John 20:19-31
When someone gets a nickname, it
usually comes from something that distinguishes them from the majority of other
people. How many times have you heard of
anyone called “Righty”? I’ve known a
couple of people called “Reds” and one called “Blondy” but I’ve never met
anyone called “Browns”. This passage
from John’s gospel gives us the nickname by which one of Jesus’ disciples has
become known, a nickname that’s not in the Bible at all but which we’ve all
heard: “Doubting Thomas”. That strikes
me as backward, in a way, because what really matters about his story and sets
him apart isn’t that he has his doubts, but that they are overcome. He probably should be called “Believing Thomas”
instead.
A lot of people have their doubts
about Jesus’ resurrection. I don’t know
why that should be so surprising. If it
were normal for the dead to rise again, Easter morning would not have been such
a startling day. The women would have
gone to the tomb, found it empty, and said, “Okay, I guess we’ll see him
around.” It didn’t work that way.
When Thomas, who had not been with
the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them, heard them say,
“We have seen
the Lord,” [John 20:25]
his
response of not believing them was normal and sensible. So was laying out his reasons that basically
amounted to saying that he knew what had happened. When the Romans killed someone, they were
thorough. John’s account of Jesus’
execution includes how they made sure he was dead.
“Then the soldiers came and broke the
legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw
that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced
his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.”
[John 19:32-34]
That
was the wound in his corpse that Thomas was talking about when he told the
other disciples,
“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.” [John 20:25]
So,
when he had the opportunity to do just that, that is exactly what changed him
into Believing Thomas. Unbelief is not
unusual. What turns it around, and not
only for Thomas, is the two-part recognition of a wounded and scarred Jesus and
the startling discovery that God has raised him up again.
The Savior that we worship is not
someone who skipped, whistling, through life.
He took his knocks in every way.
He also warned his followers that they would not have an easy time of
it, either. That’s why you have to look
out for false versions of Christianity that promise everything will be just
fine all the time. They take Jesus’
reassurance that God will care for our needs and turn it into the claim that if
you believe sincerely in your heart that God wants to bless you, then you can
and will have anything you want. Start
writing your wish list. I picked a random
site from the web that expresses it pretty well, complete with italics and
boldface type:
“Sowing the seeds of
prosperity means planting the needed ‘seeds’ to achieve prosperity. Prosperity,
by definition, is the condition of ENJOYING wealth,
success, or good fortune.
Prosperity does not
happen by accident. We have been given instructions on how to secure
success, prosperity and victory over every adversary in our life. It
is an achievement that may take some effort but in time, you will press
through. Throughout this website my hope is to give you many keys that will
encourage you and maybe push you along the way. You can have or be whatever you
want. ‘We’ are the ones putting limits on ourselves. The plan layed [sic]
before us is quite amazing. It may take some time to understand who you
actually are and what you are allowed to ‘have’ but, it will be time well
spent.”[1]
Interestingly
enough, most pages on this site link to its “Prosperity Store” where you can
buy books and videos and discover “Work from Home” opportunities. Don’t get me started.
Jesus never made that kind of
claim. He invited people to risk their
lives, and to put everything on the line, and said that his followers would
lose everything, in worldly terms, not that they would have sore shoulders from
carrying sacks of money to the bank.
The people who, like Thomas, have
responded to him as “My Lord and my God”
[John 20:28] have been the people who recognize that he has the same
woundedness that they do, and that because God has restored his life, their life
is also restored. There’s a legend that
Thomas ended up going to India to preach the gospel there, so I’ll use an
example from that country.
You’ve probably heard of the caste system that is part of
Hinduism, where there are the Brahmins on the top and all the way at the bottom
are the Dalits, the “untouchables”. They
are the ones who are assigned the ugliest jobs and are considered to be, in themselves,
ritually impure. A Brahmin should not
even be touched by a Dalit’s shadow.
Since they are considered almost less than humans, they are subject to
terrible abuse. According to the World
Council of Churches,
“Although Indian law prohibits discrimination
and violence against Dalit people, in reality atrocities are a daily
occurrence.
·
13 Dalits
are murdered each week.
·
5
Dalit homes are burnt each week.
·
6
Dalit people are kidnapped or abducted each week.
·
21
Dalit women raped each week.
It is estimated that a crime is
committed against a Dalit person every 18 minutes. The problem not the
law but the lack of political will, at local and national levels, to apply
these laws. In 2006, the official conviction rate for Dalit atrocity cases was
just 5.3%.”[2]
There is one other statistic
worth noting. According to some
estimates about 70% to 80% of Christians in India today are Dalit.[3] I am unsure whether this figure refers to
specific converts or includes Christians descended from earlier Dalit converts. What is clear, though, is that it is those
who are most deeply wounded by their own society who respond to the news of a
Savior who set aside his power and prestige to be among people. It is those who are untouchable who respond
to a Savior who said to Thomas,
“Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your
hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” [John 20:28]
The story of Believing Thomas comes
at the end of the gospel of John, but John ends by reminding us that his
experience is not the end of the story.
It is an example of the many, many ways in which the risen Christ continues
to be at work among all kinds of people in all kinds of ways.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have
seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to
believe.’ Now Jesus did many other signs
in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may
come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through
believing you may have life in his name.”
[John 20:29-31]
If
it were written today, your chapter could come next.
[1] http://www.seedsofprosperity.com/
[2] http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/resources/campaigns/women-against-violence/now-we-are-fearless/dalit-fact-sheet.html
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