will experience it the way they always have: because it is visible in the lives of people of faith, people like you and me.
Fr. Gerard Kelly
One sunny Saturday on the first week of Easter (18 April 09), two bus load of members from Camperdown and Linfield went to Penrose Park for a pilgrimage before a vegetarian feast in nearby Berrima.
