Today is the Saturday after Easter. There is a good chance you’ve heard a lot of talk about churches and Easter Sunday for the past week. It’s possible that you may have even gone to a church where great things happened on this special “first day of the week,” and you’ve been telling everyone you know.
It is also possible that you, or someone you know, may have missed gathering together with other believers on Easter Sunday – maybe a bit tired of all the Jesus talk we hear these days. If that is you, or a friend or loved one you know, you should become acquainted with Thomas.
Of all “the first day of the week” meetings to miss, Thomas managed to outdo himself. He missed the first first day of the week – where, seemingly out of nowhere, Jesus had shown up in rather impressive manner. It was late evening on that first first day of the week, and the disciples – not Thomas – were locked up in a room with the door locked for fear that what had happened to Jesus a few days back could happen to them. Jesus just shows up and says, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:19)
I’m not surprised Thomas chose to miss this. Back in the Lazarus story, when Jesus finally decides to go to Bethany, Thomas, in what seems to be a bit of resignation, says, “Let us also go that we may die with him.” (11:16) Then in John 14, he seems a little frustrated with all the Jesus talk (literally, as in, from Jesus) he is hearing and asks, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (14:5) There is a fairly new designation for people who are tired of church these days, and it is called “the Dones.” Thomas might have been the first “done” of all time.
A careful reading of John 20 suggests that after that first appearance, the disciples kept telling Thomas – maybe every time they saw him? – “We have seen the Lord.” I’m trying to put myself in the place where Thomas stands. I missed the biggest meeting in the history of humanity – the resurrected Jesus showed up! How many times do I want to be told, “We have seen the Lord”? I wonder what the tone of those words was, at least from the outlook of Thomas. He seems about “done” with the disciples when, in strong language, he declares, “I will not believe” – that is, not without substantial proof. (20:25)
The next first day of the week arrives, and Thomas is there. And Jesus shows up again. Bypassing any talk from the disciples, Jesus zeroes in on Thomas and invites him to experience the substantial proof he had been demanding all week. Jesus never fears when confronted with our doubts. Thomas quickly declares, “My Lord and my God.” Thomas is the first person in the Gospel of John to look directly at Jesus of Nazareth and use the word “God” directly of him. No longer a “done.”
The fourth gospel takes us on quite a journey. At the very beginning, we learn of one who was in the beginning, was with God, and “was God,” only to discover that very one “became flesh and lived among us.” (1:1; 1:14) And now, as the story comes to an end, Thomas looks at resurrected Jesus of Nazareth and calls him “God.” (20:28) God, understood in a new way, bookends the story.
Not so much a rebuke to Thomas as it is an encouragement to us, Jesus reminds Thomas that he was blessed “to see and believe,” but many would come after him who “have not seen, yet believe.” (20:29)
I’m wondering, early on this Saturday after Easter, about those who missed celebrating Easter last Sunday and have heard people like me talk all week about what a glorious day it was. Somehow, Thomas managed to get to the place where he could authentically encounter Jesus on the next first day of the week. That encounter transformed a “Done” into a “Doer,” a “Believer,” a “Follower.”
Maybe we focus too much on those who showed up Easter Sunday and not enough on those who just couldn’t muster the energy to show up. We all know some “dones.”
How can I encourage those “not seeing” to become people of faith?
This post originally appeared on the website of my good friend, Point University President Dean Collins.
Wye Huxford 