.tif)
In the name + of Jesus.
C: He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
The apostle Thomas is remembered in the
Christian Church for doubting. I suspect
the world would praised him for his skepticism.
Thomas knew what had happened to Jesus—crucified, died, and was
buried. But Thomas had not seen him,
heard him, or touched him. So, why would
Thomas believe Jesus had risen?
Thomas’ skepticism may sound noble, but
let’s consider what Thomas refused to believe.
Thomas had the prophecies of the Old Testament. To be fair, the apostles had not connected
all the dots between the prophets and the Messiah either. Thomas had the words of Jesus. Three times Jesus had explicitly spelled out
that he would go to Jerusalem, suffer, die, and rise from the dead on the third
day. Thomas had seen all of Jesus’ words
come true, but he did not believe the word about the resurrection. Thomas had the testimony of Mary Magdalene
who was the first to see Jesus risen.
The women who had fled the tomb not only saw Jesus, they grabbed his
feet. Then there was the testimony about
the angels at the tomb who had declared Jesus risen from the dead. Jesus had appeared that day to Peter, to the
Emmaus disciples, and to ten of the apostles in an upper room. St. John wrote that “the other disciples
kept telling him, ‘We have seen the Lord’” (John 20:25)! They kept telling him, hoping to
convince him. These were not pranksters. They were Thomas’ close friends and colleagues. There was no reason to conclude that they
were playing with him. Rather, they were
insistent, “We have seen the Lord!”
But Thomas was persistent in his
unbelief. Thomas had demands that needed
to be met before he would believe that Jesus had risen from the dead: “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” (John 20:25).
Odds are,
you have had your own doubts about events recorded in the Bible. We know what normal looks like in this world,
and that is what we expect. When God intervenes
in his creation, it is amazing, astounding, and even unbelievable. But that is the nature of a miracle. God acts outside of the laws of nature to
carry out his work of salvation. He acted
to provide for the needs or the safety of his people. And God acted to destroy those who opposed
and attacked the promise of salvation. The
accounts of the miracles are amazing, astounding, and even unbelievable. The greatest miracle in the Bible is the resurrection
of Jesus. It should be no surprise,
then, that Jesus’ resurrection receives the most scrutiny and suffers the most
criticism.
There is a
pastor who preaches on college campuses and defends the Christian faith to
skeptics. In one instance, a woman
challenged the resurrection of Jesus.
She stated, “How convenient of you to simply state that the Bible is
true without any proof! Show me the
medical records of Jesus and then I will believe you.” He responded, “Well, how convenient of you to
demand proof that you know does not exist!
No one had medical records back then.
Homer. Herodotus. Sophocles.
Plato. Aristotle. Show me their medical records. But you believe they were real” (paraphrase
of Rev. Cliffe Knechtle, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rNp4bYMkkZw). We accept the historical reality of many from
history, but Jesus and his resurrection endure unrivaled skepticism. Jesus’ resurrection has more and better
testimony than just about anything from ancient history. We have eyewitness accounts from dozens of people
who willingly died excruciating deaths rather than renounce their testimony. That should be enough to remove all doubts.
The
resurrection of Jesus is challenged, attacked, and denied because Satan does
not want you to have any comfort or salvation.
What if Jesus is not risen from the dead? St. Paul tells you: “If Christ has not
been raised, our preaching is pointless, and your faith is pointless too. …If Christ has not been raised, your faith is
futile; you are still in your sins. Then
it also follows that those who fell asleep in Christ perished” (1 Corinthians
15:14,17-18). The enemies of the
faith, led by Satan, will always sow seeds of doubt among God’s people. What appears to be healthy skepticism is
plain unbelief. And “whoever does not
believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
But Jesus
removes all doubts. Promises were made
centuries in advance. Jesus fulfilled
them to the letter. Eyewitnesses
confessed Jesus’ resurrection without hesitancy and without yielding. And yet, Thomas demanded more. Jesus did not owe Thomas a special
appearance, but in mercy he granted one.
Jesus removed all doubts. “Jesus
came and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. Then 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’” (John 20:26,27). Thomas not only saw, he was invited to touch
and inspect. This was no phantom or
vision. This was Jesus—flesh and bones
and wounds from nails and spear still visible.
He who was dead—a fact confirmed by Pontius Pilate—proved himself risen
from death—a fact confirmed by all the apostles and even by doubting
Thomas.
Tradition tells us that Thomas did not hem
and haw over Jesus’ resurrection. He
went from skeptic to ardent confessor. He
ended up going to India to preach repentance and forgiveness won by a Savior
crucified and risen. Thomas’ confession
and conviction remained firm, attested by the fact that he suffered martyrdom
in India, being slain by a spear for the Savior who had been slain for him. Thomas could lay down his life for the Lord,
knowing that the Savior he had seen victorious over death would give him that
same victory. Thomas’ slain body would
be raised up again. Jesus removed all
doubts about that.
St. John wrote his Gospel to remove all
doubts from you as well. It is the
reason he wrote his Gospel: “Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did
many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book. But 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” (John 20:30-31).
Jesus removes all doubts.
Jesus has removed doubts about your
forgiveness as well. We all want to be
forgiven of our sins and freed from the burdens of guilt and regret. We can hope that we are forgiven, but if our
forgiveness is limited to hopes and wishes, then we have no confidence that our
Lord’s favor actually rests upon us. We
are not forgiven because we say so. Just
saying it does not make it true. I
remember when my sons were playing baseball in the back yard. One was pitching, one was hitting, and one
was playing catcher. Unfortunately, the
catcher did not have a mask on. I warned
him, “You’re going to get hit in the face with a foul tip.” The response was, “No, I won’t.” Nice words, but those words did not guarantee
anything. I think it took one pitch to
prove my warning true. Just saying that
nothing bad would happen proved a false hope.
Just saying something does not make it
true. Likewise, you do not get to
declare yourself forgiven of your sins.
That would be like a prisoner announcing to the warden that the charges against
him have been dropped and that he is free to leave. The prisoner does not get to declare his
innocence or his freedom. That must be
granted by the one who sentenced him. So
also, forgiveness can only be granted by our Lord; for, he is the one we have
sinned against. He is the one who hands
down the sentence. And while we long for
a full pardon for our sins, only God can give it. So, how can you be sure that forgiveness is
actually yours?
Jesus removes all doubts. This is
what he told his apostles. “He
breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whenever you forgive people’s sins, (their
sins) are forgiven. Whenever you do not
forgive them, (their sins) are not forgiven’” (John 20:22-23). Jesus gives his Church the authority to
forgive sins in his name. That authority
is entrusted especially to the minister who speaks in the stead and by the
command of Jesus Christ. Where does that
authority come from? Jesus told his
apostles, “Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you” (John
20:21). Jesus gives authority to his
disciples to forgive sins of the penitent or to withhold forgiveness from the
impenitent. Those who will not turn from
their sins are told that their sins cling to them. It is the proper judgment upon those who want
to keep their sins. But for those who are
alarmed by their sins and desire an escape from God’s judgment, to those who
long for comfort, peace, and hope, Jesus removes all doubts. The absolution which is declared by the
pastor in the name of Jesus is not a wish.
It is a declaration of pardon and a release from guilt and punishment.
Jesus removes all doubt. He assures you that when his ministers
forgive your sins, your sins are truly forgiven. You can envision it this way. Jesus is not here personally to tell you to
your face that your sins are forgiven.
But since he gives this authority to his church, and the church bestows
this authority on the pastor, you should hear the pastor’s words as if they
were Jesus’ words. The “I forgive you”
is the voice of your Savior out of the mouth of your pastor. This way, you don’t have to merely hope your
sins are forgiven. And your pastor does
not merely wish you well, as if a more glorious form of “Have a nice day.” Rather, you get to hear the pronouncement
applied to you as from Jesus himself, “I forgive you. Peace be with you.”
Jesus removes all doubt. He has fulfilled all Scripture and accomplished all that had been foretold. He has paid for all sins and delivered you from every accusation. He has overcome death and has opened up heaven for you. He has proclaimed a full pardon for you and has exonerated you before his Father. He has entrusted his church with the authority to unbind the penitent from their guilt and unburden you from all your fears. These promises and proclamations are written so that you will believe, and that by believing you will have eternal life. You have undeniable proof of God’s mercy so that you can have unwavering hope in your salvation.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Due to recurring spam, all comments will now be moderated. Please be patient.